Sweet Apple Pie

By Melissa Pitts

Ahh apple pie- what’s better than filling your house with the smell of apple pie baking in the oven on a fall day? I make this pie about twice a year- Thanksgiving and one other time usually as it’s so good I don’t want to ruin it by making it all the time and getting sick of it. The impetus for making this pie was for a dinner party where the theme was Mexican and I thought, why not bring some diversity to the table? This recipe is pretty basic but I add one pear because it just adds an extra sweetness that a pie of just apples doesn’t have. I also add a sprinkle of cinnamon to really bring fall out of this dish. While I made the pie dough from scratch (with a food processor which makes dough in about 2 minutes) you can certainly use frozen dough. Pictured are two smaller pies that I made from leftover dough and apple filling in a muffin tin (directions below).

Yields: 6 to 8 servings

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Preparation time:40 minutes

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

For the pie filling:

• 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
• 1 pear (any kind) cored, peeled and cut into thin slices
• 3⁄4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the dough:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

To make the pie:

1. Preheat an oven to 400°F.
2. Remove both disks of dough from the refrigerator. If the dough is very cold and hard, let it stand, still wrapped, at room temperature for 15 minutes.
3. To make the pie shell, unwrap one disk of dough and place on a floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough. With a rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a rough round. Begin rolling out the dough, always rolling straight away from you and giving the round a quarter turn every 2 or 3 rolls. When the dough round is about 1/4 inch thick and about 2 inches wider than your pie dish, roll it up around the rolling pin, then unroll it into the dish, centering it.Trim the edges, leaving about a 1-inch overhang.
4. To make the filling, in a large bowl, stir together the apples, pear, brown sugar, flour, lemon juice cinnamon, and vanilla. Let stand, stirring once or twice, for about 20 minutes. Spoon the mixture and all the juices from the bowl into the pie shell.
5. Top the pie with the other rolled out crust, cut a small hole in the middle for steam to escape- or you can make a fancy lattice pattern and here are the best instructions ever on how to do it.
6. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the crust. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the filling is bubbling, about 1 hour. If the crust starts to burn cover the trim with tin foil. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve the pie warm or at room temperature. Top with vanilla ice cream (optional).
7. For the mini apple pies in muffin tins:
8. Cut out rounds of pie dough slightly bigger than the muffin cups- use a biscuit cutter or a bowl, anything just as long the round is slightly bigger than the cup. Fill with apple pie filling and top with another round. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes.

*Full disclosure folks: pie dough recipe from Martha Stewart. I’m definitely not creative enough to have my own pate brisse recipe and this one does the trick every time.