Steven asks for it every holiday, and today, it is his birthday. Happy birthday to you, son. I thought I'd add my recipe this very day in honor of my sweet and loving son who delights me time and again with his joyful nature, happy smiley face and devoted demeanor. Steven is a wonderful son and that's easy for me to say every day and especially today, on this, his birthday. I am a lucky mom.
Here's my recipe for mom's delicious apple pie that my son, Steven, loves to gobble up with seconds and sometimes thirds.
Mom's Delicious Apple Pie
There are only two parts to mom's apple pie: the pie crust and the filling.
I make two pie crusts for this pie, one for the bottom and one for the top. But I only make one batch of dough.
I have no idea why I bought a prepared pie crust at the grocery store. I only did it a couple of times when I realized the crust was just not as good. I admit I got a little lazy. Buying the pie crust was convenient. But no more. I am back to making my own fresh pie crust. And why not? It is incredibly easy, especially now that I have my handy dandy Empire Red KitchenAid mixer. It is absolutely no trouble at all!
I've been making this pie crust for years. I think I got it from the Betty Crocker cookbook and altered it a bit.
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter, softened but still cold
8 to 10 tablespoons of ice cold water
Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Put these dry ingredients into the mixer bowl, add the butter, and mix well. Slowly add a tablespoon of the cold water, one spoonful at a time, until the flour mixture is a nice pie crust dough consistency. Stop when it looks like a ball of bread dough. You don't want to mix too briefly because the pie crust will be difficult to roll out. If you mix too long, the pie crust won't be fluffy.
Remove the dough from mixer, and divide into two parts: one for the top crust and one for the bottom. Here's the secret to wonderful homemade pie crust: Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerator for an hour or two.
That's it for the pie crust dough. Easy. You can even freeze the dough.
Roll the Pie Crust
When ready to use, get out your pie plate. I use a 9-inch pie plate with a deep center for my apple pie. This gives me plenty of room for the apples (which by the way stack higher raw and make a small hump after baking). But I digress.
Lightly flour your board. Flatten the ball of dough a bit with your hand, and then begin rolling out the bottom pie crust. Place your rolling pin in the center of the dough and roll outward toward the edges. Dance the rolling pin around to make the dough form a flat circle, large enough to fit into the pie plate with some overhang. I then, place the rolling pin on the edge of the dough, and carefully roll the dough over the rolling pin. Take the rolling pin with the dough wrapped around it, to the pie plate and slowly unroll. Position the dough, and Voila, the bottom crust is done.
Tip: I make both the top and bottom, so I can see which one is the nicest. I use that one for the top, and the other for the bottom.
7 to 8 green apples, peeled, meticulously cored and sliced
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Mix the filling well, until the apples are thoroughly coated, and let sit 10 to 30 minutes so that the juices from the apples meld with the spices.
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons whiskey (optional)
Gently spoon the apple mixture filling into the pie plate. It will look like an apple mound with the center of the pie plate filled with apple slices higher than the sides. Dot with butter. Drizzle the whiskey around the apple mound.
Cover with your rolled out top crust. Seal edges. An easy way to seal the edges is to get a small bowl of water, dip your fingers into the water, and wipe between the overhang of the bottom crust dough and the top crust dough around the edges of the pie plate. Slightly press the top and bottom dough together in order to seal the crust. Then, crimp the "union" every 1/4 inch or so with your fingers. You can also use a fork dipped in water: Press a fork impression to seal the top and bottom dough together.
I do it both ways. Either works fine. It's a matter of how you want the baked apple pie to look when done baking.
With a sharp knife, cut four slits on the top in the center of your pie crust. This let's steam escape and saves your pie from puffing up and cracking in places you don't want it to. I often cut a smiley face in the center of my pie, especially when I make it for the kids. It's a flash from the past for them [smile].
Once the pie is assembled, I like to dress up the top of my pie with a sugar spritz.
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Break an egg into a small bowl and beat it with a fork to create an egg wash liquid. Lightly brush the top crust with the egg wash. Mix the sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over the egg wash.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover the "outside edges only" of the pie with foil. The foil keeps the edges from turning dark brown.
I previously used foil and it works great. Now, I use a pie crust shield. It's like a big ring that rests over the top of the pie, but only shields the pie crust edges so that they don't burn or get overly brown.
Place your finished apple pie on a cookie sheet. This pie tends to "spill over" especially when you have many apple slices, so you need something underneath the pie plate to catch the drippings. Do NOT use aluminum foil on your oven rack or on the bottom of your oven. A cookie sheet works great!
Slide into your preheated 400 degree oven, and bake for 10 minutes.
Immediately, turn down the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue baking for 45 minutes more.
The pie looks golden color and will be a little bubbly in the vented slits you made.
Remove from the oven, and place on cooling rack. Let your baked apple pie cool before serving, otherwise, when you try to raise a cut slice from the pie plate, the juices will run and the slice will not be pretty. Slice when cooled and serve warm.
Serves about 8 slices, depending.
If there's any left, cover and refrigerate.
Mom's apple pie is another kid's favorite. I serve it at Christmas time and make it whenever one of my children requests it.
