Aunt Ave's Perfect Apple Pie

Treat your sheltered peeps to pie!

My Aunt Ave came to visit us for Thanksgiving a few years ago and we did a lot of cooking together. I sat at the kitchen counter and watched her whip together pies for Thanksgiving dinner - and with such ease. My kitchen smelled great.

However, we are sheltering at home, not preparing for Thanksgiving right now. While sheltering, I am trying to make small quantities of everything so I am not wasting anything. Below is her “perfect” recipe which I used to make mini pies in small tart tins. For mini pies, reduce the heat to 375˚ and bake for 30 minutes.

Double Crust (for one 9-inch Pyrex pie plate)

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (King Arthur works best and it has 4 grams of protein)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 3/4 cup crisco

• 6 tablespoons ice cold water

Preparation

• Use a pastry blender to combine flour, salt, sugar and shortening until it looks like course meal

• Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and work with hands until dough comes together

• Divide dough in half and flatten into two discs - layer with parchment paper

• Refrigerate for 1 hour [or at least 10 minutes - an hour seems like a long time]

• Roll each disc into a flat 12-inch circle between 2 pieces of wax paper

• Fit and press one pastry circle into the pie plate and trim extra dough that hangs too far over

Filling

Ingredients

• 3/4-1 c sugar (depending on sweetness of apples)

• 2 tablespoon flour

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 7 cups (about 5-6) thinly sliced pared baking apples (about 2 1/2 lb) - use Honey Crisp, Rome, Pink Lady or Granny Smith

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons butter (cut into small pieces)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425˚

• Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in small bowl

• In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; add sugar mixture

• Line a pie dish with the first piece of pastry

• Turn apple mixture into pastry-lined pie plate

• Mound up high in center

• Tuck small pieces of butter under apples

• Carefully place second pastry on top of apples

• Use the top of a wooden spoon handle to crimp dough together

• Pierce some holes or slots for steam to escape [ You can get artsy here. Layer on your extra dough pieces with some design]

• Place pie on lowest shelf of oven for 45-50 minutes

• Bake until apples are fork-tender and crust is golden

Option:

• Use ready-made pie crust (usually 8-inch) - this option is always available and A-ok. Kind of like doing pushups on your knees - totally acceptable.

• Decrease amount of apples (about 4-5)

Crumb Topping Alternative

• 1 cup flour

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

• Use a pastry blender to combine into small chunks

• Press down on top of apples and bake