Apple Pie From Scratch

Baking a delicious apple pie from scratch is easy to do. Here is an apple pie recipe that is both easy and sure to please. This is one of my favorite things to make for Thanksgiving - or simply - for the heck of it. This time around I made it with apples I picked myself. You don't need to pick your own apples, but if you can, I recommend it. It's much more fun than picking out apples from the supermarket.

Before you start, it is important to get an assortment of different kinds of apples. Throwing golden delicious into the mix is always a good choice.

For the filling:
6 Assorted apples
1 Tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 Tablespoon (real) maple syrup (not pictured)
1 Tablespoon of cold butter (chopped)
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
(1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon peel - optional)

For the crust (top and bottom):
4 cups flours
2 sticks cold butter (1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup ice water

When making this pie, I made two separate balls of dough. One for the top, and one for the bottom.

Alternately, I could have made one large ball of dough, and then separated it into two smaller balls.

For the the first ball, we will mix together 2 cups of flour and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

Once the salt and flour are sifted, the next step is to slice a stick of cold butter into small pieces and mix them in with a pastry blender.

Set aside the butter wrapper.

Mix ice cold water into the dough one tablespoon at a time.

Start pressing the dough together with a fork. With each subsequent tablespoon of water, as it begins to bind, mix it together with your hands.

Continue adding water until the dough can be formed into a ball.

Wipe the butter wrapper around on the inside of the pan to grease it.

Place the ball of dough on a well floured surface.

With a floured rolling pin, spread out the dough into a large circle.

Transfer the dough to the pan, and press it into the bottom.

Trim away any dough that extends past the edge of the pan.

For best results, lightly tap the dough on the bottom of the pan with a fork.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave the pie crust in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Repeating the process you have just followed to make the bottom pie crust, make another one for the top. Stick this in the refrigerator as well when you are done.

Peel and slice the apples.

Place the slices in the pie crust.

Mix together all of the filling ingredients with the apples.

Place the dough topping over the top of the pie, and trim it to the edge of the pan.

Cut slits into the dough topping with a sharp knife so that the pie can breathe in the oven.

With a pastry brush, coat the top of the dough with milk. This will give it a nice golden crust.

Bake the pie at 425 degrees for about fifty minutes with the top covered in aluminum foil. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top turns a nice golden brown.

Once it is the right color, remove it and leave it on the stove top to cool.

After about an hour (or so), your pie should be cool enough to serve and eat.

You made a pie.

Hooray!