Super Easy Apple Pie

After our Apple Picking Trip in Shenandoah Valley I looked at our 3 large bags of apples and thought, I should bake a pie! Ironic timing because my friend Alicia of Letters of Style baked a pie over the weekend, so it was perfect for a collaboration! Keep reading for the recipe I used, photos along the way and Alicia’s recipe!

I’ve tried many pie recipes in the past, most of them were great, but after a long weekend, I just wanted to use one that was quick and simple. This recipe was super easy. Easy enough that I was able to put it all together while I was making dinner and have it ready just in time for dessert and a movie in the living room 🙂

Here’s what you’ll need

Ingredients
1 box of ready-made Pie Crust
5 cups of thinly sliced apples
3/4 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of cake spices (Penzy Spices) (nutmeg can be used in place of this)
3 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of butter (not melted)

I love being able to bust out my neat apple peeler/corer/spiraler! It saves so much time and keeps my workspace manageable and cleaner than if I had at those apples with a vegetable peeler and knife. (Thanks JJ of At the Brickyard for introducing me to this magical device!)

After slicing all of my apples, I added the lemon juice to them to keep them from browning further before baking.

In a bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients (sugar, spices, cinnamon, salt, and flour) then toss your apple slices in it till they’re all coated.

This step can be done in the beginning. Unroll one of your ready to use pie crusts and press it into your pie pan. If you decide to create your own pie crust, more power to you!

Probably the most exciting part of the prepping process, pouring the apple filling into the pie crust! I actually had a little extra pie filling left-over that didn’t fit and probably could have gone with using one less apple than I did as I used a few large red delicious apples in the mix.

Now it’s time to unroll the other ready to use pie crust in the box. Cover your pie, press the sides however you’d like (fluting, folded, pleated, get fancy with it!) and then cut a few slits in the top .

Bake your pie at 425°F in the oven for 20 mins, then take some foil, cover the edges of the pie so they don’t get burned, and bake for another 20 mins.

Let the pie cool a bit and then its time to serve! I had mine with some vanilla ice cream 🙂

Here are all of the steps in an easy to read list
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Unroll Pie crust onto a pie pan and press gently along the sizes and bottom to form crust to the pan.
3. Slice apples. Pour lemon juice on apple slices to keep from browning
4. In a bowl, mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, cake spices, and flour.
5. Mix apples into powdered mixture.
6. Pour pie filling into pie-crust-lined pan.
7. Arrange butter slices spread out evenly over pie filling.
8. Cover pie with second pie crust. Press edges and flute to seal. Cut several slits on the top of crust.
9. Bake pie for 20mins
10. After 20 mins, cover edges of pie with foil and continue to bake pie for another 20 mins.
11. Let cool before serving. Enjoy!

Below are Letters of Style ‘s photos and recipe. Don’t forget to check out her blog to see more photos of how her pie turned out!

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 a teaspoon of fine salt
2 sticks of butter unsalted ( equivalent to one cup ) it’s okay you’ll survive
1/2 a tablespoon of sugar
10 tablespoons of ice cold water add more if dough is too dry
3 red apples
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon of sugar

9″ inch pie pan

Apples:
Peel apples and slice too thin pieces as in photo. Add brown sugar cinnamon and regular sugar. Mix ingredients with a spoon until ingredients are well coated on the apples and let’s sit in room temperature for 20 minutes. There should be some liquid at the bottom of the bowl from the apples, then separate the liquid and save it for later as a topcoat and bottom coat for your apple pie crust.

Crust:
Whisk 3 cups of all-purpose flour and half a teaspoon of fine salt. Chop butter into small square pieces. Toss in the two sticks of butter into the flour that are chopped up into tiny square pieces or tiny balls. Mix ingredients with hands and hand mix butter with flour until it becomes crumbly and the butter is downsized to very pea size pieces. Now add ice cold water of 10 tablespoons and additional if dough is still dry after mixing with your hands. Get those hands dirty! Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.

Cooking:
Preheat oven to 450°F and place rack in lower third. Coat pie pan with butter or baking spray. Let the pie bake at 450°F for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375°F and let bake for 40 to 50 minutes until crust is golden but not too cold just right. Let cool grab some ice cream or gelato and enjoy!