Apple Pie

Thanksgiving Day Apple Pie

The perfect apple pie recipe, from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.  I used 2 large Granny Smith apples and 3 large Fuji apples, to combine sweet and tartness.

Bittman's Butter Crust

Ingredients for 1 pie crust (double recipe for a 2-crust apple pie
1 1/8 cups (5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 8 or more pieces
3-4 Tbsp ice water


Directions

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and butter in a food processor.  Pulse until it has the texture of cornmeal, about 10 seconds.  Place the mixture in a bowl and sprinkle with 3 Tbsp ice water.  Gather dough into a ball, and place on a sheet of plastic wrap.  Knead and flatten dough into a small disk (about 5-6 inches).  Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or freezer for 10 minutes to harden, to ease rolling.

Roll out dough in between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.  Peel off top layer and transfer to a pie dish.  Peel off bottom layer of paper.

Flattening the pie crust.  Keeping small chunks of butter makes crust flakier

Apple Pie

1/4 cup granulated or brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

5 to 6 apples (combine Granny Smith with a sweeter cooking apple, like Fuji)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2-crust, 9-inch pie shell

Milk to brush over top of crust

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Peel and core the apples and cut them into 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick slices. Toss the apples and lemon juice with the sugar-spice mixture and cornstarch.

2. Pile the apples into the bottom crust, making the pile a little higher in the center than at the sides. Cover with the top crust. Crimp the edges with a form or your fingers.

3. Put the pie on baking sheet and brush the top lightly with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Use a sharp paring knife to cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 40-50 minutes, or until the pie is golden brown. Cool on a rack before serving warm or at room temperature.

Filling the pie with apples

Top crust

Baked pie

Eaten pie!