Bring on the apples! America’s all-time favorite pie will be front and center at every holiday gathering this season and I’ve got the recipe that will bring this dessert praise and seconds. My family claims to be peach cobbler lovers but when I pulled this piping hot, golden beauty out of the oven, they reached for the BLUE BELL Homemade Vanilla ice cream, then waited impatiently for the steam from the slits in the crust to cool down. Now let me tell you about the saga that accompanies this pie.

I found a recipe online and decided to try a different version of my simple apple pie recipe. The recipe called for fresh squeezed lemon and orange juice and the zest from both citrus. There was a small amount of sugar, Granny Smith apples, and no butter. What was I thinking? An apple pie without butter and a 1/2 cup of sugar with all that tartness of those apples! This pie was soooo tart that my mouth was twisted for a week. We tried everything from sprinkling more sugar on the warm pie to a big dollop of ice cream. Nothing worked. The lemon was out of control. All that scrumptious pie crust wasted!!! I was determined to make an apple pie I would be proud to share with you. This is the revised and tried version of my apple pie recipe. Serve this pie at your holiday dinner with ice cream and the family will kiss the cook.

Ingredients:
4lbs. (6-7) Granny Smith apples peeled cored and sliced
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp. butter
2 pie pastry
1 egg yolk lightly beaten
1 tsp granulated sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

9″ deep dish glass pie pan

Pie Pastry- See complete directions here
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 cup cold butter
2 tsp. salt
4-6 tbs. ice-cold water

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pie pastry and refrigerate until ready to roll out. Place prepared apples in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Spoon over apples and toss gently; making sure to coat all apples. Roll out one pie pastry on a floured surface. Place in the pie plate. Spoon filling evenly into pie shell and dot with butter. Roll out the second pastry and place the crust over the apples. Fold the edges under and crimp together. Cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape. Beat the egg with 1 tbs. of water. Brush over the pastry. Mix the remainder cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over the crust. Bake for 1 hour or until crust is golden brown.