Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

So lately I've had ZERO time to do anything other than work and school.  Life has been very hectic and crazy.  Hopefully I'll be able to still post now and again with recipes.  But honestly, I only feel inspired every now and then.  Especially with the little time I do have to experiment.  Holidays always gets me excited to bake.  Hence, the reason for the Apple Pie that I made.  I was craving a project.  Making a pie can either be a pain in the butt or therapeutic.  And this time, it was SUPER therapeutic for me! I loved making this pie.  I tweaked my crust recipe a bit.  I used butter instead of shortening.  WOW! what a difference.  The flavor is amazing.  I also have an apple machine that peels and slices the apples perfectly.  So, all in all a very enjoyable experience.  It's all about having the right tools.  So I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com and I made sure to read the comments because they typically have great suggestions to improve the recipe.  So here it is---

Pie Crust Recipe

makes 2 crusts

2.5 c flour

3/4 c salted butter**, diced (cold/ refrigerated)

2 Tbsp sugar

6-7 Tbsp ice cold water

Pie filling & Glaze

6-7 apples, (more if you want that mound in the middle)*

cinnamon sugar,  to sprinkle on the apples

1/2 c salted butter**

3 Tbsp flour

1/4 c water

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

**I used Fuji apples.  That's what I had in my fridge.  And it tasted AMAZING! Typically, apple pies call for Granny Smith Apples.  

**I prefer salted butter because it adds more flavor, but regular butter is fine as well.

Instructions:

1. In a medium size bowl, cut butter into 2.5 c flour ( I like the old fashion way)
2. After 5-10 minutes of cutting in the butter, use your hands to crumble the butter and flour to helps it mix more evenly.
3. Mix in 2 Tbsp of sugar.
4. Add 6-7 Tbsp of ice cold water (Mine needed 7 Tbsp). Mix carefully with a fork.
5. Use your hands to add warmth to the dough to knead it a little in the bowl, and dough should start to form together into a ball.
6. Wrap dough in plastic warp and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
7. In the meantime, slice and cut apples.
8. Get out refrigerated dough, flour counter and rolling pin.
9. Cut out 2/3 of dough.  Roll out dough and carefully place it on *greased* pie dish.
10. layer apples inside the pie dish.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over apples.
11. Roll out remaining crust for lattice top. Lay on top of apples.
12. GLAZE: In a sauce pan, melt 1/2 c butter, add 3 Tbsp flour, 1/4 c water, 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c brown sugar. Bring to a boil.  Quickly lower heat and allow to simmer until thickened.
13. Slowly pour Glaze over pie.  Make sure to get all the holes filled with the glaze.***
14. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour ( Be sure to use a baking sheet to place under the pie to prevent any spill over.) ****
15. Allow pie to sit at room temperate for about an hour to set.

***It was suggested that you pour the glaze over the apples before you layer the crust on top.  But mine turned out just fine with the glaze only poured over the crust.  So it's up to you.
****I was shocked my baking sheet only had 2 drops.  But still it's better to be safe than sorry.  Wouldn't want to have to scrub your oven.

I'm SOOOO glad I finally tried this recipe.  Every time I would like for a pie recipe to try, this one would pop up.  I love how pretty the glaze makes the pie look.  The glaze gives the pie such a pretty golden color.  Hands down, BEST PIE I'VE EVER TASTED. 

I dare you to try it :)

Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Streusel

I love the traditional pumpkin pie but I like to change it up a bit for Thanksgiving.

My mom would always try something a bit different each year which I liked because 

I LOVED everything my mom would make each Thanksgiving and plus I'm not a picky eater.  

So if the stuffing had apples or sausage that year then I would gladly eat it.  

Everything Thanksgiving was delicious in the Martin home!

The other day I was watching Bobby Flay's Throwdown episode for Pumpkin Pie.  His opponent (Michele Albano) made a pumpkin pie with pecan streusel.  I was sold right away because I love pecans AND this year I was in charge of baking the pies and I wanted DELICIOUS pies.  

