I mentioned this pie in a previous post. I was really excited to make these. We were visiting my Grandpa and Andrew asked about the apple trees in his back yard. Grandpa hadn't tried them so he didn't know if they were good or not. Andrew picked one and it was delicious. Of course then all the kids wanted one. Mia picked the biggest one on the tree. I immediately tasted apple pie when I ate mine. I said they were even sweet enough I could try a no sugar added one. Andrew said "No, you put sugar in pie." There is sugar in these, a lot of sugar. I am going to try some no sugar added or sugar substitutes to make one for Grandpa because he is diabetic.
I will be making more of these soon and taking more pictures of the crust process so I can give more detailed descriptions on that. I learned from watching and helping my Grandma so many of the current directions are "Until it is right."
I leave the peel on my apples because more of the vitamins are in the peel, and once they are cooked they are soft and I don't find them noticeable. You are welcome to peel yours. I used about 6-7 medium apples for a small pie, 10ish for a medium pie and about 14 for a large pie.
Filling Ingredients
Enough apples for your size pie
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Butter
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Pie Crust
Pie Crust Ingredients
Flour
Butter Flavor Crisco
Cold Water it must be cold or it won't be "right"
For the Crust hand mix one to two cups of crisco with an equal amount of flour to start. When you are done mixing the lumps should be pea size. If they are too small add crisco, too large add flour. Continue until pea size.
Sprinkle small amounts or water and mix until you have one solid ball. There should be some flakiness to the crust if you try kneading it. Then you know you will have a buttery flaky crust.
Grease your pan, roll out the crust and line the pan with it.
Filling
Core and quarter apples, or quarter and core depending on your tools.
Thin slice the apples and randomly place in pan.
I like to overfill especially when using fresh apples they will shrink some during baking.
I ended up having a bit extra and put another apple in this pan.
Now you will want to mix the about half a stick of butter with about 2 tablespoons each of sugar and brown sugar, also add a pinch of nutmeg and one flat tablespoon of cinnamon.
the nutmeg, about a quarter size sprinkle on the palm
The butter mixture should be semi solid. Break into bits and set randomly atop the apples in the pan. As it bakes it will melt through all the apples. When done with the butter mix roll out and place the top crust on the pan. Squish the edges with your fingers, a fork, a spoon whatever works for you to get a seal and whatever pretty design you like. then cut off the overhanging edges.
I like to add a dusting of sugar to the top crust to add a little sparkle and crunch. You can use your preference of cream, butter, egg white, water, or a spritz of cooking spray to lightly wet the crust then sprinkle on about a teaspoon of sugar. Which sugar is also up to you, I have used regular granulated sugar most of the time. I have recently bought sugar in the raw because of the larger pieces for a more obvious sparkle.
There is regular granulated sugar on this pie.
Place in oven preheated to 400 degrees for 30 minutes
After 30 minutes turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake another 30 minutes.
I ran out of crisco when mixing this crust so it is a bit dryer than my usual, hence the cracks. Cream, butter or egg whites will result in a slightly more brown crust. The egg whites will also give it a bit of a gleam. I took the shortcut and spritzed with cooking spray on this pie.
These pies turned out amazing. This is the second time this week I made them. The first ones were so good the kids were so excited to have this one that this happened as soon as we got home from picking up Mia from school.
My husband is a butter freak so I will be experimenting with other ingredients soon for the crust. I want to try coconut oil personally because it is sooooo good. If there is anyone who lives near me I would love to have some taste testers. I want to test out some gluten free, sugar free, and some other dietary need recipes because everyone should be able to have dessert, no I mean delicious dessert!
I do not get any money or free items from any brands I may have mentioned. I use the names of the items I use, that is all.
