Deep Dish Apple Pie

What can I say, my family loves pie! This is yet another one that my sister, Susie, made that is our mother’s recipe with a minor tweak. She adds brown sugar for more of a caramelized flavor. When she brings apple pie to our many family get togethers everyone is eyeing the pie thinking “Can we just eat it now as an appetizer!” We do impatiently wait leaving room for this succulent pie. Eat as is or warm with a scoop of ice cream or sometimes as my dad and I did with a piece of cheddar cheese on top. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup of Crisco brand butter flavored shortening or butter
2 1/2 cups of flour
Dash of salt
1/2 cup of icy cold water (add an ice cube to make it cold)
1 tablespoon of vinegar
Filling
6 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1-2” dice (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar divided
1/2 cup of brown sugar divided
3 tablespoons of flour divided
2 teaspoons of cinnamon divided
1 tablespoon of butter diced
A sprinkle of granulated sugar and cinnamon for the top of the crust about 1/2 of teaspoon each (optional)
Non-stick cooking spray or egg wash (optional)

Technique

In a measuring cup add water, ice cube and vinegar. In a large mixing bowl add shortening, flour and salt and mix using your hands. Remove ice cube if it hasn’t melted and mix in water mixture a little at a time. Refrigerate for an hour before rolling out. Mom did not have a food processor or the pastry tool to make the dough. She preferred her hands and they really are the best tool for making the pie crust.

Remove half of the dough and roll out on a floured surfaced. Place into pie pan and mold crimping edges. Evenly sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar on the crust. Place half the apples in the pan and evenly sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour, half of the remaining granulated sugar, half of the brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Place the rest of the apples in the pan and evenly sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour, remaining granulated sugar, remaining brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and evenly place the diced butter over the pie. Remove the reaming pie crust dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface. Place the second crust over the pie and pinch together to seal pie. Decorative seal is optional and won’t make the pie taste any better. Spray top crust with non-tick cooking spray or use an egg wash (1 egg beaten) and lightly sprinkle cinnamon and granulated sugar on top for decorative purposes and is optional. Using a knife cut an “x” in the middle for ventilation or fork it as my sister does – that means pierce the top a couple of times with a fork for ventilation. Place the pie in a preheated oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool for about an hour. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or slice of cheddar cheese on the top!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.