Mixed Apples Pie Recipes

APPLE PIE I

Steps:

• Prepare your pastry for a two crust pie. Wipe, quarter, core, peel, and slice apples; measure to 6 cups.
• Combine sugar and cinnamon. The amount of sugar used depends on how tart your apples are.
• Arrange apples in layers in pastry lined pie plate. Sprinkle each layer with sugar and cinnamon. Dot top layer with small pieces of butter or margarine. Cover with top crust.
• Place on lowest rack in oven preheated to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer. Serve warm or cold.

MIXED APPLES PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Whisk sugar and 1/3 cup/80 milliliters water in a small bowl until sugar dissolves, then place in the freezer. In a large bowl, whisk flour and salt, then toss the butter cubes until evenly coated. Using your fingertips, quickly flatten and rub the butter into the flour, while tossing the smushed pieces to coat until the mixture is mostly thick, powdery flakes and pebbles.
• Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the chilled water all at once. Using your fingers, rake the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until mixed. Continue stirring with your fingers, occasionally squeezing the blend gently, until large, shaggy clumps form.
• Press the clumps together and into the remaining dry bits to gather into a single mass. Divide the dough in half and pat each half into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out a dough disk into a 12-inch round. Fit into a standard 9-inch pie plate, gently tucking and pressing the dough against the bottom and sides without stretching it. Sprinkle the cookie crumbs in an even layer across the bottom and gently press into the dough. Transfer to the refrigerator. Roll out the other disk into a 12-inch round, slide onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
• Make the filling: Place a rimmed baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and heat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, cardamom and salt in a large bowl. Cut each apple into 8 wedges, then cut each piece into 1/4-inch-thick slices crosswise. Add to the bowl and pour the lime juice over, then toss until evenly coated.
• Scrape half the apples into the chilled bottom crust and press down firmly to eliminate any gaps. Top with the remaining apples, pressing firmly into a mound. Scatter the chilled butter bits evenly on top.
• Flip the other dough round over the apples to cover and peel off the parchment. Using scissors, trim the edges together 1/2 inch past the plate's rim. Fold and tuck the edges under so that they're flush with the rim and crimp, decoratively if you'd like. Using a sharp paring knife, cut 8 (3-inch-long) slits in the center of the top dough, spacing evenly. Think of these slits as a guide for cutting the baked pie into wedges.
• Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until the crust is brown and the filling is bubbling, 55 to 60 minutes longer. A thin paring knife should slide through the apples easily. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, combine sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat. , On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim even with rim. Add filling; dot with butter. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Beat egg white until foamy; brush over crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edge loosely with foil. , Bake 25 minutes. Remove foil; bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 20-25 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.

APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saute pan set over medium-high heat and add apples to the pan. Stir to coat fruit with butter and cook, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk together the spices, salt and 3/4 cup sugar, and sprinkle this over the pan, stirring to combine. Lower heat and cook until apples have started to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch over the apples and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat, add cider vinegar, stir and scrape fruit mixture into a bowl and allow to cool completely. (The fruit mixture will cool faster if spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.)
• Place a large baking sheet on the middle rack of oven and preheat to 425. Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator and, using a pin, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 12 inches in diameter. Fit this crust into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming it to leave a .5-inch overhang. Place this plate, with the dough, in the freezer.
• Roll out the remaining dough on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 10 or 11 inches in diameter.
• Remove pie crust from freezer and put the cooled pie filling into it. Cover with remaining dough. Press the edges together, trim the excess, then crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Using a sharp knife, cut three or four steam vents in the top of the crust. Lightly brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.
• Place pie in oven and bake on hot baking sheet for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375. Continue to cook until the interior is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes more. Remove and allow to cool on a windowsill or kitchen rack, about two hours.

FRESH APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crust mix as directed for 9-Inch Two-Crust Pie, using 1/3 cup cold water--except trim overhanging edge of bottom pastry 1 inch from rim of plate.
• Stir together 1/2 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in large bowl. Add apples; toss. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
• Roll remaining pastry; cut into 10 strips, each about 1/2 inch wide. Place 5 strips across filling in pie plate. Weave a cross-strip through by first folding back every other strip of the first 5 strips. Continue weaving, folding back alternate strips before adding each cross-strip, until lattice is complete. Trim ends. Fold trimmed edge of bottom crust over ends of strips, building up a high edge. Seal and flute. Brush lightly with milk; sprinkle lightly with additional sugar.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice is bubbly.

OLD-FASHIONED MIXED-APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For crust:
• Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 tablespoons ice water and blend just until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften dough 15 minutes at room temperature before rolling out.
• Butter 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured work surface to 12- to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to prepared pie dish and press dough onto bottom and up sides of dish, allowing overhang to extend over sides. Roll out second dough disk between sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper to 12- to 13-inch round; transfer dough to baking sheet. Refrigerate both crusts while preparing filling.
• For filling:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Combine all apple wedges, 1/3 cup sugar, raisins, quick-cooking tapioca, grated lemon peel, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg in large bowl; toss to blend. Let stand at room temperature until some juices form, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.
• Place crust-lined pie dish on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over bottom of crust. Transfer apple filling to crust, mounding filling slightly in center. Dot filling with butter cubes. Brush crust edges lightly with water. Remove top parchment sheet from second dough round. Invert dough round atop filling; remove second parchment sheet. Trim dough overhang on both crusts to 1/2 inch. Press crust edges together, then fold under. Using tines of fork, press on crust edge around rim of dish to seal decoratively. Using small sharp knife, cut six 1-inch slits in top crust, then cut out 1/2-inch circle from center of top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush top crust lightly with milk, then sprinkle with raw sugar.
• Bake pie 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake pie until crust is golden, apples are tender when pierced, and juices are bubbling thickly through slits in crust, covering crust edges with foil collar if crust is browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool to lukewarm or room temperature. Cut pie into wedges.
• Also called turbinado or demerara sugar; available at most supermarkets and at natural foods stores.

