My First Apple Pie

Last night our friend, Heather, and her three boys came over for dinner. For dessert, I wanted to try and make Apple Pie, and what better guinea pigs to have than 3 boys (4, including Ben)! They ate the pie right up (served with homemade vanilla ice-cream) and wanted seconds! Ding, ding, ding! I’ve found my favorite food to make… pie! How traditional…

As my hubby knows (because I’ve talked about it way too much in the last two days) I’m very proud of this pie. So apple pie is much easier than I anticipated. The crust is so simple!

A few days before making the pie, I went out and bought a pie pan, pasta cutter (to cut my dough for the lattice top) and a pastry blender. These were all very inexpensive purchases that I know I will use many times in the future. (Saving those ‘pennies on the platter’ to stay true to the theme of my blog!)

The pie recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (eliminating the cranberries), but I used the Basic Pie Dough recipe for the crust from a food blog I read all the time, called Annie’s Eats. I believe she got the recipe from Williams Sonoma. I doubled the recipe to make the lattice top crust. Also, she used her stand mixer, but I used my hand held pastry blender.

This season is my favorite because of the weather, colorful leaves, and most importantly because of Honey Crisp apples. These apples are only in-season during the Fall and are the best tasting apples you will every try. They are PERFECT for apple pies, so I picked some up at the store. What a big surprise it was when I saw that the bag of apples I bought were from an orchard in Belding, MI — my hometown!

Apple Pie
Ingredients:
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples (about 2 1/4 pounds)
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Milk (optional)
Sugar (optional) – I used Raw Sugar

Directions:
Prepare and roll-out pastry for Basic Pie Dough. Line a 9-inch pie plate with half of the pastry. (See Basic Pie Dough directions)

If desired, sprinkle apples with lemon juice. In large bowl stir together the 3/4 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add apple slices. Gently toss until coated. Transfer apple mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate.

To create the woven lattice top, use the longer pastry strips near the center of the pie and the shorter ones near the edges. Cross the two longest strips over the center of the filled pie. Place a second long strip over the top cross strip. Fold back every other strip onto itself and lay a cross strip in place, then return folded-back strips to their original position. Continue weaving in this fashion, working from the center of the pie toward the edges. Trim and flute the edges decoratively with your thumb.

If desired, brush top pastry with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar (Raw sugar). To prevent over-browning, loosely cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 20 minutes more or until fruit is tender and filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack.

Basic Pie Dough
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 tbsp. very cold water

Directions:
To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie.

To make a lattice top: Double the recipe, cut the dough in half and pat one half into a round, flat disk. Roll out the disk into a 12-inch round as directed and line the pan or dish. Trim the edge of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Press any scraps trimmed from the first round into the bottom of the remaining dough half. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into thin strips to weave a lattice top.

Source: Annie’s Eats (Pie Dough), Better Homes & Garden (Pie Filling)