Homemade Apple Pie

Jason brought home a giant bag of apples left over from the football game on Saturday. We're talking close to a bushel. He walks in with it at 1am Sunday morning and I asked him what we were going to do with all those apples and he says, quite sweetly, "I thought maybe you could make an apple pie..." Or twenty lol But yes, apple pie sounded perfect, and since yesterday was the first day of autumn, it was quite the appropriate way to kick off the beginning of my favorite season.

Now, I love to bake. And I've made many a pie. But oddly enough, I've only made apple pie once before with my Aunt Connie when I was in college. I remember it being fairly simple to construct, but the trick was to find a recipe that has a lot of flavor because apples that are good to cook with are fairly bland. I scanned through a few recipes online, and after confirming that the base ingredients were all pretty similar, I decided to go with this one from Smitten Kitchen. I've made a few of her things before and they've always been delicious and full of flavor. Thanks to the review she did on her own pie recipe, I made a few changes to kick up the spice factor, and am I ever glad I did! This pie was GOOD. Like seriously good. Also, I normally make my own crust. I have this awesome recipe that always gets rave reviews from family and friends, but I ended up getting a late start so I went with store bought. We picked Marie Callender's crusts because I always loved their pies growing up and I thought they'd be a safe bet. Thankfully, I was right -- this is definitely going to be my go-to-in-a-pinch crust when I don't have the time or energy to make my own. Win! You can use whatever pie crust you prefer, bought or made from scratch. Smitten Kitchen's original recipe called for using a lattice top pie crust but she later recanted that decision, after discovering that the pie collapsed in on itself a bit after the apples cooked down, taking the lattice top with it. Again, thanks to her review, I went with a traditional pie top and mine baked beautifully. Okay, let's get to it!

Homemade Apple Pie
Adapted from a recipe by Smitten Kitchen

Pie top - if using frozen store-bought (you'll need two pie crusts total)
--Invert one of the pie crusts onto a piece of wax paper. Let thaw for 20 minutes, or until pliable. Put the other crust (the bottom) in the fridge.
Pie top - if using a "from scratch" recipe
--Prepare as indicated in the recipe you are using, taking care to use a recipe that makes enough for top and bottom crusts, and place top crust on fruit when filling is added to the pie bottom. 

Fruit mixture

3 1/2 pounds apples (braeburn, honeycrisp, pink lady, golden delicious, granny smith - works out to about 8 medium sized apples), peeled, cored and sliced (about 12 slices per apple)
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 lightly beaten egg white (optional)
1 tbsp white sugar

1.) Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat rimmed baking sheet and oven to 500°F.
2.) If using homemade dough (should be divided in to two sections, for top and bottom) - Roll one section of dough on lightly floured work surface or between two large sheets of plastic wrap to 12-inch disk. Transfer dough to pie plate by rolling dough around rolling pin and unrolling over 9 1/2-inch pie plate or by folding dough in quarters, then placing dough point in center of pie plate and unfolding. Working around circumference of pie plate, ease dough into pan corners by gently lifting dough edges with one hand while pressing around pan bottom with other hand. Leave dough that overhangs lip of plate in place; refrigerate dough-lined pie plate.
3.) In a large bowl, toss apples slices with lemon juice. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, flour, salt and spices. Toss dry ingredients with apples. Turn fruit mixture, including resulting juices, into chilled pie shell and mound slightly in center.
4.) If using store bought crust - inverted pie crust should be thawed and pliable. Carefully remove from wax paper and place over fruit mixture. Seal edges by gently pinching the two crust edges together with your fingers. Cut an 'X' in the center and make 4 smaller cuts around the surface of the top crust. Lightly brush top crust with egg white and sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar.

If using homemade crust - Roll out second section of dough to 12-inch disk and place over filling. Trim top and bottom edges to 1/2-inch beyond pan lip. Tuck this rim of dough underneath itself so that folded edge is flush with pan lip. Pinch edging together with fingers or press with fork tines to seal. Cut four slits on dough top. {If pie dough is very soft, place in freezer for 10 minutes.} Lightly brush top crust with egg white and sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar.
5.) Place pie on baking sheet and lower oven temperature to 425°F. Bake until top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate pie and reduce oven temperature to 375°F; continue baking until juices bubble and crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes longer. **If you notice that the top is getting too brown too fast, cover with a layer of tin foil**
6.) Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature, or at least 1-2 hours. Serve just as is, or a la mode (or favorite way to enjoy apple pie!).