Home Cooking: Amazing Apple Pie

The first apple pie I made was when I was 18 years old. I went out in the middle of the night and picked apples off the tree just outside my college dorm (which we had been warned not to do) and stayed up to bake my pie in the kitchen on our floor. My roommate, friends, and I quickly devoured the pie the following day, and I’ve stuck to the recipe ever since, a crust filled to almost overflowing with sliced apples, topped with a simple mixture of flour, sugar, and cinnamon and a few butter slices over everything.

This year, however, I wanted to try something different for our Thanksgiving dessert, so I read what seemed like a hundred recipes trying to find a new recipe for apple pie. Most of the one I read were similar to my old standard, but I also kept coming across one called Apple Pie by Grandma Ople, enough times that I finally decided this was the one I had to try.

The big difference in this recipe is that apple slices are topped with a boiled mixture of butter, flour, and white and brown sugars versus the traditional mix of sugar, flour, and cinnamon topped with a few slices of butter under the top crust. I used tart Jonathan apples on my first try at Thanksgiving, but any tart apple variety will do, and I went with Granny Smith for my second go-round at Christmas and thought they made for a much tastier pie. The Jonathan apples were also a bit small – I used eight but another four would have made it better. My crust was a premade one from Aldi; however, the top crust is too small for my pie plate so K cut out shapes and we layered them over the top. Also, I like cinnamon in my apple pie so I added about a 1/2 teaspoon to the butter-sugar mixture and that was just enough for me and not enough to bother people who don’t care for cinnamon.

Overall, this pie was easy to make, and the result? Ooh la la! I can’t imagine ever making an apple pie any other way.

APPLE PIE BY GRANDMA OPLE

• 8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into slices – I cut my apples into 12 slices, not too thin, not too thick.
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 TBSP unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 white sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• optional: 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
• 1 9″ double pie crust

Preheat over to 425 degrees.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and blend in, stirring to form a paste, Cook for around 1-2 minutes until it smells buttery, then add both sugars and the water, and stir until everything is blended together. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Fill the pie crust to heaping with the sliced apples. Use the top crust to form a tight lattice, or use cut out shapes from the top crust to cover the apples.

Slowly and gently pour the butter and sugar mixture over the top crust, making sure it seeps into the pie. A bit of the syrup can also be brushed on top, making sure it doesn’t go down the side.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake until the apples are soft, around 35-45 minutes. If the crust edges are getting too brown, cover them with strips of foil until the pie is done.

Let the pie cool, and enjoy warm or cool with ice cream if desired. Makes 8 slices.