My Grandmother's Apple Pie

2:18 PM Apple Pie , Apples , Butter , Cinnamon , Flour , Nutmeg , Pate Brisee , Pie Crust , Sugar 0 Comments

This apple pie is the ultimate comfort food. It was originally my grandmother's recipe, who taught my mother how to make and who subsequently taught me how to make. I grew up eating this apple pie and trust me... no apple pie can compare to this, once you've had it; you'll never buy a store-bought pie again.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

To begin, you make the pie crusts first. You can absolutely use store-bought pastry dough that come two in a box, but that's cheating in my eyes. I just can't do it! This pie crust recipe is to die for. It's better than any pie crust from a store-bought pie you'll ever have. Really!

1 Pate Brisee Dough Recipe

Apple Pie Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash salt
6 cups thinly sliced apples (I prefer Gala; I don't like tart green apples)
2 Tbs butter, cubed into 8 pieces

When I make the filling, I blend together the sugar, flour, spices and salt. That way, when I'm peeling and cutting the apples, I can add them right to the mixture (mixing occasionally) so they don't begin to brown. You do not need lemon juice for this apple pie if you prepare the filling this way. The lemon juice only stops the apples from browning.

When the filling mixture is complete, roll out one part of the pie crust dough into a circle 1/8" thick. Place into an non-greased pie dish and fill with the apple mixture. Distribute the cubes of butter on top of the apple mixture. This will give the pie some moisture as well as extra flavor. Roll out the second piece of doll to the same thickness and place on top, cutting off excess dough and crimping the edges so it's completely sealed. Unsealed edges will result in bubbling filling spilling out of the sides and a smokey mess billowing out of your oven! If you want to play it safe, you can place a cookie sheet on the rack below the pie. Make sure to cut an X slit in the top middle of the pie so steam can escape.

Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes, until the crust begins to brown and juices bubble from the slit in the top. If at any time throughout baking the crust begins to brown too fast, you can place foil on top to prevent any further browning.

Let the pie sit and cool before immediately cutting right into it. The filling will ooze out everywhere and it'll be a mess, if it isn't given an opportunity to properly set. Enjoy!

Mini Pecan Pies

11:18 PM Butter , Corn Syrup , Eggs , Flour , Mini Pecan Pies , Pate Brisee , Pecans , Pie Crust , Salt , Sugar , Vanilla 0 Comments

I came up with the idea for these mini pecan pies when deciding on the Thanksgiving menu a week ago. I figured there would be hundreds of recipes online for these perfect little pecan pies. I found a few, made some adjustments to my liking and I came out with this recipe. Everyone that had these at Thanksgiving LOVED them! I had made a test batch for some workers we had at the house on the week prior to Thanksgiving, and they loved them as well! I heard praise after praise so these tiny little pies were definitely a success! They're perfect for those not wanting an entire piece of pie too! The recipe is as follows:

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tbs flour
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 Pate Brisee dough recipe

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Roll out dough to a 1/8" thickness. Using a circle cookie-cutter approximately 3 inches in diameter, cut out circles and place into muffin pans. Pre-bake the dough without any filling in the oven for 5 minutes, and no longer! Pre-baking the dough ensures that it's thoroughly cooked. Greasing the muffin pan isn't necessary at all, unless otherwise preferred, as there is plenty of butter in the Pate Brisee dough. I have already made this recipe a handful of times and I have never greased my pans.

Step 3: Combine all other ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Make sure the melted butter is neither hot nor added directly to the beaten eggs, or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.

Step 4: Fill the pre-baked pastry with pie filling, to the same height as in the picture above (almost entirely to the top). Bake for about 10 minutes, or until done. The mixture will bubble and may rise a bit, but it will deflate back down when taken out of the oven and left to cool.

This recipe has yielded approximately 34 mini pecan pies. This can vary depending on the size of your cookie cutter (if larger) and how much filling you add to the pies.

Enjoy and let me know how you liked it! :)