The only ingredient I wasn't happy with was the Maple syrup.  I didn't want to go out and buy a $16 bottle, so instead I just used regular syrup which works perfectly fine as well. 

source: Michele Albano

Ingredients:

1 frozen, unbaked deep dish pie crust (9")

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 c heavy cream
• 1 c Grade B maple syrup*
• 3 large eggs, beaten

Streusel Topping

• 3/4 c pecans, chopped
• 1/4 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced, cold

*I used regular pancake syrup

Instructions

1. For the pecan streusel, toss 3/4 c pecans, 1/4 c dark brown sugar, 2 Tbsp flour and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
2. Dice 2 Tbsp butter and add butter using finger tips to blend it into the pecan mix, until mixture forms small clumps.  Set aside.
3. For pie filling, beat 2 c pumpkin puree, 2 Tbsp flour, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt.
4. Add 1 1/4 c heavy cream and 1 c maple syrup.  Beat in 3 eggs.
5. Pour mixture into 9" deep dish pie crust.
6. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Turn down oven to 350 degrees and bake for additional 30 minutes.
7. Take out pie and crumble pecan streusel on top and bake for 12 minutes.
8. Cool completely on wire rack and SERVE!

Instructions with pictures

For the pecan streusel, toss 3/4 c pecans, 1/4 c dark brown sugar, 

2 Tbsp flour and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

Dice 2 Tbsp butter and add butter using finger tips to blend 

it into the pecan mix, until mixture forms small clumps.  Set aside.

For pie filling, beat 2 c pumpkin puree, 2 Tbsp flour, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt.

Add 1 1/4 c heavy cream and 1 c maple syrup.  Beat in 3 eggs.

Pour mixture into 9" deep dish pie crust.

Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.  

Turn down oven to 350 degrees and bake for additional 30 minutes.

Take out pie and crumble pecan streusel on top and bake for 12 minutes.

Cool completely on wire rack and SERVE!

Thanksgiving

This is my NO-Fail Apple Pie that I made for Thanksgiving Day!

This is my 4th or 5th time using this same crust on different pies and I LOOOVE it soo much because usually the crust is supposed to be the hardest part 

but NOT my crust recipe. It's super easy and comes out beautifully every time!

You can find the apple pie recipe below:

Apple Pie Recipe

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  

Ours was very relaxing without any travelling :)

We spent Thanksgiving with Blake's family which is nice because we all live relatively close by.

I can always count on a delicious Thanksgiving with the Larsons 

with their family recipes of their stuffing and rolls they make every year!  

And there's always plenty of leftovers but by the end of the week it's usually gone!

Because we love eating it all weekend.

My favorite part of this Thanksgiving was having my Sister, JULIA join us!

We've been having a blast together!

Last night we even did some Black Friday Shopping....and it was INSANE!

I underestimated the Black Friday excitement, more like scaryness of people!

We only had one stop and that was Kohls.

The line literally wrapped around Golds Gym which was 3 stores down.  I couldn't believe it.

When we approached the line, people were yelling "Get in the back of the line!" 

I guess because people were cutting in line.  

I didn't mind, I just wanted the yelling to stop!

So when we finally grabbed our stuff we got in line which literally wrapped around the whole store. 

It took us 5 minutes to even find the end of the line.

It was crazy but everyone was curteous, saying excuse me and such.

So no pushing and no FIGHTS broke out even though Julia and I wanted to see one.

So that was my 1st actual Black Friday experience and it will probably be my last :)

Graveyard Ice Cream Pie

My sister Julia requested I make her an Ice-cream Pie for her Birthday!

I wanted to go all out on this pie for her, with it being October and all!

I decided to make a Graveyard Ice Cream Pie!

For the crust, I use Rice Krispies!

It is absolutely delicious!

You can find the Rice Krispies Ice Cream Pie recipe HERE.

What you need:

5 Milano cookies
4 Mellowcreme pumpkins
2 Ghost Marshmallow Peeps
10-12 Double stuffed Chocolate Oreos
1/4 c Chocolate sauce
2/3 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1/4 c White chocolate chips, melted, for scribing "RIP"
toothpicks, for sticking ghosts in pie


Instructions:

After you've assembled the crust and Ice-cream:
Keep Ice Cream pie in freezer, while you prepare your decorations.

1. In a bowl, melt 2/3 c chocolate chips in microwave for 1 minute, continue until melted.
2. Dip 5 Milano cookies until covered, lay on wax paper on a baking sheet.
3. Melt 1/4 c white chocolate chips in a sealed ziploc bag for 30 seconds at a time until melted.
4. Cut tip off and drizzle "RIP" onto each chocolate covered Milano cookie. Freeze for 20 minutes.
5. In a food processor, Pulse 10-12 Oreos until crushed but still chunky.
6. In a bowl, add 1/4 c chocolate sauce to Crushed Oreos and mix with a spoon.
7. Take ice cream pie out of freezer. Spread Oreo Chocolate mixture over pie.
8. Take out "RIP" cookies and stick it into the pie, Add Mellowcreme pumpkins.
9. Take a couple toothpicks and stick Ghost marshmallow peeps into the pie.
10. Freeze until ready to eat.
11. Thaw for 10 minutes to slice and SERVE!

