Apple Pie Recipe

Apple Pie Recipe
From Scratch to Oven in 20-Minutes

Start by preheating the oven. By the time it's hot, the pie will be ready to bake.

Flaky, tender crust is " in the bag." This method of rolling the pastry inside a big plastic bag is a modern improvement on the old familiar method of rolling dough between sheets of waxed paper. It allows you to roll out pastry without adding extra flour to keep it from sticking even on a hot, humid day.

8 or 9-inch Double Crust twopies.jpg (18524 bytes)

3/4 cup Shortening
5 tablespoons cold water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425°. Place shortening, water, flour and salt in food processor bowl. Process just until dough clumps together - about 5 seconds.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a 6-inch pancake. Center one pancake inside a 13 by 15 inch plastic bag. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the countertop to hold the plastic bag in place. Smooth out the bag and begin rolling the pastry from the center out in alternating directions to form an even circle. After every few strokes, lift the top surface of the bag from the dough and smooth it down again flip the bag over and lift the other surface and smooth it down. Continue this "roll, lift, flip" pattern until your circle of dough is about one inch wider than the rim of your pie pan.
Loosen both sides of the plastic bag from the dough and slide the pie pan upside-down into the bag and center it over the circle of dough. Turn the pan and bag over so the dough rests in the pan and slide the pan and dough from the bag. Gently press the pastry into the pan and trim the edges about one half inch beyond the rim.

Filling

1/4 to 3/4 cup sugar (See Variety Note)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 cups (2 1/2 lbs) thinly sliced, pared tart apples (See Variety Note)
2 tablespoons butter

Variety Note

Exact amount of sugar depends on your taste and what apples you use. We like 1/2 cup sugar with a tart variety such as Jonathan. With sweet varieties such as Golden Delicious and Fuji, 1/4 cup sugar is plenty. Combine two or more varieties for best results.

Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Pare, core, and slice the apples with an apple peeler corer slicer. In a large bowl, toss the apple slices lightly with the sugar mixture then turn the filling into the bottom crust.
Cut the butter in small pieces and dot it over the filling.

Put the remaining dough pancake inside the bag and roll it out using the same "roll, lift, flip" routine. When the top crust is rolled, cut the bag on 3 sides and peel off the top sheet of plastic. Use the remaining sheet of plastic to turn the top crust over the filling, center it, then peel off the plastic. Trim the top crust to 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pie pan. Fold the top edge under the bottom crust and flute. Cut steam vents in the top crust. Bake about one hour or until the apples are fork-tender and the crust is golden brown.

by Jill Vorbeck of APPLESOURCE, Chapin IL 62628
(800)588-3854