(Disclaimer – The pie is made from two recipes I found.)
More than a month ago when I was planning for Thanksgiving, I asked grandson #1 who is a sophomore at the University of Northern Colorado if there was anything special he’d like for Thanksgiving. Forget the turkey, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, he wanted apple pie (along with two other desserts). So, I began scanning the recipe sites for anything marked ‘easy apple pie.’
I learned a few things:
*Most apple pie recipes call for Granny Smith apples.
*Use a glass pie plate.
*Unsalted butter is the way to go.
*Lattice crusts adds a wow factor and are easy to make.
There were two things I was dreading: making a pie crust and peeling about 5+ pounds of apples. To solve that problem, I bought frozen uncooked pie crusts at Trader Joe’s. I have used this product before and it makes a light, tasty crust.
Then because I had a coupon for Bed, Bath and Beyond and there was a sale, I bought a Professional Apple machine (that’s what they call it), that peels, cores and slices apples.
I was ready.
Here is combination of Allrecipes ‘Apple Pie by Grandma Ople’ and The Seasoned Mom, “Easy Apple Pie.”
HOLIDAY APPLE PIE
Ingredients
1 box refrigerated or frozen pie crusts (2 crusts per box) for 9” pie plate
Filling
8 Granny Smith apples—peeled, cored, thinly slicked
½ cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup water
½ cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 F
Bring frozen/refrigerated pie crusts to room temperature. Directions are on the package.
Carefully unroll 1 pie crust and press it into a 9” glass pie plate. Some of the crust will probably hang over the side. Don’t worry about that now.
Peel your apples. The pile of apples grows so put them in a huge bowl or soup pot. I squirted lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown. (The next part is optional: Once they are all peeled, Mix them with ½ cup of white sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon for extra flavor.) Put bowl aside.
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour to make a paste. Add water, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. (It smells great.) Remove from burner.
Pile the apples into the pie plate. They will form a mini-mound of apples.
Lattice crust is next. Here is link to follow: Making a Lattice Crust Don’t bother with the egg wash at the end. You’ll see why in a minute.
Gently and slowly pour the sugar/butter liquid over the crust. Go slow or the liquid will run off the crust. Save a little liquid and at the end, take a brush and paint the top of the pie. It gives it a great color once baked.
Place in oven. Put it on a cookie sheet because it does bubble over. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until the apples are soft.
Cool pie for about 2 hours before serving to give everything a chance to set.
That’s it. I recently made this recipe for my Masters swim team, Tamalpais Aquatic Masters, Christmas party. Below are two photos: before and after. I think they liked it.
