Classic Apple Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crusts
- 7 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup ice water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar
Apple Pie Filling
- 7-8 granny smith apples
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 7 1/2 ounces (1 cup + 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces (1/4 cup) cold water
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
- 1 orange, zested
For Crust Before Baking
- egg wash (1 whole egg + 2 TBSP water) for golden brown crust
- Sugar in the Raw for sprinkling optional
Instructions
Pie Crusts
- Cut butter into small pieces, put half the pieces into the freezer. Return the other half to the refrigerator.
- Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the chilled butter from the refrigerator to the dry ingredients until its a coarse meal texture.
- Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is in small but still visible pieces.
- Combine the lemon juice (or vinegar) & ice water. Add 6 TBSP of the mixture to ingredients.
- Pulse several times until combined. If to dry add liquid, if to wet add some flour.
- Remove the dough to a well floured board, knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into 2 and wrap each half in plastic.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator to relax for a half hour but preferably overnight.
Apple Pie Filling
- Peel, core and cut apples into wedges. Toss apple slices into lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Over a medium heat, place butter and apples into pot, stir apples occasionally til they start to sweat.
- Next, add sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a small bowl combine cornstarch and water mix together to create the slurry, set aside.
- Cook apple til tender about 10-15 mins. Add orange zest and cornstarch slurry to the apples. Mix gently till the liquid has become a “gel or slime” consistency. Turn off heat, add 1/2 tsp butter. Set aside to cool down.
Putting the Pie Together
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Take half the dough and roll out on a well floured board. Roll out til 1/8 -1/4 in think round. Place the dough into a 9 inch pie pan. Trim excess dough (the goal is to have enough dough hanging over the edge, let dough sit for a couple minutes for the gluten to retract a small amount, if trimmed too much the dough will shrink a lot during baking). Crimping the edges to make a nice design.
- Using a fork poke holes in the bottom of the dough so the dough, while pre-baking, won’t explode. Place a large piece of wax into the pie dough/pan, add dried uncooked beans or dried rice to the center of the wax paper. (this will help keep the shape of the bottom crust while baking).
- Place the bottom crust into the preheated oven, bake for 15 minutes. This is to set the crust and to make sure its not soggy when the filling is baked in.
- After 15 minutes, let the crust cool down completely. Place the apple filling into the pie crust.
- Roll out the remaining half of pie dough on a well floured board. There is 2 ways I like the top crusts, the whole top covered and a small slit on the top to let the air escape. Way number 2 is the lattice (or basket weaved) pattern. Its the under over motion of the pie crust. Choose your design and have fun decorating the pie.
- With a pastry brush, brush the egg-wash on all the dough. Sprinkle the raw sugar on top of the egg-wash for crunch.
- Finally take a piece tin-foil and wrap the edges of the crust in it. This will prevent the crust from browning too much. Only the outer edge should be covered.
- Place the pie into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The top crust will start to get golden brown on top. After the timer goes off remove the tin foil and bake for another 10 minutes until the outer crust is golden brown.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let cool at least completely before devouring!
Notes