 

 This pie is so incredibly easy, just have fun with it!

Homemade Apple Pie

Happy first day of FALL!

I decided to start off with this delicious Apple Pie.

I absolutely LOVE this Crust recipe!  

It turns out GREAT every time!

The key is to cover your pie with foil the last 25 minutes.

That way it keeps that nice golden color.

The crust has a pinch of sweetness to it which is nice with the warm, cinnamon/nutmeg apples!

Not kidding, probably the tastiest apple pie I've ever tried.

Ingredients:

makes 2 crusts

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c shortening
2 Tbsp sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 Tbsp milk, to glaze

Filling
6 medium sized apples
juice of 1 lemon or lemon juice
1/2 c sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

1. Sift 2 1/2 c flour and 1/2 tsp salt.  
2. Cut in 3/4 c shortening with 2 butter knives. Rub shortening into the flour until crumbs form.  
3. Add 2 Tbsp sugar.  Pour in 7 Tbsp ice water, mix lightly with fork.
4. Press crumbs to form a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. While dough is refrigerating, peel, cut and slice apples into medium-size slices.
6. Add lemon juice enough to coat, 1/2 c sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Toss to coat.
7. Take refrigerated crust, flour the counter and roll out 2/3 of dough to fit a little larger than 9 " pie dish.  Trim off extra dough.
8. Pour apples into 9" pie dish. Roll out remaining dough and lay on top of apples.
9. Cut an X in the middle and pull back the point of each triangle.
10. Dust top of pie with sugar.
11. Refrigerate pie for 30 minutes to get firm.
12. Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  THEN turn down oven to 350 degrees COVER entire pie with foil and bake for additional 25 minutes.
13. Let pie cool for 30-45 minutes before serving to help it set.

Instructions with pictures

Sift 2 1/2 c flour and 1/2 tsp salt.  

Cut 3/4 c shortening into flour with 2 butter knives. Rub shortening into the flour until crumbs form. 

Add 2 Tbsp sugar.  Pour in 7 Tbsp ice water, mix lightly with fork.

Press crumbs to form a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While dough is refrigerating, peel, cut and slice apples into medium-size slices.

Add lemon juice enough to coat, 1/2 c sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.
Toss to coat.

Take refrigerated crust, flour the counter and roll out 2/3 of dough to fit a little larger than 9 " pie dish.

Trim off extra dough.

Pour apples into 9" pie dish. TOP with remaining dough.

With a pastry brush, glaze pie with milk to give it a golden crust.

Cut an X in the middle and pull back the point of each triangle.
Dust pie with sugar!

Refrigerate pie for 30 minutes to get firm.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  THEN turn down oven to 350 degrees COVER entire pie with foil and bake for additional 25 minutes.

Let pie cool for 30-45 minutes before serving to help it set.

Rice Krispies Ice-Cream Pie

This is my all-time-favorite Childhood dessert. 

My mom would make it for each of our birthdays in my family of 7 kids.

I don't remember requesting any other birthday dessert...it's that delicious!

The Rice Krispies crust truly is the best part of this pie 

and sets it apart from any other ice-cream pies.

As you can tell, no baking involved...this is super easy!

AND

This pie has very special significance

~This is My Husband's Birthday Ice-Cream Pie~

 to my most Favorite Person in the World!!

Ingredients:

1/4 c corn syrup
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 1/2 c Rice Krispies
1.75* quart vanilla ice-cream (or any ice-cream)
12 fun size crushed Butterfinger candies (my hubby's favorite candy) 
Magic shell to drizzle (or any toppings)

*I only used 3/4 of the ice-cream


Instructions:

1. Butter a 9" pie dish.
2. Combine 1/4 c corn syrup, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 2 Tbsp butter into a saucepan on Medium heat.
3. Whisk mixture until it comes to a boil. Remove from stove.
4. Add 2 1/2 c Rice Krispies.  Stir until Rice Krispies are well coated.
5. Pour Rice Krispies into 9" pie dish. Press evenly into buttered dish to form crust.

This part is totally up to you.  

