Sam's Apple Pie

Every fall season I get an itch to bake an apple pie, so I decided to go ahead and bake one of my favorites. I call this one Sam's Apple Pie, actually, apple pie is great any time of the year, it just seems fitting when the apples are in season.

I started off by making the pie crust, and since I'm no expert I did this according to my KitchenAid instructions and recipes.

Here is what you need for the pie crust:

2-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, well chilled
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, again well chilled
5 to 6 tablespoons of cold water

I added the flour and salt into my mixing bowl, then attached the flat beater and turned it on low for about 10 seconds.
I cut the shortening and butter into small pieces, added them to the flour, turned on low speed for about one minute until I saw the mixture starting to form little clumps.
Keeping the mixer on low speed I added the cold water one tablespoon at a time until the pie crust formed into a ball.
I cut it into two equal pieces, wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator while I prepared the apples.

My pie crust ready to be cut in half

Now that my pie crust was made it was time to get the apples ready. I used five nice sized Granny Smith apples. I peeled, cored and sliced my apples and placed them in a large bowl. I'm not that particular, I sliced the apples thin but they didn't have to be all the same size. This is enough pie crust for a bottom and top of a 9-inch pie plate.

Once the apples are in the bowl here is what you need:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch (I used flour)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Add all of these on top of the sliced apples and mix well using a large spoon. Now that the apples are mixed place them in the refrigerator while you roll out the pie crust.

Mixed apples in the bowl

Next, I rolled out my pie crust between two pieces of wax paper and carefully lined the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Make sure you press it firmly to the bottom and sides, of the pie plate to work out any air bubbles.

Pie crust in pie plate

Next, I added 4 to 5 cups of the sliced seasoned apples into the pie plate, make sure you get the juice from the bottom of the bowl.

Now I added the top, and cut about a three-inch cross in the center, and one-inch cross at every point and one in between. This allows the steam to release.

I lightly brushed the top with milk and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top. Place the pie on a cookie sheet just in case there are any spills, and mine always does, so it's best to be safe.

Time for baking instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
Cover the top of the pie with tin foil, and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes remove the tin foil, lower the oven to 375 degrees
Continue to bake for another 45-50 minutes

 Just out of the oven

 I could have really got away with three Granny Apples for this pie, as I had some leftover. So enjoy my Apple Crisp that I made with the leftover apples.

Well, it may not be the prettiest pie or win any contests, but it is oh so good. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy.