Apple Pie

This pie recipe is kind of a big deal. At every family function where pies are found, my mom always has the apple pie assignment.  Seriously though, I have honestly never tasted an apple pie better than this one. This recipe sets the bar!

You will need:

Filling:

8-10 Granny Smith apples (the green sour ones)

3/4 C of a combination of brown and white sugar (or sucanat)

1/2 tsp. cinnammon (be generous, here)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

2 Tbsp. Tapioca

Crust:

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C shortening

5 Tbsp. cold water

egg white of one egg

white sugar for sprinkling

Begin by peeling and slicing your apples, placing them in a large bowl.

Add all of the remaining filling ingredients and stir. Set aside to let the sugar activate the juices within the apple, stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, work on the crust. Add flour and salt to a medium size bowl and stir.

Add shortening and mix together, pressing with a fork until the mixture looks crumbly.  This may seem difficult at first, but keep working on it, it gets easier!

Add water and mix together until you get a dough. With your hands, form dough into a large ball.  With a knife, cut your dough in half (one half is for the bottom of the pie, the other is for the top). Take the first half and place it on a counter or table dusted with flour.

Use a rolling pin to flatten out your dough (trying to keep it in some kind of circle shape as much as possible). You may need to keep dusting flour on the rolling pin, dough, and counter to keep the dough from sticking to anything. 

When you think it's flat enough, check to see if it fits by placing your pie tin over it. If the dough is bigger than the tin, it is ready.

Fold the dough in half to make the transfer to the pie tin easier. Then unfold it once it is in the pie tin.

Brush the dough with egg white.

Add your filling. At this point, your apples should be a bit juicy. You may have apples left over. Just eat them!

Add a bit of butter or margarine, then set aside to work on the top crust.

Use your other dough half to make the top part of your crust. 

Lay it on top of the apple filling...

Trim off any excess, but leaving enough room to make a crust design.

Here's the traditional crust design in our family. 

Brush the top with egg whites, then sprinkle with sugar. 

Cut some slits in the top. 

Gently cover the crust edges with tin foil to prevent then from browning too much. 

Here's the baking instructions: Bake at 450 for the first 15 minutes, then turn down the temp to 350 (leaving the pie in the oven) baking for another 25-30 minutes. In the last 5-10 minutes of baking, remove the tin foil. Let cool before eating. Enjoy with some nice vanilla ice cream!