Apple Pie

Labor day weekend just passed and fall is officially on its way. For me, that means bring on the apple and pumpkin desserts. I went apple picking over the weekend and the first thing I wanted to whip up was an apple pie to kick off the fall dessert frenzy. This recipe comes from what i consider the bible of baking, "Baking Illustrated". It is a must have book for anyone who likes to bake.

Ingredients:
2 batches of pie dough (see post below for pie dough recipe)
7 apples, peeled and sliced (i usually mix mcintosh and granny smith, or mcintosh and cortland)
2 tbsp flour
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1/4 + 1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch of grated lemon zest
1 egg white, beaten

- Preheat oven to 500
- Roll out pie dough and place into pie pan, keep refrigerated until ready to fill.
- In a bowl combine 3/4 c sugar, flour, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, and salt.
- Peel and slice apples and put them in another bowl.
- Add lemon juice and zest to apples and toss so they are coated.

- Add dry ingredients to bowl of apples and toss to coat.
- Pour apple mixture into pie pan
- Roll out the second batch of pie dough and place on top of apple mixture.
- Cut off excess dough along pie pan
- Using a fork, press along edges of pie to seal the dough
- Using a knife, make four slits in the middle of the pie dough, this lets the heat/steam escape.
- Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg whites
- Mix the 1 tbsp sugar + 1/8 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle all over the top of the pie.

- Place pie pan on top of a cookie sheet to protect oven if the juices boil over, reduce oven heat to 425 and place the pie in the oven.
- Bake at 425 for 25 minutes then rotate pie and reduce heat to 375. Bake for another 30 minutes until a nice golden brown.
-Let apple pie set for at least 4 hours then enjoy!!



Apple pie filling recipe from Baking Illusted. Pie Dough from Williams Sonoma.