Apple Pie

I hope that everyone is ready for Thanksgiving! It's one of my favorite holidays, and I love getting together with family. Apple pie is a staple at Thanksgiving dinners, and this recipe is so easy to make! You can easily buy pie dough or a pre-made pie crust to make this even more simple. Pies take time, so make sure you start a few hours before you need it to make sure it's ready. A lot of the time is chilling in the fridge, so it's not too bad. And the measuring isn't too bad either. Just make sure that you make the pie crust correctly, not too wet from the water, but not too crumbly and dry. A pie crust should be flaky.




I found the recipe from Lil Luna and slightly altered it to fit my needs.
I'm so excited to bring this to Thanksgiving dinner this year, and attempt at a creative relish tray, hopefully that goes well too.


Ingredients
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup cold water
2 tsp. sugar




For the filling:
7 Gala apples
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup apple juice or apple cider
2 Tbsp. bottled lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º F
2. Start with the crust by mixing the flour and salt together
3. Add shortening and mix with hands to form crumb-like mixture
4. In a small bowl, beat the egg and water together and add to flour mixture
5. Mix together until you have workable dough, adding more flour if needed
6. Make sure the dough isn't too wet or dry- forming a flaky crust
7. Pull dough apart into two pieces, form into balls and flatter, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 30 minutes
8. While chilling, start the filling
9. Mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch in a saucepan on the stove, add in apple juice and lemon- stir frequently- when it starts boiling, place in a bowl and chill in the fridge
10. Peel and core the apples, cutting slices about 1/4 inches. I use my apple cutter from Pampered Chef after peeling and then slice those individual slices into 4-5 smaller ones. 
11. Put apples in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, stir, and then another two minutes 
12. Add apples to chilled sugar and apple juice mixture and chill in fridge
13. Take one ball of dough and form into a circle, make sure it's about 1 inch wider than the pie tin you're using
14. Lightly fold into fourths to place on the bottom of pie tin and use your thumb to press it down so it's even and there are no air bubbles
15. Choose which type of pie crust you want for the top, a flat top, or decorated, form as needed
16. Add apple mixture to pie tin and cover with top crust, roll bottom crust edges on top and finish decoration as needed
17. Bake for 20 minutes, leave pie in oven and turn temperature to 350º and make for another 30-40 minutes
18. Top with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!