It sounds so daunting, or at least, it did to me before I made one. Homemade Apple Pie with homemade crust? That’s a lost art, reserved only for down-home, legit, grandma types. Sorry grandma, I’m hip to your jive and making a homemade apple pie is, well, easy as pie!
Oh wait…now I know why they use that expression…
Homemade Apple Pie
It is important to lay out some ground rules before embarking on a homemade apple pie. First, and foremost, know that there are as many opinions about the “right way” to make a pie crust and filling as the day is long. I went through fourteen rounds of testing on pies and this was the ultimate winner in my humble opinion. I go with a butter crust. Some folks are all about the oil, other shortening, others a combo. I love butter and get the flakiness that I adore doing this recipe with straight up butter.
The other trick is to use a high quality butter, like Kerrygold, and make sure it’s super duper cold. Cold butter when making the dough, refrigerating the dough after handling, all keys to a perfect flaky crust. When the butter’s cold, it stays in little chunks within the crust, so when it starts to bake in the hot oven, they leave little butter cavities in the crust giving you that perfect texture.
I also think this recipe is a bazillion times easier when using a food processor. You can definitely do it by hand, but using a food processor makes things go quickly, keeping the butter cold. The only pain in the neck, really, is cleaning the food processor. I hate cleaning that thing…
Otherwise, the trick with pie is practice, practice, practice. Make a few, get some experience and you’ll be ready for the holidays!
[tasty-recipe id=”6941″]
