Monday, November 25, 2013

Recipe :: The BEST Apple Pie, Ever

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is on Thursday!  November has just flown by, and before we know it Christmas will be here too.  I am trying to savor every moment of the holiday season, because it always just seems to go by too fast.  One thing I look forward to the most about this time of year is my mom's Apple Pie.  Seriously, it is legendary.  The recipe has been passed down in our family, and as you can see below the recipe itself has definitely seen it's share of spills and dirty fingers.  Thankfully my mom made me a new recipe to go inside the cookbook that she made for me when I turned 21 {all hand-written and illustrated...she is the best!}  So without further adieu, here is the recipe for {in my humble opinion} the BEST Apple Pie, EVER.

The BEST Apple Pie, Ever

CRUST: 
1 1/4 c. shortening {chilled}
3 c. flour
1 teaspoon salt
Approx. 5 tablespoons ice water
1 egg, beaten well
1 tablespoon vinegar

In a large bowl, mix salt and flour.  Cut in chilled shortening with two knives until it starts to mix -- blend the rest of the way with a pastry blender until the texture resembles coarse sand.  Don't over mix!

Add egg and vinegar, mix with fork.  Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with fork until blended.  Dough should be pretty moist.  

Form into ball and wrap with plastic wrap.  Chill in fridge for one hour.  Divide in half - roll out bottom half to fit pie plate bottom and other half for the top.

FILLING:
1 c. sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon rind, grated
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3-4 tablespoons flour
7 c. peeled, sliced apples {mostly Granny Smith}
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter

Heat over to 400 degrees.

Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and lemon rind in a small bowl.  Put apples in a large bowl and pour lemon juice over.  Mix dry ingredients in with apples, mix well.  Taste and add more spices as you see fit.

Pour apples into prepared pie crust.  Dot with four or five pats of butter.  Put crust on top and pinch the crust with your thumb and first finger from one hand and first finger from other hand.  Repeat until crust resembles photo below.  If desired, use a little extra dough and a fun cookie cutter to put a few decorative shapes on top {I like to use little leaves or stars}.  Draw a happy face with sharp pairing knife, to make sure steam can release from pie.

Bake on middle rack -- 400 degrees for 10 minutes then turn oven down to 350 degrees.  Bake for another 40-50 minutes until crust is golden brown and apples are bubbly.  Turn once or twice while cooking to ensure all sides are cooked evenly.

Let cool, serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream {I love Jeni's Ndali Estate Vanilla Bean}.  Enjoy!

12 comments:

  1. This looks so yummy, I'm going to have to make this for Thanksgiving =)
    xx

    http://littlethingsandelephants.blogspot.com/

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  2. Oh yum!! This looks great girl!!
    xo TJ

    http://www.hislittlelady.com

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  3. Looks yummy! I can make a pretty good apple pie, but it never looks yummy! :) So I end up with an apple crumble instead.

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  4. my apple pie is my claim to fame around the holidays. it's the one thing i make where i get asked "you are going to make your apple pie right?" this one looks really similar to the one i make (no matter how many times i have made it i still don't know it by heart so i can't say for sure . . .) but mine never looks that pretty in the end! and i love the old recipe card. precious.

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  5. Thursday, I'm going to OD on pie, I just know it. Thanks for the recipe - seems like a winer! :)
    Perpetually Caroline

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  6. it does look like the best apple pie ever. at thanksgiving my husband's family gets really competitive with their pie baking skills.

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  7. i love that. i think a pie bake-off would be so fun for the holidays, and a good excuse to eat lots {and lots} of pie!

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  8. that's exactly how it is with my mom and her pie :) i hope one day i can master apple pie like you and she!

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