APPLE PIE
Crust:
1 3/4 cup flour
3 TBL sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 2 TBL butter or margarine
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice, approximately
Filling:
1 2/3 cups sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
8 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored & sliced

Topping:
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 TBL cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

For the crust: Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon 7 salt in a large bowl. add the butter & cut in using 2 forks or a pastry blender. Add the apple cider or juice & toss until moistened. You might need 1 to 2 tsp more to make the dough easy to work. Roll out to make a single crust & place in a 10" pie plate. Build up the sides & flute the edges. Cover w/plastic wrap while making the filling.

For the filling: Beat the sour cream, sugar, flour, egg, vanilla & salt. Stir in the apples & pour into the prepared crust. Bake in a preheated 450 oven 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350° & continue baking until the filling is slightly puffed & golden brown, about 45 minutes.

To make the topping: combine the walnuts, flour both sugars, cinnamon & salt in a small bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the pie & bake for 15 more minutes.~~

Thank you Ginger. This looks interesting. Do you put the topping on the last 15 minutes or after the pie as baked 55 minutes. Thanks again...

You're welcome. Bake an additional 15 minutes but keep an eye on it anyway since ovens vary. Hope you like it.

I judged the Apple Pie Contest at the Hillsborough County Fair for several years. Normally, a crumb topping pie will not win a prize. You should ask for a copy of the rules & regulations before developing your recipe. I did make an "Award Of Merit" to a Dutch Apple Pie once made by an eleven year old girl 'cause it was so delicious & I wanted to encourage her to continue her baking. But, I couldn't give her a ribbon 'cause it wasn't a two crust pie.

Here's a "secret" ingredient that will completely solve the problem of runny fruit pies.

triciae, I couldn't see that "secret" ingredient and I need it. I just had a runny cherry pie and I have inlaws coming to visit.

Thanks!

Mom has always made it best!

CRUST:

2c. all-purpose unbleached flour
1 t. salt
1/4 c. cold water
11T Crisco shortening (not oil!)

Mix flour and salt. Add 1/3 c. of this flour mixture to water, stirring to mix well. Blend the Crisco into the remaining flour, then add water/flour mixture. Flour hands and roll into 2 balls. Roll out crust on floured work surface.

APPLE PIE:
2 T. flour, divided
6-7 apples (Granny Smith work the best!)
2/3 - 3/4 c. sugar
dash salt
dash nutmeg
cinnamon - I don't measure, but I'm guessing a couple tsps.
butter

Sprinkle 1 T. flour on bottom of unbaked pie crust. Pile in the apples (at least 2" higher than rim of pie plate). Sprinkle with 1 T. flour. Add sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Dot with butter. Lay 2nd crust on top, wrapping edges of top pie crust OVER edges of bottom crust, cutting off any extra. Pinch to crimp around the edge. Poke a few holes in top with a fork to allow steam to escape. Wrap edge of crust with sheet strip or cheesecloth or foil. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes, then 400° for 45 minutes.

I'm just a lurker, but could I make a suggestion? Add a little vinegar to the ice water for the crust, and add a small amount of icing sugar too. Also, add a little lemon juice to the filling.

You're not a lurker now! Welcome!

I just love apple pie! Since a child, it has been my favorite dessert, and I have been on a quest to create a "Simply Perfect Apple Pie" for more than 25 years. My grandmother was a fine baker and I eagerly awaited her apple pies each fall.
I began pie-making with her recipe. Yet, as my palate became more sophisticated over the years, I yearned for a pastry crust that zinged, that was tender, buttery but not crumbly or pasty, and for a filling I wanted apples that sang in my mouth, not mushy nor watery, but slightly tangy without puckering. In essence, a pie that could stand on its own merit before being crowned or cloaked in any cream, be it iced or whipped.

Drum Roll!

*** Recipe From Renée Adler Aschers Kitchen ***

"Simply Perfect Apple Pie"

The Pastry - For one 9-inch or 10-inch double crust

Ingredients;
9 tbs. chilled unsalted butter
6 tbs. (1/4 cup) chilled vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (measured after sifting
1 cup whole wheat flour* (see note) (measured after whisking lightly to loosen)
Dash of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup ice cold water (more added as needed, a teaspoon at a time)

* I prefer to use Arrowhead Mills® Whole Grain Pastry Flour (readily available at specialty or health food stores in the Tri-State area)

Pie Crust Instructions: NOTE: For the best crust, be sure to use a glass pie plate (Pyrex)

Processor method (Preferred)
Put flour and salt in processor with steel blade and pulse on and off 2 times. Add butter cut into several pieces and process 5 times. Add shortening to processor bowl and pulse on and off again until mixture resembles coarse meal with many pieces on the large side.
Add the 1/2-cup of water and pulse no more than 9 to 10 times or until the dough just begins to gather together. Add more water one-tablespoon at a time if necessary. Quickly remove, gather loose pieces together, and form into disks dividing dough making one part slightly larger for bottom of double crust pie. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight. If chilled more than one hour, it is important to soften dough at room temperature a short time until workable before rolling.
(Hand method Combine flours & salt in bowl. Cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients using 2 knives or working quickly with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal with some large sized pieces. Add 1/2-cup water, tossing with a fork. If needed, add more water a teaspoon at a time until dough holds together and forms a ball. Divide dough as above, refrigerate.)

