Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Today was nothing shy of perfect - a wonderful day spent with loved ones that was filled with gorgeous, sunshiny weather and fabulous food.
I am the absolute queen of procrastination and made my first (and only) Thanksgiving grocery store trip at 12:00 PM when I had to meet my family for dinner at 4:00 PM. One day I'll get it together... but honestly, everything tastes better when it's made at the last minute (okay... I just made that up... but just pretend it makes sense).
Anywho, I volunteered to make two dishes - baked mac n cheese (UGHHHH MY FAVORITE!) and I was also able to squeeze in this homemade apple pie! This was only my second time ever making a pie. My first attempt was last summer - blueberry pie - and I totally butchered it. It was edible... and tasted alright... but man oh man was it ugly. I decided to try to wipe my slate clean and said, "Hey, what the heck, let's make a pie today!"
Crust:
- 2 packs of Pillsbury pie dough sheets (comes with 2 each)
Filling:
- 1, 3-pound bag of Red Delicious apples (chopped and peeled)
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons of grated lemon peels
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- 1 pinch of nutmeg (to taste)
- 1 pinch of cinnamon (to taste)
Directions:
First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Next begin to prepare your apples for the filling. I have one of those handy dandy thingamabobs that cut out the core of the apple and divides it into 8 separate wedges. From there, all I have to do is cut the peel off of each wedge and thinly slice them (about 4 slices per wedge). Add each of the other ingredients into a bowl and toss them together until you have a uniform mixture (I just use a cheese grater to zest the lemon peels).
Lightly coat a pie pan with nonstick spray. Lay out some flour on a hard surface, pat some on your hands, and roll out one sheet of dough. Shape it into the bottom of the pie pan, kneading the edges to mold to the top of the pan. Next, add in the filling. Use another sheet of dough to form the lattice on top of the filling. Cut each slice about 1" thick and place them diagonally on top of the filling. Place the remaining pieces diagonally in the opposite direction and weave them in an over-and-under motion to achieve the lattice pattern.
This part can be optional, but I think it adds the cutest final touch and is the perfect way to achieve a festive fall/Thanksgiving theme! Use one final sheet of dough to cut out leaves for the crust. My mom got me this set of leaf-shaped cookie cutters so I'm not sure where these particular ones are from, but I've seen similar ones at multiple home good stores. I just used 2 out of the 4 leaf designs - one around the outside of the crust and another in the middle of the pie.
Mix a little bit of olive oil and milk together and brush it along the top of the pie once it is complete. Wrap aluminum foil around the outside edge of the crust before placing the pie in the middle rack of the oven - it's a lot thinner than the middle of the pie and will begin to brown at a much faster rate. This prevents it from getting all bizzurnt and what not... ain't nobody got time for that. Lastly, pop that sucker in the oven! Cooking time will be roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Allow it to cool down before serving - it tastes greaaaatttt with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top!
Enjoy! :)