There are dozens of ways of making this classic dessert and there are equally dozens of apple combinations that make up the filling.
Depending on where you grew up you might be used to a tart apple, like a Granny Smith. Or you may be accustomed to a sweeter apple like the Macintosh, which I like.
In truth I never used to make pies. My grandmother was a pastry queen and her ability to make an extraordinary pie intimidated me. She often took the time to show me how to make pie pastry but mine always crumbled and fell apart. Devastated with my inability to make a fairly simple dessert I gave up.
It wasn’t until I moved to Belize and began baking bread and pizza that I realized I was overthinking the whole pie dough. Once I realized I could handle pie dough similarly to bread or pizza dough then I became confident.
Alghough my grandmother isn’t alive to critique my pie I’m confident she’d be proud of me.
So this is a simple, fairly straightforward apple pie. Don’t be afraid to try it. You can do it!!
Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 5 Cups High quality all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tsp salt
- 2 1/3 Cup Shortening I use Crisco
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 1/2 Cup Cold Water
- 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
- 7 or 8 Apples of choice For my pies I use Macintosh, Opal, Gala or Honeycrsip
- 1/2 Tsp Fresh Lemon juice Avoid concentrate in bottle
- 1/4 Cup White sugar White sugar
- 1/8 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 1 Egg, beaten
Instructions
- FOR PASTRY
- Combine flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt.
- Add shortening and with either a fork or a pastry blender mix in shortening until its well incorporated into flour and is mealy looking
- In a separate bowl mix egg, water and vinegar. Slowly and evenly pour into flour mixture. Mix well until it forms a dough then transfer to a clean, flat working surface
- Knead dough till smooth, about 5 minutes. Wrap with plastic wrap and put in fridge a minimum of 30 minutes.
- FOR PIE FILLING
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and core 7 to 8 apples. Thinly slice and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Remove dough from fridge and allow to warm up 10 minutes before working with.
- Add lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to apples and combine well.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out pie dough slightly bigger than pie plate. Transfer to pie plate and fill up with apples.
- Roll out second dough for top of pie. Transfer to pie and cut off edge. With your thumbs push down or pinch dough to seal pie.
- Slice 3-4 slits into dough to allow steam to escape while baking.
- Wisk second egg and using silicone brush, brush onto the top of pie.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until pie is golden brown and apples are bubbling in pie plate.
- Allow to cool before cutting into. Serve with ice cream or whipping cream or a slice of cheddar cheese. Best served still warm.