Apple Pie

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Apple Pie

My dad is a huge fan of Costco’s apple pie. (Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.) He mentioned that recently they changed their recipe, because the pies just don’t taste the same anymore. So, I decided I would find a recipe that had all of the characteristics of the pie he likes (not too tart, not too sweet, double crust, and a gooey inside), and make it myself. While this specific recipe calls for Granny Smith apples, I added some Fujis to cut down on the tartness.

Apple Pie I scoured the Internet and came across a recipe with over 1800 reviews and a five-star rating and knew I had to give it a go. And it is now safe to say this is my family’s new favorite apple pie recipe. The difference between this pie and others I’ve made is in the preparation–the filling ingredients are boiled which creates a gooey goodness that I could easily eat by the spoonful. The filling is then poured onto the pie, over the lattice crust, and the gooey goodness seeps in the cracks and covers the apples. Sounds weird, but trust me, it works.

For the crust, I found a simple shortening recipe (I know some of you are butter purists, sorry) that was easy to work with and baked up flaky. As you can see from my pictures, I lack the technical skill and patience it takes to make a proper lattice crust, but it still tastes good, ugly strips and all. Also, those of you paying close attention to the pictures may have noticed I used a cake pan. I am ashamed to admit I do not own a pie dish, but the 8″ cake pan worked out just fine.

Photos of the process here.

Crust Ingredients (I doubled it so I could make a top and bottom crust.)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled (I used butter flavor Crisco)
3 tablespoons ice water

Crust Preparation

  1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour.
  2. Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.
  3. Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
  4. Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.

Filling Ingredients
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced
Cinnamon (the recipe doesn’t call for it, but I like it in my pies)

Filling Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
  2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
  3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Crust recipe from All Recipes. Filling recipe from All Recipes.

Comments

11 Responses to “Apple Pie”

    susan on 1 November 30th, 2008 8:35 pm

    Wow- this is gorgeous and looks so yummy- my last apple pie was terrible- I have to follow your recipe and see if I can get it right. Pie has never been my thing- probably because I don’t really like it- but my son adores pie and I really want to make him a special one! Thanks for this!

    jess on 2 December 8th, 2008 12:48 pm

    What is the difference between a pie pan and a cake pan?

    Haley Glasco on 3 December 9th, 2008 4:00 pm

    oooh… this recipe sounds delicious! i’m going to have to try this out soon!

    Liz Stambaugh on 4 December 10th, 2008 11:15 am

    I was wondering if you would ever be interested in becoming a featured publisher with Foodbuzz.com? If so please conctact me at lizstambaugh@yahoo.com

    Elaine on 5 December 10th, 2008 8:31 pm

    Pie pan versus pie pan.

    Pie pan is round, shallow, slope-sided dish with a flat or fluted rim to hold the edge of a pie crust. Most of them are one piece but there are some metal ones with removable bottoms.

    Cake pans are also round and come in various sizes as do pie pans. The sides of the pans are perpendicular to its base as cakes require height. (Which pies do not). Like pie pans they come in various mediums: glass, metal, silicone, etc.

    The sides are really the only difference, with the pie pans serving a speciifc purpose.
    Hope that helps.

    H on 6 December 13th, 2008 11:22 pm

    Thanks Elaine!

    Dena on 7 December 24th, 2008 10:26 pm

    Oh this is grandma ople’s apple pie from allrecipes!

    I make it every year, but a few recco’s that other users have recommended. Add 1 tbsp of cinammon to the sugar-butter mixture, brush a beaten egg white on the bottom of the pie crus before putting the apple slices on top to stop the sugar-butter mixture from making it soggy, and put 2/3 of the sugar-butter mixture over the apples first and the remainder for on top of the lattice crust. Perfection!

    p.s. i use a round cake pan too, don’t have a pie pan 😛

    liz on 8 December 25th, 2008 10:11 am

    I made this pie last night for Christmas dinner tonight. The pie was absolutely beautiful! All my family was running to the oven when I would ask them to look at it. I placed it on the counter top to cool. My daughter took a photo of it. At 11:45 p.m. my husband decided we have to cut into it. We never have dessert that late! It was so good tasting! It was so beautiful! It was so easy to make!

    I used a pie crust butter recipe vs. shortening. I found with the amount of butter in the crust and in the sauce, I thought it was a little buttery. However today (this morning) will taste it again after it has been in the refrigerator to see if it is the same. Dena’s suggestions are spot on!

    efusjon on 9 October 20th, 2010 9:43 pm

    this looks very rich. can’t wait to try it this weekend.

    beth on 10 November 7th, 2012 5:26 pm

    The depth, typically.

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