Have fun with it! Add your favorite Ice-cream, Candies and Toppings!

Look at pictures below to see what I did!

LASTLY: Freeze pie until firm.  Let ice-cream pie stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

Instructions with pictures

Take out ice-cream to let it thaw, while you prepare crust.

Butter a 9" pie dish

Combine 1/4 c corn syrup, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 2 Tbsp butter into a saucepan on Medium heat.

Stir mixture until it comes to a boil. Remove from stove.

Add 2 1/2 c Rice Krispies.  Stir until Rice Krispies are well coated.

Pour Rice Krispies into 9" pie dish. Press evenly into buttered dish to form crust.

The rest is optional, pick favorite ice-cream, candies and toppings!

Here's what I did:

Freeze pie until firm
When ready to eat, let it thaw 10 minutes.

Blackberry Pie

Our dear friend Betty dropped off two huge bags filled with yummy blackberries!  Berries are so expensive, so I was very excited.  I decided to make my family a Blackberry Pie for our Sunday meal!  

In my family, pie is more of a celebratory dessert.  We have pies mainly for Christmas and Thanksgiving.  So this is a fun and rare treat to have.  

They're just so classy and beautiful looking! 

Ingredients:

2.5 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup vegetable shortening

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp milk, to glaze

For the filling:

6 cups of blackberries (or any kind of berries, or mixed)

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

1 tsp of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

3 tbsp of Corn Starch

Instructions:

1. Pour 2 1/2 c flour and 1/2 tsp salt into bowl.  Add 3/4 c shortening, cutting it in with 2 knives, 3-5 minutes.
2. With your fingertips, rub shortening into the flour to make it more crumbly.
3. Add 2 Tbsp sugar.  Pour in 6 Tbsp of ICE WATER.
4. Mix lightly with a fork.
5. Press crumbs into a ball.  Roll it around for a little bit to make the ball nice and smooth.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
6. Sprinkle flour onto your counter so your dough doesn't stick (use 2/3 of dough for bottom crust).  Rub your rolling pin with flour too.
7. Roll dough onto your rolling pin so you can easily transfer it to your pie dish.
8. Trim off any excess dough on the edges with a knife.
9. FILLING: Add 6 cups of blackberries, 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and 3 Tbsp of Corn Starch.  Mix carefully and let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Pour filling into pie dish.
10. Take your leftover dough and create a top for your pie. 
11. Make sure you cut an "X" or something into the pie to let the steam escape.
12. Bake in the oven for 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  THEN turn down your oven to 350 degrees, you're going to grab some foil and cover the top of the pie and cook for an additional 30 minutes!

Instructions with pictures

Pour 2 1/2 c flour and 1/2 tsp salt into bowl.  Add 3/4 c shortening, cutting it in with 2 knives, 3-5 minutes.

I know, so old school.  But it really is fun! Plus I don't have a food processor :(

With your fingertips, rub shortening into the flour to make it more crumbly and it helps aerate it.

GET YO' HANDS DIRTY!

Add 2 Tbsp sugar.  Pour in 6 Tbsp of ICE WATER.

Mix lightly with a fork.

Press crumbs into a ball.  Roll it around for a little bit to make the ball nice and smooth.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle flour onto your counter so your dough doesn't stick (use 2/3 of dough for bottom crust).  Rub your rolling pin with flour too.
I like to roll the dough, sprinkle flour on dough, then turn it over and repeat.  
Turn over a couple times so your dough doesn't stick to the counter.


Now roll your dough onto your rolling pin so you can easily transfer it to your pie dish.
This part is quite tricky sometimes.

Trim off any excess dough on the edges with a knife.



FILLING: you will add 6 cups of blackberries, 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and 3 Tbsp of Corn Starch.
Mix carefully and let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Pour filling into pie dish.

Take your leftover dough and create a top for your pie.  I love to do a lattice top but I was afraid the blueberries would bubble over with all it's juices. So I did a regular top.  But you can do so many cute cut-outs to lay out on top of your pie.

Make sure you cut an "X" or something into the pie to let the steam escape.
Again, you can do any cute designs.

Bake in the oven for 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  THEN turn down your oven to 350 degrees, you're going to grab some foil and cover the top of the pie and cook for an additional 30 minutes!

Voilà!

Your pie is done. You can take a deep breath now!  Pies can be scary but, when all said and done you can be pretty freaken proud of yourself for what you accomplished!

With Love,

Laura