Basically the Best Apple Pie Ever...

I really hate when people use hyperbole to describe inconsequential things; however, it just might be appropriate in this case. With apple season right around the corner, I thought I'd share this apple pie recipe that I've been perfecting-ly tweaking for the last few months (again, I've had a lot of time on my hands due to that whole "there are no intelligible beings in my life with which to interact between the hours or 7 a.m. and 5 p.m....therefore I bake a lot). The crust recipe is a variation from my dad's semi-famous pie crust and the filling recipe is modified from an allrecipes.com find. This really is the best apple pie I've ever had. And now, I offer you the chance to try it.

Note: you should not eat this pie if you are interested in things like losing weight, not consuming sugar, feeling good about your eating habits or are allergic to eating three slices of pie in one sitting.

I also apologize for not picking up my camera until about halfway through this process. Sometimes I'm a stress-case when I bake.

Thus we begin:

Preheat oven to 425*

For the Crust:
2 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbl sugar
2/3 cup shortening
5-7 tbl cold water
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tbl apple cider vinegar

Mix flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter (or two knives), cut in shortening until pea-sized crumbs begin to form. Sprinkle water, egg and cider over top of dough and with your hands, combine until a soft dough begins to form (it will be slightly crumbly). Split dough into two mounds, with one mound being ever-so-slightly larger than the other.

Take the larger dough and on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out to desired circle size. Gently fold the dough into quarters and place inside pie pan; unfold and press gently into pan and cut off any extra sides.

For the filling:
apple mix:
6 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced
1 tbl cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
sauce:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup apple cider or apple juice
3 tbl AP flour

For the apples: toss apples in a bowl with cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into prepared pie shell.



For the sauce: melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer five minutes or until thickened.



Next, pour the sauce over the top of the apple mixture, making sure to coat the apples as evenly as possible.



Roll out your remaining pie crust dough, and if desired, punch out meaningless shapes and set the shapes aside.



With water, wet the top part of the dough all along the rim of the pie pan. Again, fold the top pie crust into fourths and place on top of apples and gently unfold.





Granted, you really don't have to do this decor portion. You could simply cut slits in the top of a normal pie crust...but why would you do that?

Seal edges of pie crust with fingers or a fork and cut away any excess dough.

And now just because it's even more obnoxious, take those punch outs, dab some water on the back of them and place them lovingly on and around the pie.



Now pop that baby in the oven for 15 minutes at 425*. Then reduce heat to 350* and bake for 30-40 minutes more or until pie is bubbly.

Finally, remove, slice and eat. I didn't even get a good picture of the finished product because I was so distracted by how tasty this pie was.



Obviously, you should serve this pie with ice cream. Or, if you're feeling particularly evil, you could even toss some cut-up caramel pieces on top of the apple filling before you put the top crust on. Ooooor you could use a crumb topping. All those things would be swell and guilt-filled experiences. K...besos!