CLASSIC APPLE PIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Position two oven racks in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F.
• Peel the apples, cut each in half from top to bottom, remove the cores with a melon baller, and trim the ends with a paring knife. Lay the apples, cut side down, on a cutting board. Cut the Cortland apples (below left) crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces, and then halve each piece diagonally. Cut the Granny Smith apples (below right) crosswise into 1/4-inch slices, leaving them whole. Put the apples in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.
• Combine the brown sugar, 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, kosher salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl. (Don't add this to the fruit yet.)
• In a small dish, lightly beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water. Set aside.
• Butter a 9-inch ovenproof glass (Pyrex) pie plate, including the rim, with the 2 tsp. of softened butter.
• Rub 2 to 3 Tbs. of flour into the surface of a pastry cloth, forming a circle about 15 inches across, and also into a rolling pin stocking. If you don't have a pastry cloth, rub the flour into a large, smooth-weave, cotton kitchen towel and use a floured rolling pin. Roll one of the disks of dough into a circle that's 1/8 inch thick and about 15 inches across.
• Lay the rolling pin across the upper third of the dough circle; lift the pastry cloth to gently drape the dough over the pin and then roll the pin toward you, wrapping the remaining dough loosely around it. Hold the rolling pin over the near edge of the pie plate. Allowing for about a 1-inch overhang, unroll the dough away from you, easing it into the contours of the pan. If the dough isn't centered in the pan, gently adjust it and then lightly press it into the pan. Take care not to stretch the dough. If it tears, simply press it back together-the dough is quite forgiving.
• Brush the bottom and sides of the dough with a light coating of the egg-white wash (you won't need all of it). Leaving a 1/4-inch overhang, cut around the edge of the dough with kitchen shears.
• Combine the sugar mixture with the apples and toss to coat well. Mound the apples in the pie plate, rearranging the fruit as needed to make the pile compact. Dot the apples with the 1 Tbs. cold butter cubes.
• Rub another 2 to 3 Tbs. flour into the surface of the pastry cloth and stocking. Roll the remaining dough into a circle that's 1/8 inch thick and about 15 inches across. Use the rolling pin to move the dough. As you unroll the dough, center it on top of the apples. Place your hands on either side of the top crust of the pie and ease the dough toward the center, giving the dough plenty of slack. Leaving a 3/4-inch overhang, trim the top layer of dough around the rim of the pie plate. Fold the top layer of dough under the bottom layer, tucking the two layers of dough together. Press a lightly floured fork around the edge of the dough to seal it, or flute the edge of the dough with lightly floured fingers.
• Lightly brush the top with cold water and sprinkle the surface with the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Make steam vents in the dough by poking the tip of a paring knife through it in a few places; it's important to vent well so that the steam from the cooking apples won't build up and crack the top of the crust.
• Cover the rim of the pie with aluminum foil bands. This will prevent the edge of the crust from overbrowning.
• Place a rimmed baking sheet or an aluminum foil drip pan on the oven rack below the pie to catch any juices that overflow during baking. Set the pie on the rack above.
• Bake until the top and bottom crusts are golden brown and the juices are bubbling, 60 to 75 minutes; to thicken, the juices must boil, so look for the bubbles through the steam vents or through cracks near the edges of the pie and listen for the sound of bubbling juices. During the last 5 minutes of baking, remove the foil bands from the edges of the pie. Cool the pie at least 3 hours and up to overnight before serving.

CLASSIC APPLE PIE WITH PRECOOKED APPLE FILLING

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor by pulsing a few times. Add the very cold butter cubes (2 sticks, equivalent to 1 cup) and pulse a few times until a pea-size coarse meal forms. Add the buttermilk and run the food processor continuously for several seconds until a dough forms. At first, it will look like it's not coming together but it will.
• Transfer onto a non-floured clean surface. Press to form a dough. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into balls and flatten into thick disks. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before using, let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes to slightly soften it.
• Peel apples and cut out the core. Then cut into 1/4 inch slices. They should all be cut to the same size for even cooking.
• In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and add the sliced apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook, stirring for about 10-15 minutes until apples have slightly softened but not lost their shape.
• Sift and sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch and mix (start with 1 tablespoon and add more if needed. The amount of cornstarch depends on the amount of juices released by the apples). Bring to a simmer and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until juices thicken. If not thick enough, add more cornstarch little by little, stirring. Note: sifting the cornstarch beforehand prevents clumps from forming.
• Set aside and let cool at room temperature. Tip: to speed up the cooling process, transfer the apple filling to a large shallow bowl or a large pan.
• After the filling has cooled down, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut remaining 1 tablespoon of cold butter into small cubes. Set aside.
• Get a 9-inch round pie pan ready. Roll out the dough to a 12-inch circle using a rolling pin on a floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Repeat for the second disk.
• Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Fill with the cooled apple pie filling and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter cut into small cubes. Cover the pie with the second rolled out dough. Trim any overhang or excess dough. Seal edges with a fork or with your fingers. Make a few slits at the top to let the steam escape. Alternatively, you can make a lattice pattern. For instructions, see the "How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust" above.
• If you made a lattice top, refrigerate the pie for about 15-20 minutes. If you did not, skip this step.
• Make the egg wash by whisking the egg with heavy cream or milk. Brush the pie dough with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
• Place pie on a large baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees F. Remove pie from oven and put a pie crust shield or cover edges with foil. Lower oven temperature to 375 F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.
• Let it cool on a wire rack for 3 hours before serving. Trust me, if you cut into it before it has cooled down, it will fall apart (been there, done that). Enjoy!