Crust Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 c. white flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 5 tbsp. shortening
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 c. unsoftened butter, in pieces
- 8 tbsp. ice water
Crust Preparations:
- Combine flour, sugar, salt; add butter and shortnening; mix with pastry cutter.
- Add ice water until dough holds together.
- Knead dough on floured surface. Separate into to portions and form into discs. Wrap with Saran wrap and place in refrigerator for at least a 1/2 hour or up to overnight.
Filling Ingredients:
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp. margarine
- 1/4 c. flour
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 8 medium apples
Filling Preparation:
- Mix all dry ingredients, sifting to remove chunks.
- Core and peel apples; slice into bite-sized pieces.
- Mix apples into dry ingredients, stirring slowly to allow to thicken.
Pie Assembly:
- Roll one dough disc to a 12 inch circle on a floured surface. Drape over a 9 inch glass pie plate. Add filling, spooning evenly throughout plate. Dot the top of filling with margarine.
- Roll out second dough disc to 10 inch circle on a floured surface. Drape over filling and allow to hang over edges of pie plate. Pinch top and bottom crust edges together to seal.
- Cut 3-4 slits in center of top crust to allow air to reach filling as pie is baking.
- Wrap tin foil around edge of pie crust to prevent burning, covering no more than 1/4 to 1/2 inch around. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove tin foil and using a pastry brush, brush milk over top crust. Return to oven and bake additional 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven when top crust is cooked to an even color and apple mixture begins bubbling through the slits.
- For pastries like apple danish, simply split recipe into tart pans instead of a pie pan.
- Pie filling can be cooked and eaten alone as fried apples. Simply place in a saute pan and cook on medium heat until tender.
