Sometimes, you need to spend the entire day making pie to give yourself a little slice of home.
I was sitting in my apartment Saturday, bored as hell, trying to figure out what I would do Sunday. So I thought, why not spend the day making a pie from scratch? I started looking through Pinterest at recipes and it dawned on me – my first pie should really be my grandma’s recipe. So I called up my dad to see if he had his mom’s recipe and he sent over a picture of what he had, which honestly wasn’t much. No oven temperature. No time. No variety of apples specified. We’ve run into this problem with her recipes before. I think she is such a brilliant cook and baker that she really doesn’t need much written down. She knows the recipe by heart or instinctively knows what needs to be added and tweaked to make a perfect meal. There were so many decisions my dad and I had to make, but in the end, we uncovered her pie recipe perfectly, and I couldn’t be happier. I think (I hope) after this pie, I am one step closer to being the kind of baker my grandma is.
Tips and Tricks
- The recipe calls for 5-7 apples, so depending on how large your apples are you may need to add or subtract one to fill the pie
- You can technically use any apples you like. However, Granny Smith apples are the gold standard for baking because they are firm and hold up well in a pie, and they are tart which counteracts the sweetness of the filling
- If the pie crust is hard to roll out, you can try refrigerating it for a bit or rolling it between sheets of parchment paper
- Let the pie filling rest while you are making the pie crust, it allows the apples to really soak up that delicious sugary goodness!
- If you are worried about the apple browning from being exposed to the air, add a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice
- You can substitute butter for the Crisco, but old school recipes always use Crisco, and who are we to mess with our grandmother’s recipes?
- For a crispy, flaky pie crust, you do not want to grease the bottom of the pie dish. Counterintuitive to everything I’ve taught you, I know. Pies are a different breed.
Pie Filling Ingredients
- 3 Granny Smith apples
- 3 Golden Delicious apples
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar (heaping)
- Dash of salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (heaping)
- 4 or 5 tbsp. flour
- (Optional) Dash of lemon juice
Pie Crust Ingredients
- 2/3 cup cold Crisco
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 tbsp. ice cold water
- Pinch of baking powder
- Pinch of white sugar
- 1 egg and dash of milk for egg wash
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Core, peel, and dice apples into 1/4 inch thick pieces
- For pie filling, combine diced apples, white sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and lemon juice in a large bowl and set aside
- In a separate bowl for pie crust, combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder
- Add cold Crisco to the dry ingredients for the pie crust and blend together with a pastry cutter or fork
- When dough forms a ball, add water slowly. You may not need all of the water
- Roll out on a floured board with a floured rolling pin (are you sensing how much we love flour in this recipe?)
- Lay down half of the pie crust in an ungreased pie dish
- Pour in apple pie filling
- Top apple pie with the remaining pie crust in whatever design your little heart desires. Press fork along the edges of the pie crust
- Generously brush the top of the pie crust with your egg and milk wash
- Put pie into oven for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees
- Lower temperature to 350 degrees and cook an additional 35-45 minutes
- Let pie cool, top with ice cream, and enjoy!
My first pie was a success, and it won’t be my last! Help yourself to a little slice of heaven.
Happy Baking!
-R
Becca's Baking Creations 