Apple Pie with Homemade Pie Crust

The next APPLE recipe I made was apple pie. I just had to make apple pie with all those apples we picked. It's my husband, Ryan's, favorite type of pie, and he grew up loving his grandmother/mother's family recipe. I actually never made apple pie, so I asked for their family recipe since it is delicious and I know my hubby loves it - he can relive his childhood a bit and I could use those apples, a win-win. I tweaked the recipe just a bit by adding vanilla extract and making my own pie crust from scratch. It's well worth enjoying the fruits of your labor, but of course this can be done with store bought pie dough.










Ingredients for pie crust:

• 2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 Sticks of Cold, Unsalted Butter - cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 6 tbs Ice Cold Water

Ingredients for filling:

• 5-7 Tart Apples, Peeled and Sliced Thin
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 2 tbs All-purpose Flour 
• Dash salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 tbs Butter or Margarine, melted

Start by making the pie crust:

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add in the cubed cold butter and pulse until mixture is crumbly.

Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse until dough begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. Too much water will make the crust tough though, so go easy.

Remove dough from the food processor, and place it on a clean surface. Smash the dough with the palm of your hand a few times for an extra flaky crust.  Do not over-knead. 

Gently shape the dough into a disk. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour (and up to 2 days).

Now make the pie filling:
Peel and slice apples thin, set aside.

Mix together sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add in the melted butter and vanilla and mix utill well blended. 

Add in the apples and mix until all apples are well coated with the filling mixture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove the pie crust dough from the refrigerator and cut into two even pieces. Shape each half into two round disks, this way when you roll it out, it will be easier to make a perfect circle.  

Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to an approximately 12-inch circle, about 1/8 of an inch thick. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. 

Carefully place onto your greased 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough 1/2 inch off the edge of the pie dish if needed. Add filling to the pie.

Roll out the second disk the same exact way and size. Place this top layer over the pie.

Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. 

Press the edges with a fork. Slice the top of the pie with two 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

Place pie on a baking sheet. Bake in 400 degree oven for approximately 50 minutes. Cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Since Fall is upon us,  we decided to go apple and pumpkin picking with our friends and dogs - it's only the right thing to do in early October. We went to Melick's Orchard in Oldwick, NJ, all decked out in flannels. We got to pick all different types of apples, pumpkins, and gourds. My husband and I some how came home with 35 pounds of apples. In addition to eating an apple a day, I had to cook with them too... the first thing I made with them was apple cake. I almost think I like it better than apple pie, believe it or not, and it is way easier to make. Here's how it's done...

Ingredients: 9 inch pan (round or square is fine) - I made two, so I made one of each.

• 4 cups Apples, peeled and cut into cubes
• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup Canola Oil
• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup White Granulated Sugar
• 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon 
• Zest of 1/2 of a Lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 inch square or round pan.

Mix the eggs and oil in a bowl with an electric mixer or whisk by hand. 

Add the cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, lemon zest and mix well. 

Add in the flour, salt, baking soda and whisk until well-blended. 

Fold in the apples. The batter is very thick so you will need a heavy duty spatula or you can mix it by hand.

Pour the batter into your greased pan and bake for 45 minutes or until it is done. Stab it with a knife, if it comes out dry then it is done.

 Let cool for 15-20 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar to decorate before serving.

Waffles from Scratch

So it's been more than a few months since my last recipe blog... Truth be told, I had a lot going on with buying a home, getting a little puppy, planning my wedding and honeymoon. My free time was allocated to doing all of those other important life things. Now that everything has settled down, I wanted to open up my blog posting again with something fabulous and comforting for the new Fall season. This morning we made homemade waffles, so I figured I should share this one first.
This recipe is from my mother-in-law's family recipe book. The waffles are super fluffy, tasty, and quick to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 8 Waffles

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs, yolks and whites separated: yolks, beaten/whites, beaten until stiff and frothy
• 1/3 cups vegetable oil (I use canola oil)
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I use non-fat to make them lighter)
• Waffle maker!

Measure drying ingredients into large mixing bowl and whisk together.

Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl until they are fluffy and stiff. Use an electric mixer if you have one! 

Combine egg yolks, milk, and vegetable oil in another bowl. (3 bowls total).

Add the egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until all the chunks are gone.

Carefully fold in the fluffy egg whites.

 

The batter is now ready.

Pour 1/2 cup of batter into pre-heated griddle for each square.

Close and let them cook until ready. You can change the setting on the griddle to make them as dark or light as you please.

Vuala - homemade waffles in less than 20 minutes. 

Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar-Almond Topping

This was my contribution to our family Thanksgiving dinner. The idea came to mind because I had multiple cans of pumpkin and limited Fall time to use them. I've been getting more into baking lately, and this was my first attempt in making a pie crust from scratch. It's a lot of work and time consuming, but tastes so much better than store-bought crust - so it's definitely worth it.

Ingredients: For one 9-inch pie

Cream Cheese Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tbs for surface
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 cup cold water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 4 oz cold cream cheese, cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Combine the water and vinegar in a small bowl. In a separate bowl or standing mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Mix in the pieces of butter and cream cheese into the flour until it resembles a chunky crumb texture.

Next, slowly add in the water mixture and stir until the dough begins to hold together.

Add the 1 tsp of flour to your surface, and press the dough into a disk shape with your hands or rolling pin. Flip so both sides are coated with extra flour. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or more before cooking. While this is setting, make the filling and topping.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Evenly roll out the dough to fit in your 9-inch pie glass pie dish. Grease pie dish and carefully place in the dough. Fold the edges over and crimp with a fork for decoration.

Line crust with greased aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights (if you are nerdy and have these). You can use nuts or dried beans for pie weights. I used hazel nuts - toasted my nuts and made my pie at the same time, killing 2 birds with one stone! Bake for 20 minutes.

Gently remove the foil and weights. Return crust to oven and continue baking until crust is golden brown around the edges, about another 15-20 minutes. Press down with a spoon if it starts to bubble. Cool crust for 10 minutes.

Topping:

• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt

Combine the ingredients in a food processor or chopper so the nuts get chopped, but remain chunky. Set aside.

Filling:

• 1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground cloves
• 2 tbs Grand Marnier liquor
• 1/2 tsp orange zest

Whisk the eggs with the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin and whipping cream and mix until ingredients are well blended. Next, mix in the grand marnier and orange zest.

Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees, about 40 minutes, until center is firm. Cover the crust with foil if it is browning quickly. After 40 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Evenly sprinkle on the topping and continue baking about 15 minutes longer. Let pie cool completely, about 1 hour before eating. Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep pie refrigerated.