Meanwhile make filling

The Filling for a 9" to 10" pie depending on preference for a thicker or thinner filling
Ingredients:
5 to 6 large Granny Smith apples (about 2-1/2 lbs.) peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced approximately 1/4-inch thick

1 tbs. strained lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Large dash of freshly grated nutmeg (or powdered)
Dash sea salt
2 tbs. flour

2 tbs. unsalted butter
Sugar for sprinkling crust

Preheat oven to 400º
Mix apple slices with lemon juice
Mix together the sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour; add to apple slices, and stir to coat evenly
Roll out the bottom pie crust (as above)
Line pie plate with bottom pastry
Fill with apple mixture, dot with butter.
Roll out top crust
Moisten rim of bottom pastry, adjust top crust
Cut slits for steam to escape, seal and flute
Decorate, if desired with motifs cut from pastry dough and moistened on the underside before placing.
Sprinkle top with sugar
Place on a thin baking sheet.
Bake in the center of the oven about 50 to 55 minutes. Test with pick for tenderness of apples. Cook additional time as needed, testing every 5 minutes until done
Watch crust, if necessary cover edges carefully with foil to prevent burning if cooked
beyond 50 min.

An apple pie is all about the apples! The best pies are made from Jonathens or Mackintosh. They have more of a true apple flavor.
My "best" apple pie is made with lard!
2/3 cup of lard
2 cups of all porpose flour
1 1/2 tsps salt and
8 T water.
Cut the lard into the salted flour, toss with the water until it hangs together make 2 flat rounds and chill about 20 minutes.
Roll out one round to fit a 9 inch pie plate ( I prefer pottery, but glass is second best) now for the apples....
Five nice big jonathin apples is about right for a pie ( they are not as big as granny smith apples.) NOW IS THE TIME TO TURN ON THE OVEN TO 425
peel, core and slice the apples and place in the crust as you go....mound it high, they will cook down.
When your crust is over filled, mix..
2 T flour with
1/3 cup flour ( I like a tart pie!)
Sprinkle the top of the apples with about 1 tsp cinnamon and a few gratings of nut meg ( less than 1/4 tsp). sprinkle on the sugar flour mix....dot with about 2 T butter and roll out the top crust and lay it on.
Now....here's where I am fussy.....the bottom crust must be bigger than the top and the bottom crust folded over the top....so if anything leaks out it won't go between the crust and the pie shell and burn and cause the pie to stick.
Cut slits in the top for the steam to escape.....and if you wish a shiny top, brush with cream or whole milk...I usually don't...I like that slightly floury home made country pie look.
Bake for 10 minutes at 425, turn the oven down without opening the door to 375 and bake another 25 to 30 minutes. Check to see if it's browned and you can see the filling bubbling in the vent slits you cut.....may need another 7 to 10 minutes. I usually figure 35 minutes to bake a pie.
This is a tart pie....suitable for serving with a piece of sharp chedder!
Linda C

Oh let's just meet up in October and bake all these pies..I'm drooling thinking about them.

You all get here, I'll host. Apples on me. Wine too.

I always use canola oil for my crust and it is nice and flakey. I also sprinkle the top of the crust with a small mixture of cinnamon and sugar before baking.

Mary, would you share your recipe?

Great Idea Bubbe....I'll bring the lard for the crust!!!!!
Linda C

Great Idea Bubbe....I'll bring the lard for the crust!!!!!
Linda C

I have always used this recipe from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook from thirty yrs. ago. The section on pies is getting to look pretty beat up! :)
Perfect Apple Pie

6 to 8 tart apples, pared, cored, and thinly sliced (6 cups)
3/4 to 1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon -I use one
Dash ground nutmeg
If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with about 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour,spices, and dash salt; mix with apples. Put in pastry lined pie pan and dot with 2 tbsp. butter. Adjust top crust , cutting slits for escape of steam. Seal and sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or till done.
For a two crust pie I use 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of canola oil and just enough ice water to make the dough. I use a marble rolling pin and that helps make the crust thinner.

Ginger, your recipe sounds good, I plan on trying that instead of always making the double crust for something different.

Thanks, Mary. I'd like to try that crust as sometimes my crusts come out just perfect & other times, they're "eh."