Comfort In A Crust
Nothing says home like fresh apple pie warm out of the oven. Hands down, apple pie is the favorite food of our household. Apple pie is excellent for dessert, for breakfast, for a quick snack with a cup of coffee, or as a side dish to delicately smoked pork. While apple pie is at its peak of perfection when the apples are fresh from the trees in the fall, it is just as wonderful made year-round with your standard off-the-shelf apple. Start with the crust of your choice, add the filling, top with another crust or a streusel topping and bake away. In one hour’s time, you have an oozing plate of comfort–perfect for any occasion.
Basic Apple Pie
2 disks pie dough of your choice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, cut into tiny pieces
6 cups tart apple slices
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured surface–lay one piece in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate, reserve the second piece of dough for the top if using.
Lightly mix sugars, cinnamon, cornstarch, and lemon juice with the apples. Heap into pastry lined pie pan and dot with butter.
Cover with topping crust; cut slits to allow steam to escape. Alternately, sprinkle apple filling with a streusel made from 1/3 cup flour, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ cup of butter, combined.
Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350° and continue baking 45-60 minutes, or until filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
