Classic Apple Pie!

Since it's the beginning of the wonderful season of fall, I decided to go with a classic, and make Apple Pie!
-Recipe courtesy of the Joy of Baking (75th edition), with some tweeks by me.

The recipe for the dough of the crust and lattice is dedicated to Iris, whom I met last night. She questioned how to make a good crust because her store-bought crusts always burn. Iris, buying crusts ends today! 

Dough for crust and top:

*this makes a 9-inch double crust, if you do not want a top (such as a cover or lattice), cut the recipe in half.

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup chilled vegetable shortening
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground flaxseed (optional)
• 2 teaspoons good quality cinnamon (optional)

Mix the flour, salt together. Add ground flaxseed and cinnamon if you opted for it and mix. Put in the shortening and butter into the flour mixture and "cut" the shortening and butter into the mixture. You can either use a pastry blender or 2 forks, but I prefer to use my hands and mix the mixture until pea-sized balls come together. (I squeeze the butter and shortening in my hands as I mix it thoroughly.) When the dough has reached pea-sized balls, sprinkle in 6 tablespoons of ice water. Blend gently until the dough comes together into a ball. If you're doing the double crusts, cut the dough in half. If necessary, add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of ice water into the dough. If it's too crumbly and won't stick together, add a bit of ice water and knead. Cover each piece of dough in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 


While the dough is resting in the refrigerator, prep the filling.

• 2 1/2 pounds pounds apples (5 to 6 large)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Prep the apples by peeling, coring, and slicing and put into a large bowl. Place the sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt into the bowl with the apples. Toss to coat the apple slices evenly. Let stand for 15 minutes for the apples to soften.

Preheat oven at 425 degrees. After 30 minutes of resting, unwrap the dough and place on a flat, clean surface. You may place some flour on the surface to keep the dough from sticking. (Use a pastry mat, if you have it.) Roll out to a 10-inches circle. Place the dough into a 9-inch pie pan. Poke holes on the bottom of the dough with a fork and place either another pie pan on top or a bag of beans to keep the dough from rising up. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes.  Cool completely after baking. 

After the crust has cooled, put the apple filling into the pie pan. Level the top with a spoon. Place the cubed unsalted butter (and cinnamon, if you want to) on top of the apple filling. If you opted for the top crust, design as you may like! I used an egg wash over the top of the lattice to brown it. If not, place the pie into the oven at 425 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees and place a baking sheet below the pie to catch any spill-overs. Bake for another 30 minutes. Cool completely after baking. Your patient will be rewarded! Enjoy!

Pros:
My husband is not an apple-pie fan, but he loved it! It's not too sweet and a prefect combination with vanilla ice cream. I really liked this pie. I was very happy that it came out! The one I made last year was way too runny. 


Cons:
None! 


-Feel free to comment below! Enjoy making the recipe!