This recipe is a combination of my aunt Nadine's pie crust and the apple pie recipe from The Joy of Cooking. It's just a good 'ole traditional pie, perfect for the holidays. This summer I had the benefit of receiving pounds and pounds of apples from a neighbor's trees and was able to prep about a half dozen batches of pie filling that I vacuum sealed and froze. Pie (particularly making homemade crust) is one of those things that takes a little practice so check out all the notes at the end for tips and tricks.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2T to 1/3 cup ice water
- 2/3 cup shortening (I use original Crisco sticks that I store in the freezer), cut in 1/2inch cubes
- 2 tbsp cold butter, cut in small cubes
Filling
- 5-6 cups thinly sliced apples (see notes)
- 1/2 to 2/3 cups sugar (white or brown)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1-1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter, cut in small cubes
- 1 tbsp milk (optional)
- Cinnamon and Sugar (optional)
Instructions
- For pie crust:Cut up the Crisco and butter into cubes and return them to the freezer while you get the flour ready.Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to thoroughly combine.Add cubes of Crisco and butter and toss until they are all covered with flour.Using a pastry cutter, cut in all the shortening and butter until pieces are small pea size.From a larger cup of ice water, measure out 1/3 cup (avoiding the ice) and sprinkle water over the dough starting with 2T and adding one tablespoon at a time, with your hands or a fork, quickly combine the dough by tossing the flour and water (more than stirring). You want to touch it as little as possible to incorporate the water. Dough should have a craggy but not wet texture.Mound 1/2 the dough on two pieces of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. At this point you can knead it together a bit into a ball. Flatten the ball to a disc shape.Refrigerate for at least an hour before using it.For pie filling:Whisk together sugar, salt, cornstarch, lemon zest and spices. Add apples and lemon juice and mix until apples are well coated.To assemble:Place rack and a rimmed baking sheet in middle of oven, preheat oven to 450 degrees.Roll each round to 10". I like to do this between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper.Place first crust in pie plate lightly sprayed with non-stick spray. Pour apple filling in and dot top of apples with small butter cubes. Top with second crust and seal edges by pinching along the edge.Cut small slits in a circle around the top of the crust to allow for steam to escape.Brush top crust with a little milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.Place in preheated oven and bake 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until done 40-55 minutes. Monitor the cooking after about 30 to make sure the crust isn't getting too brown. If it is cover outer crust with crust guards or a sheet of tin foil. Pie is done when crust is golden, pie is fragrant and you can see little bubbles of filling along the edge or the crust. Cool on cooling rack.NOTESNotes about making pie crust:Before you measure your flour be such to fluff it up. You don't want to measure well packed flour or your dough will be too dry.If you want to make the prep quicker you can use a food processor for the cutting step, just combine in the food processor bowl and pulse until the Crisco and butter are small peas, probably 8-12 pulses. That said, I have used both methods and never get as nice a texture when I use a food processor.Unfortunately, Colorado is a tough place to make pie crust because of lack of humidity. As such the water measurement is tricky. Start with the lesser amount of water and you may have to add a bit more. You don't want enough for the dough to be wet, just barely combined.This makes just enough dough for a thin double crust for an 9 inch shallow pie plate. If you want a bit more latitude for rolling, make 1.5 batches (I always make more, its cheap and I hate not having enough plus I use the scraps for decoration).Notes on filling:I like to use a combination of tart and sweet apples. My favorite sweets are Honeycrisp or Galas and favorite tarts are Jonathans or Granny Smiths.I like using 1/2 white (so 1/4 cup) and 1/2 brown sugar. I find the lesser amount is adequate with more full flavor apples but if you use all tart apples then consider using the larger amount of sugar.Only really juicy apples require the larger amount of cornstarch.HAPPY EATING!!
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