There are only two parts to mom's apple pie: the pie crust and the filling.
I make two pie crusts for this pie, one for the bottom and one for the top. But I only make one batch of dough.
I have no idea why I bought a prepared pie crust at the grocery store. I only did it a couple of times when I realized the crust was just not as good. I admit I got a little lazy. Buying the pie crust was convenient. But no more. I am back to making my own fresh pie crust. And why not? It is incredibly easy, especially now that I have my handy dandy Empire Red KitchenAid mixer. It is absolutely no trouble at all!
I've been making this pie crust for years. I think I got it from the Betty Crocker cookbook and altered it a bit.
Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter, softened but still cold
8 to 10 tablespoons of ice cold water
Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Put these dry ingredients into the mixer bowl, add the butter, and mix well. Slowly add a tablespoon of the cold water, one spoonful at a time, until the flour mixture is a nice pie crust dough consistency. Stop when it looks like a ball of bread dough. You don't want to mix too briefly because the pie crust will be difficult to roll out. If you mix too long, the pie crust won't be fluffy.
Remove the dough from mixer, and divide into two parts: one for the top crust and one for the bottom. Here's the secret to wonderful homemade pie crust: Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerator for an hour or two.
That's it for the pie crust dough. Easy. You can even freeze the dough.
Roll the Pie Crust
 |
| Perfect rolling pin |
When ready to use, get out your pie plate. I use a 9-inch pie plate with a deep center for my apple pie. This gives me plenty of room for the apples (which by the way stack higher raw and make a small hump after baking). But I digress.
Lightly flour your board. Flatten the ball of dough a bit with your hand, and then begin rolling out the bottom pie crust. Place your rolling pin in the center of the dough and roll outward toward the edges. Dance the rolling pin around to make the dough form a flat circle, large enough to fit into the pie plate with some overhang. I then, place the rolling pin on the edge of the dough, and carefully roll the dough over the rolling pin. Take the rolling pin with the dough wrapped around it, to the pie plate and slowly unroll. Position the dough, and Voila, the bottom crust is done.
Tip: I make both the top and bottom, so I can see which one is the nicest. I use that one for the top, and the other for the bottom.
Apple Pie Filling:
7 to 8 green apples, peeled, meticulously cored and sliced
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Mix the filling well, until the apples are thoroughly coated, and let sit 10 to 30 minutes so that the juices from the apples meld with the spices.
Assembly:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons whiskey (optional)
 |
| 9-inch pie plate |
Gently spoon the apple mixture filling into the pie plate. It will look like an apple mound with the center of the pie plate filled with apple slices higher than the sides. Dot with butter. Drizzle the whiskey around the apple mound.
Cover with your rolled out top crust. Seal edges. An easy way to seal the edges is to get a small bowl of water, dip your fingers into the water, and wipe between the overhang of the bottom crust dough and the top crust dough around the edges of the pie plate. Slightly press the top and bottom dough together in order to seal the crust. Then, crimp the "union" every 1/4 inch or so with your fingers. You can also use a fork dipped in water: Press a fork impression to seal the top and bottom dough together.
I do it both ways. Either works fine. It's a matter of how you want the baked apple pie to look when done baking.
With a sharp knife, cut four slits on the top in the center of your pie crust. This let's steam escape and saves your pie from puffing up and cracking in places you don't want it to. I often cut a smiley face in the center of my pie, especially when I make it for the kids. It's a flash from the past for them [smile].
Topping:
 |
| An excellent pastry brush |
Once the pie is assembled, I like to dress up the top of my pie with a sugar spritz.
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Break an egg into a small bowl and beat it with a fork to create an egg wash liquid. Lightly brush the top crust with the egg wash. Mix the sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over the egg wash.
 |
| Fool-proof oven temperature gauge |
Baking:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
 |
| Pie crust shield |
Cover the "outside edges only" of the pie with foil. The foil keeps the edges from turning dark brown.
I previously used foil and it works great. Now, I use a pie crust shield. It's like a big ring that rests over the top of the pie, but only shields the pie crust edges so that they don't burn or get overly brown.
 |
| Cookie sheet |
Slide into your preheated 400 degree oven, and bake for 10 minutes.
Immediately, turn down the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue baking for 45 minutes more.
The pie looks golden color and will be a little bubbly in the vented slits you made.
 |
| Cooling racks |
Serves about 8 slices, depending.
If there's any left, cover and refrigerate.
Mom's apple pie is another kid's favorite. I serve it at Christmas time and make it whenever one of my children requests it.
Tip: You can substitute milk for the egg wash and it almost looks the same. The idea is to give the sugar a substance "so it sticks to" and becomes part of the top crust.
This year, I am adding a rum sauce and a carmel sauce on the side so the kids can drizzle even more flavor on this oh-so-yum yum dessert.
It''s time consuming to make, so I generally make mom's apple pie ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. If I use a dish that didn't come with a lid, I spread plastic wrap across the dish to keep fresh. But this can be a problem since the apple pie "mound" is high.
This pie can easily be warmed after removing it from the refrigerator, if desired. It warms well in the microwave or the oven. Enjoy!
That's it for today, blog. Please post a comment and follow posts by email. Thanks.