Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

 

Say the word “pie” and probably the kind that immediately comes to mind for most people is apple pie. Who doesn’t like an apple pie, just out of the oven, warm and topped with vanilla ice cream?!! Nobody can resist that! I am talking an apple pie made with “real” apples—not using artificial-tasting canned apple pie filling.

What type of apples are best? There are a lot of strong opinions out there. Generally, though, people agree that you should use a tart apple. My favorites to use are either golden delicious or Macintosh.

I just pulled an apple pie out of the oven, and my family is now enjoying apple pie ala mode. Here’s the recipe:

OLD-FASHIONED APPLE PIE

Two crust pie pastry for 9-inch pie

6 cups peel, cored and thinly-sliced tart cooking apples (about 7 large)
½ cup golden brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose or unbleached white flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of the pie pastry. Refrigerate until ready to fill. To soften the apple slices, put them in a microwave-proof bowl and microwave on high for about 5 minutes. After a couple minutes in the microwave, take the bowl out and stir the apples before putting them back in the microwave, to ensure the apples are cooking evenly.

Remove the apples from the microwave. Stir in the sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon filling into the chilled pie shell. Dot with butter. Place top crust on trop and seal and crimp edges decoratively. Cut steam vents in the top crust. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 1 hour. If the edges start browning too fast, put aluminum foil or pastry shields on top of the crust.

The pie is done when it is slightly golden and the filling is oozing out of the steam vents. When done, remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least an hour. Tastes wonderful served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!