I love apple season. Every year we go apple picking with the kids. This year we got a whopping total of 84 pounds of apples. I got home and realized that I had to process nearly all of them. Panic! I turned most of them into applesauce, which makes the perfect snack. I dehydrated a large batch to make apple rings. (Another great snack.) I saved one bag of red delicious in our pantry for my husband to take in his lunch and for us to munch on. And of course, I had to save some out for baking with! An apple pie was the first thing in order. And of course my favorite crumbly apple pie. And another amazing dessert. And I am still not tired of apples! The choices are endless when it comes to apples.
My husband prefers a real apple pie opposed to my favorite with a crumble topping. So of course I had to make one for him. Since I had a lot of leftover caramel sauce, I decided to jazz up the pie a bit. A drizzle of caramel with vanilla ice cream made the already delicious pie out of this world!
Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats
Apple Pie
This apple pie is bursting with orchard apples and simple spices yielding a juicy, tender pie in a flaky, buttery crust. This is ideal served warm with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
- dough enough for two crusts
- 7-8 medium/large apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon cold water (for egg wash)
- caramel sauce and/or vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the pie dough into approximately a 12-inch round. (Keep the other half of the pie dough chilled for now.) Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate, trimming the excess. Place in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sliced apples, sugars, flour, spices and lemon juice. Toss well to combine. Pour the apple mixture and accumulated juices into the bottom pie crust and use a spatula to even the top out slightly. Dot the surface of the apples with the pieces of cold butter. Roll out the remaining pie dough on a floured work surface. Roll out large enough to cover the pie. Cut out shapes in the center with a mini cookie cutter, slice to make a lattice top, or cut a few slits in the top for steam to escape*. Crimp the edges from the bottom and top crust together. Brush the top and edges of the crust with the egg wash.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet (to catch the overflow. Trust me, you don't want that on the bottom of your oven) and bake until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling, about 50-60 minutes. If the edges are browning too quickly, make a ring of tinfoil over the edge or use a pie ring to cover the sides. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature with a drizzling of caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
*If you want do pie dough roses, this is a great place to watch a how-to video. It's much easier than it looks!
