When you look for recipes, there seem to be 1000 of them for the same thing. How do you pick the best one? Maybe you have a go-to blog or you just wing it. We have indeed tried both. We have found, however, in our 1000+ hours of baking that sometimes you need to Frankenstein some recipes to get the best ones.
For example, our Dad wanted an Apple Pie for his Birthday. Ask and we shall deliver. We liked the apple combination from one recipe but not the apple filling prep part of it, and we did not like the sugar ratios for that recipe but we liked it for another. Also, Fun Fact, our dad hates cinnamon... Apple Pie and Cinnamon go hand in hand so we had to figure that one out too.
Thus we have the Frankenstein Apple Pie Recipe that will now be THE apple pie recipe in our house. We combined the NYT Cooking (Melissa Clark) Apple Pie Recipe with the Magnolia Bakery Handbook- Double Crust Apple Pie Recipe. Also, we hate making pie crust. You can look through both recipes to see which one you like best!
Ingredients
3 Granny Smith Apples
4 Gala Apples
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White Sugar
2 tbsp butter
3 tbs Cornstarch
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tbsp White Sugar + 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, mix for topping
1 9-inch pie crust shell (we used the frozen kind from the store)
1 9-inch pie dough (we also used frozen for this)
1 Egg White + 1 tbsp Water, egg wash
Directions
Start by peeling, coring, and cutting your apples. Cut 1/4-1/2 in. slices after you peel the apples. They do not have to be exact!
Place apples in a bowl and add lemon juice and toss apples with the juice
In a medium bowl, mix together brown and white sugars.
Mix in salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add apples to the pot.
Mix and let cook for 5 minutes
Add in the sugar mixture and stir until all the apples are coated
Lower heat to low-medium and place a lid a little more than halfway over the pot
Let the apples cook for 20 minutes. They should be floppy but still, be able to hold their shape. Check back frequently around the 15-minute mark to see if they have reached this texture. If you like your filling softer cook for another 2 minutes. If you like your filling more firm, cook for less time.
Spread the apple mixture on a baking sheet so it is completely cool. This should take 20-30 minutes.
Place another clean baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 F
Take your pie shell AND pie dough out of the freezer and let stand at room temp for 10 minutes
Sprinkle your lemon zest over the apples and mix to combine
Unravel and unfold your pie dough and carefully brush the egg wash mixture onto the shell
Carefully fill your pie shell with the apple filling. Make sure to make all the apples fit like puzzle pieces. Try to avoid any big gaps.
Place the pie dough circle on top of your filled shell and crimp the edges so the pie filling does not leak out of the sides. Cut off any hanging dough.
Cut 4 slits in the middle of your pie. These will be the steam holes.
Brush with more egg wash and sprinkle your cinnamon sugar topping on top
Place your unbaked pie in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Place on the heated cookie sheet for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, check if the top crust is golden brown. If it is, go ahead and place a piece of foil over the pie
Lower temperature to 375 for 30 minutes.
Remove pie on the sheet and let cool for 2-4 hours before serving
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