Old Fashion Apple Pie

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Hi everyone! Today's recipe is an "Old Fashion Apple Pie", very easy to make, no fancy flavors or ingredients, just apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and few other ingredients. It is really simple to make but it does require a lot of time. Preparation time is about 20-30 minutes, plus 30 minutes to 1 hour of waiting for the dough to chill and 1 hour of baking. So that's about 2:30 hours total. But every minute is worth it!

Makes 1 9in Pie.
Ingredients for the Crust.

• 2 cups all purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/2 cup COLD unsalted butter,


• 3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening


• 5-6 tablespoons cold water (start with 5, add 1 more if necessary)

Ingredients for the Apple Filling:

• 6 green apples (about 2½ lbs.) ( I used Granny Smith apples)


• 1½ tablespoons all purpose flour


• 1 cup granulated sugar


• ¼ teaspoon salt


• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon


• ¼ teaspoon  ground nutmeg


• 1 tablespoon lemon juice


• Zest of one lemon


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 tablespoon  unsalted butter


• 1 egg + ½ tablespoon sugar

To make the crust:
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients:  (2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, mix well.)

Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the dry ingredients.  Also add in the Vegetable shortening, mix everything with a fork, your hands or in a electric mixer; mix until you get the texture of coarse crumbs.  Then add in the water, one tablespoon at a time. Mix until you get a nice soft dough. But do not over mix.

**Remember, it is very important that the butter, vegetable shortening and water are cold. Cold ingredients will give your crust a nice flaky texture.

Make a ball with the dough, and refrigerate  it for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before using it.

30 minutes before you start baking the pie, Preheat the oven to 450oF.
 
To make the Apple filling:

Wash, peel, core and slice the apples. My slices are about ½ - ¼in thick.  Sprinkle  the apple slices with 1½ tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of salt, the zest of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, mix everything together until well combined. Set aside until ready to use.

After 30 minutes -1 hour.
Get the dough from the refrigerator and cut it in two section. Make one section slightly bigger than the other one.
Roll out the larger section of dough, on a floured surface. roll it out enough to cover a 9in pie pan.
Line the pan with the pastry and using a small knife cut any excess dough.

Fill the pie with the apple filling, try to arrange the apples in an even layer.  Dot 1 tablespoon of butter over the apple filling and set a side for a minute.

Roll out the rest of the dough, roll it out enough to cover the pie.

Make an egg wash, beat 1 egg and ½ tablespoon of sugar together, whisk together until well combined.

Brush the edges of the pie pastry with the egg wash. Then place the remaining pastry over  the apple filling and with a small knife remove any extra dough and press around the edges with your thumbs to seal both pastries together.

( To make sure my pie is completely sealed, I usually press down both pastries with my thumbs,  then fold them inwards then press down all around the edges with my thumbs again.)

Brush the surface of your pie with the egg wash. And with a small knife make a small cut on the top of the pastry to let the steam out.

Bake at 450oF for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350oF and continue to bake for 40-45 minutes or until the apples are nice and soft and the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!

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