Apple Pie

I was asked to make an apple pie for Thanksgiving this year but I hadn't made one in at least 10 years. I used a Buttery Flaky Pie Crust recipe for the crust. My grandma Filomena always made delicious pies and this apple pie recipe of hers is no exception - it's simple, classic and always a hit!

Since I don't make pie often, I'm posting this recipe so I don't forget what I did the next time I go to make one. I used a mixture of apples - 1 each of Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Granny Smith. Since my pie dish is 10.5" and larger than the standard 9" dish, I made about 1.5 recipes of the pie filling below, which worked perfectly. I used 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 9 cups of sliced apples, 2 tablespoons of butter and juice from 1/2 lemon. I always bake my pies on a baking sheet just in case anything spills out of them (some butter overflowed on the sides). My pie dish is ceramic, which heats slower than glass, so I added 5 minutes on to the baking time - the apples were crispy and perfect. Everyone loved the pie!

Apple Pie

           

For 9” pie plate.

 

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

6 cups tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

Lemon juice

 

Heat oven to 425˚.

 

Stir together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix with apples. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan; dot with butter; sprinkle with lemon juice. Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it. Seal crust around the edges. Cover edge of pie with 2 or 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning of edges. REMOVE FOIL LAST 15 MINUTES OF BAKING.

Bake for 30-45 minutes.

Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

This Buttery Flaky Pie Crust Recipe is super easy to make and delicious! So far I've used it for chicken pot pie, apple pie and pecan pie. This recipe makes is enough for a double crust but it can easily be cut in half to make just one crust (that's what I do when I make a pecan pie). You can also make the dough and refrigerate it in discs for up to 5 days before rolling it out, which helps around the holidays so you don't have to do everything in one day.

Making a pie always intimidates me because I'm not good at making the crust look nice, but this recipe is so simple and always tastes delicious - that's why it's my go-to pie crust recipe!

This link also has some more great tips!

Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

Recipe courtesy Sally’s Baking Addiction

 

This recipe is enough for a double crust pie. If you only need 1 crust for your pie, cut this recipe in half OR freeze the other half per the make ahead tip instruction below.

 

2½ cups all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled) plus more as needed for shaping and rolling

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

2/3 cup vegetable shortening, chilled

½ cup ice water

 

For best results, chill all ingredients before using. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl and chill them.

 

Add the chilled and cubed butter and shortening to the chilled flour and salt mixture.

 

Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter and shortening into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal (pea-sized bits with a few larger bits of fat is OK). A pastry cutter makes this step very easy and quick.

 

Measure ½ cup of water in a cup. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure ½ cup water since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water in, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon after every Tablespoon added. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps. I always use about ½ cup of water and a little more in dry winter months (up to ¾ cup). Do not add any more water than you need.

 

Transfer the pie dough to a floured work surface. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. Form it into a ball. Cut dough in half. Flatten each half into 1-inch thick discs using your hands.

 

Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.

 

When rolling out the chilled pie dough discs to use in your pie, always use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center of the disc and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands as you go. Visible specks of butter and fat in the dough are perfectly normal and expected!

 

Proceed with the pie per your recipe’s instructions.

 

NoteS:

Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the pie dough through step 4 and freeze the discs for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using in your pie recipe.

Shortening:  I use between 2/3 and 3/4 cup of cold shortening in this dough. Lately, I find 2/3 cup (which is 10 Tbsp + 2 teaspoons) works best.

Salt: Use regular table salt. If using kosher salt, use 1¼ teaspoons.

Easy Homemade Biscuits

Biscuits are one of my most favorite foods in the whole world. I've been making drop biscuits for years, but this morning I finally tried out another biscuit recipe from my sister Maria that uses rolled out dough (rolled with your hands) and biscuit cutters. These two recipes are very similar but this one uses cold butter and the drop biscuits use melted butter. These were so good and easy to make!

Since I'm not a morning person, I mixed the dry ingredients the night before and set up my pastry board and everything I would need in the morning to make it even easier to get these in the oven quickly. I also cut the frozen butter with a box grater and then froze it in a plastic bag. All I had to do this morning was mix the butter in with the dry ingredients, add the milk, and cut the biscuits with my biscuit cutter. I made scrambled eggs while the biscuits were in the oven and my boys loved making themselves egg biscuits.

These biscuits were so good - the only thing I'll do differently next time is make a double recipe!

Easy Homemade Biscuits

Recipe courtesy “Sugar Spun Run” Blog

 

2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold (85g), unsalted European butter is ideal, but not required

¾ cup whole milk (177ml) buttermilk or 2% milk will also work

 

 

For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.

 

Preheat oven to 425° and line a cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper. Set aside.

 

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.

 

Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.

 

Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

 

Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).

 

Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable.

 

Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.

 

Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2¾" round biscuit cutter with flour.

 

Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough (do not twist it) and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.

 

Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet.

 

Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.

 

Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.

 

If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.

 

Yield: 6 biscuits.