Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

This year I was given the task of making dessert for Christmas dinner. It didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to make! We had apples from a local orchard in our refrigerator leftover from the fall, and if they were not put to use soon, they were going to go to waste. My dad and I will always have a place in our hearts for a good piece of pie. Nothing beats finishing dinner with family and friends more than sharing apple pie and ice cream. Despite my mother's concerns about this being my first attempt at making a pie from scratch, I am pleased to report this pie turned out PERFECTLY! The entire family enjoyed it and it looked like a work of art.

PIE CRUST:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 sticks cold butter
3 tbsp. ice water

APPLE FILLING:
4 lbs. of apples (mine were all gala)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. lemon juice

TOP:
Egg Wash (whisk one egg to make)
Sugar for sprinkling


To make the crust: In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and sugar for the pie crust. Pulse a few times, then add the butter. Continue to pulse until the dough becomes crumb-like. Add 3tbsp. water, or enough that it comes together, but is not sticky to the touch. Divide the completed dough in half, wrap each disk in plastic wrap to chill for two hours or overnight.

Take pie crust out of refrigerator to come to room temperature before trying to roll out. Roll one round into 12 inch circle. Line the bottom of a 9 inch pie dish and trim any excess at the edges. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the filling: slice the apples into 1/4 inch pieces. in a medium saucepan over medium heat combine apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Cover and cook until apples become tender, but not mushy, anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on the composition of the apple. Remove the cover and allow to cook for a few addition minutes, stirring occasionally, until a thick, shiny syrup develops. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Allow to cool.

Roll out the other pie crust into 12 inch circle. Use a cookie cutter to make a design for the top of the pie. Reserve the cutouts for decorations.

Pour the cooled apple filling into the pie dish. Cover with pie crust top and remaining cutouts. Whisk an egg and brush onto top of pie. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 50-60 minutes at 400 degrees making sure the top of the pie does not start to burn. Remove from oven, sprinkle top with more granulated sugar, and allow to cool for at least 90 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with ice cream (look for my vanilla bean salty caramel ice cream coming soon)!

Recipe Inspiration from Williams-Sonoma

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Apple Hand Pies

I never thought I would be excited about a few old apples. That is until I decided to make apple hand pies. We came home from vacation and my mom was getting ready to replace our apple stash and before tossing the old apples out she asked if I could use them for baking. I suddenly remembered a recipe for hand pies that I had been anxiously waiting to try! I didn't have to long to make this dessert which I didn't think would be a problem. After reading through a few recipes, I realized all the recipes required lots of extra time for chilling the dough. That is, time that I didn't have. So in my desire to make the hand pies anyways, I expedited the process. I am here to tell you, these quick hand pies were easily the best thing I have ever baked! The crust was somewhat flaky, yet thick, moist, buttery, and delicious! I highly recommend this to any pie lover, and the only thing that would have made these better was some vanilla ice cream on the side. So don't worry about messing up on these pies because anything with buttery crust and sugar coated apples is hard to turn into a total disaster!

PIE CRUST

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

16 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup sour cream

4 tsp. lemon juice (I had no lemons, so I used fresh squeezed juice from an orange)

1/2 cup ice water

FILLING

3 cups chopped apples

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp. lemon or orange juice

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. flour

Combine the flour and salt. Chop the cold butter up into small pieces and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use a pastry blender or fork to combine the butter and flour to try and achieve a mix with pea-sized crumbs. 

Mix the sour cream, lemon juice, and ice water. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon. Form the dough into a ball and cover to refrigerate until you are done preparing the apple filling.

Chop the apples and add the sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, cinnamon, and flour. Stir well making sure to cover all the apples. Place the apples in the refrigerator. 

Working with 1/2 the dough at a time, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter that is about 5" in diameter to cut out rounds of dough. Place the rounds onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. 

Take a tablespoon of apple filling and place it in each pie crust round. Press the edges of the crust together and use a fork to press a decorative design around the edge. 

Bake the completed hand pies for about 20-22 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden brown. Before the hand pies are cooled sprinkle with granulated sugar.

The pie crust recipe comes from the Smitten Kitchen's Bourbon Peach Hand Pies.