Four Fruit Pies

Have you ever made a pie at home? (No, frozen ones don't count ;)) Pies have a daunting reputation, but really, anyone with a couple of pie tins, a roller, and a bit of time can bake up this delicious "fall" treat!

You'll need:

Equipment

• four eight inch pie tins
• food processor
• spoon and fork
• rolling pin
• pizza cutter and/or knife
• oven
• bowl
• plastic wrap

Ingredients for Pie Crust

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cold butter
• 1 cup cold vegetable shortening
• 3 tsp salt
• 1-1 1/4 cup ice cold water

This dough recipe will make about six bottom crusts or three complete pies, but with lattice top crusts and crumble toppings, you'll have more than enough.

Ingredients for Crumble Topping

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Pie Filling

• 2 cans peach pie filling
• 2 cans apple pie filling
• 2 cans blueberry pie filling
• 2 cans cherry pie filling

You can use any flavor pie filing you want-- you could also make your own!

Egg Wash

• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• granulated sugar (optional)

A food processor is an extremely useful tool in making pie crusts--just be careful with the sharp blades!

Cube your butter and shortening and place in the food processor with flour and salt. Pulse until thoroughly combined and slightly sandy in texture. Make sure that the mixture stays cold during this process so that the butter and shortening do not melt--chill dough=flaky crust.

Once combined, slowly add in water until your reach desired consistency. Transfer dough onto a floured surface and cut dough into six equal amounts. Wrap each of these in plastic wrap and store in fridge when not in use.

Roll out one section thin on a floured surface and transfer into a pie tin. For crumble pies, pinch the crusts up around the tin. For crust topped pies, cut around the tin.

Chill your pie crusts in the refrigerator while you heat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk together the egg and milk in a bowl. Once your oven is preheated, poke your fork into the pie crusts to allow air to escape. Brush the egg wash over the crusts and place in oven for 10 minutes.

Be careful not to burn yourself when taking the crusts out of the oven!

I drain the liquid from one of the cans of fruit to increase the fruit to syrup ratio, but this is completely optional and up to your personal preference. Fill the crusts evenly with your canned or homemade filling.

Note: If your homemade filling is not cooked, oven times will likely need to be greatly increased.

Mix all your oatmeal crumble topping ingredients well in a mixing bowl. Transfer onto two of your pies-- I put mine on my blueberry and peach pies.

Brush the outer crust with your prepared egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Carefully place your pies in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Then decrease temperature to 350 and bake for another 25 minutes. Baking at an initial higher temperature prevents a soggy crust!

Roll out more prepared dough on a floured surface. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut dough into strips of desired thickness. Weave the strips on the pie by pulling back the top layers.

Using the same rolling and cutting technique, you can also braid the dough for a pretty rim. Leaves and berries can be cut out using a knife and placed directly onto the pie.

Brush egg wash over all of the dough and sprinkle with sugar.

Carefully place pies into oven heated at 450 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, or until crusts begin to brown.

Like with the other pies, this change in temperature prevents a soggy crust!

Once taken out of the oven, allow pies to cool forat least an hour to allow fruit to set and to avoid burning yourself.

Sit back and enjoy a slice of pie--consider going a la mode with a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream! Mmm...

I hope you found this tutorial helpful!