Fall is here, and it's apple picking season! So, my family and I visited County Line Orchard and Radke's Orchard, in northwest Indiana, a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, though, it is slim pickings in the orchards this season. There was a warm spring and then a late frost, which destroyed many orchards' crops. So I need to make the most of the apples that we managed to pick. First on my list, to put these apples to good use, is to make apple pie!
Apple Pie
makes a 9-inch pie
pie dough2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 sticks of butter, diced
1/4 teaspoon of salt
about 1/4 cup of ice water
pie filling
about 9 medium sized apples
1/2 cup of craisins
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Directions
1. Combine, in a large bowl, the flour, butter, and salt either by using your hands or a pastry cutter. Once the mixture becomes crumbly, incorporate the water. Combine the flour mixture and water, by hand, until the dough holds together. If the dough is still crumbly, add a bit more water accordingly. Then divide the dough in half, form them into disks, wrap them in plastic wrap, and let them chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. To make the pie filling, first peel, core, and slice the apples. In a large bowl, combine the apples, craisins, sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and lemon juice. Toss together until the apples are well coated. Set this aside.
4. Take out both disks of dough. Lightly flour your rolling surface, and roll out one disk into a circle that will fit your pie pan. Place the dough in the pie pan, and let whatever excess dough hang over the edges of the pan.
5. Pour the pie filling into the pie pan.
6. Roll out the other disk of dough large enough to cover the top of your pie. Then cover the pie with the dough. Trim excess dough from the edges, crimp or pinch the edges, and cut a few slits into the top of the pie dough. (For my pie, I opted to create a lattice design for the top and used a fork to crimp the edges.)
7. Place the pie in the oven, and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the pie dough has turned golden brown. Remove the pie from the oven, and let it cool. Then serve, eat, and enjoy!
P.S. Keep a look out for my next project to make use of these apples. Caramel apples are on their way!
As always, nicely done. You take awesome pictures.
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