Homemade Apple Pie

One Crust Option

Granny Smith Apples, Lemon

Cold Butter

Large, Pea Sized Pieces

Sour Cream and Ice Cold Water

And.....Dough! 

Divided into Two Pieces; One for the Bottom Layer of Crust and One to Cover 

Ready to Go Into the Freezer

Sliced Apples and Sugar Mixture

Anchor Cut Out!
Transferring the Top Layer of Crust From Plastic to Pie Tip: Use the Rolling Pin To Help!

Trimming the Top Layer

Braided Crust Option

Patriotic!!

Rub a Little Bit of Milk On Top Before Baking For a Nice Golden Result!

Ready For the Oven!

Ready To Eat! You Will Know it's Done When the Crust is Golden and the Apples are Bubbly. 

What is it about men and their obsession with pies?! It's so funny- they LOVE it!

So, we are human and we are going to eat sugar and indulge in sweets every once in a while. It's better to make a homemade apple pie with real ingredients rather than buying one with preservatives and fake foods. Plus, it's a crowd pleaser, it smells fantastic and it's an all American classic. Everyone should make an apple pie at least once in their life!I always buy Organic ingredients whenever possible.

Granny Smith apples are perfect for apple pies. Macintosh apples are wonderful too! Or, you can use both for a fabulous combination!

Using cold ingredients is KEY to making sure your pie turns out. The butter for the crust must be really cold (frozen 10 min before you use it), the water must be ice cold and the dough must be cold when you work it into pie shape. You can make this crust recipe up to 24 hrs ahead of time and refrigerate it, then let it sit out 15 min before using it. Also, don't over work the dough in the food processor or with your hands. The less you touch it and work it, the better your pie will turn out!

Baking an apple pie is really so much easier than you think! Here's a bullet-proof apple pie recipe:

Serves: 8

Ready In: A Few Hours

Wine Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc

What You Will Need:

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour; plus more to work with later
• 1 t. salt
• 1 T. sugar
• 16 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes and frozen for 10 min before you use them
• 3 T. sour cream
• 1/3 cup ice cold water, plus more if needed
• 1 T. milk to rub on top of crust before baking

Filling:

• About 7 apples total: Granny Smith or Macintosh or a mix of both, peeled and cut into small slices (1/4 inch thick or so)
• 1 T. fresh squeezed lemon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 T. flour
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 4 small chances of butter

Method:

• Process flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of large peas, about 15 1-second pulses. 

• Using a fork, mix sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water in a small bowl until combined. Add half of the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture, pulse for 5 1-second pulses. Repeat with the remaining sour cream mixture. By now, you should have dough (see my pic above). It's it's not quite dough yet (if it does not hold together and feels floury and dry) add 1-2 T. of ice cold water and pulse 5 more times with 1-second pulses. 

• Set out 2 large plastic pieces of plastic wrap and sprinkle a bunch of flour on each piece. Take the dough out of the food processor, divide it into 2 pieces and place dough on the plastic and wrap them up to refrigerate for 1-2 hours before rolling out. 

• While the dough is in the fridge, cut the apples and squeeze lemon on top.  Make the sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice mixture. Combine apples and mixture with your hands in a large bowl.

• Preheat oven to 425 F.

• Roll out dough: Remove the dough from fridge. For the bottom layer of crust, open the 1st plastic wrapped dough and sprinkle with more flour. I place another piece of plastic wrap over the dough and roll the pin on top of the plastic so the pin doesn't get the pin stuck to the dough. Always work from the inside of the dough to the outside, starting the pin in the middle of the dough and rolling to the outside of the dough. Use flour liberally and roll out one side of the dough and flip over and roll the other side. Roll until you have a circle of dough big enough for the pie pan. It's better to have the circle of dough bigger than smaller because you can always trim it down with scissors. Reminder: Don't overwork the dough!

• Carefully set the rolled out dough in the pie dish. I have a tip for this up above if you need it!

• Add the apple mixture into the pie dough. Add the 4 butter chunks  (spread them out) on top of the apples.

• Now roll out the second piece of dough the same way as the first one. Transfer this piece as the top layer for the crust. With scissors, trim (see picture above) the perimeter of the pie crust.

• Choose what type of crust you would like to do and go for it! Make a pretty center, either using a knife to make slits (you at least need these if nothing else) or a cookie cutter shape! Be creative! 

• With your fingers, rub the milk on top of the pie.

• Bake pie at 425 F. for about 25 min. until the crust is slightly golden. Take temperature of oven down to 375 F. and bake for about 35 min. longer, until crust is golden brown and apples are bubbling! Set and let cool.

Seve with Vanilla Gelato.......

Recipe Adopted From Cooks.com