Cinnamon Apple Pie

This apple pie turned out amazing; the best one I've tried! The flaky cream cheese crust seals in all the fantastic bubbly apple cinnamon juices; it's just scrumptious. I got the recipe for the pie crust from my good friend: "The JOY of cooking" cookbook. It's always been a trusted reference for me. I was happy to find a pie crust that doesn't use shortening, but is equal (if not better!) in flakiness, texture and flavor. Your home will smell amazing in the process!

Serving: 8

Ingredients

Apple Filling Ingredients:

• 9 cups (3 lbs.) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced ¼-inch thick

• ¾ cup sugar

• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• ⅛ tsp salt

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces for the top

Pie Dough Ingredients:

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour

• 2 Tbsp white sugar

• ½ tsp salt

• 1½ sticks (12 Tbsp) COLD, unsalted butter

• 6 oz COLD cream cheese

• 3 Tbsp cold heavy whipping cream

Topping Ingredients:

• 2 tsp sugar

• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

How to make Cinnamon Apple Pie:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 and ¼ cups flour, 2 Tbsp of sugar and ½ tsp salt.

2. Cut 1½ sticks of COLD butter and 6 oz of cream cheese into small cubes. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces.

3. Drizzle 3 Tbsp of cold heavy cream over the dough and cut into the dough with a spatula until the dough forms moist clumps.

4. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, press into flat disks, cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

5. Once its fully cooled, remove 1 piece of dough from the refrigerator and on a clean surface, roll it out into a 13-inch circle. (Dough rolls out easier without flouring the surface, use pastry scraper to lift rolled out crust). Transfer the dough to a deep dish 9-inch pie plate and refrigerate it. Take the next piece of dough out of the fridge and roll it into a 12-inch circle, cover with plastic and refrigerate while you make the fruit filling.

Preheat the Oven to 425˚ F before you mix together your apple filling ingredients. Place oven rack in the bottom third of the oven (1 level below the center rack).

How to Make the apple Filling:

1. Combine 9 cups of Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced ¼-inch thick with ¾ cup sugar, ⅓ cup of all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and ⅛ tsp salt in a bowl. Mix well and let the filling stand for 15 minutes, stirring a few times in the process.

Final Assembly Instructions:

1. Take your pie dish out of the refrigerator and pour the entire apple filling mixture (juices and all) into the bottom crust and scatter pieces of 2 Tbsp of butter over the top.

2. Just before putting on the top crust, brush the edge of the bottom crust with cold water. Trim any excess dough on the edge and fancy up the edge with a flute pattern. To flute, with your index finger and thumb, pinch your other index finger, now imagine there is dough in between both hands. Cut 6 to 8 slits in the top crust to vent the pie.

3. Sprinkle top with the mixture of ¼ tsp of cinnamon and 2 tsp of sugar. Bake apple pie for 15 minutes at 425˚F. If you see your crust browning too quickly, cut a 3-inch hole in the center of a square piece of foil and loosely place over the top of your pie.

4. Reduce oven to 350˚F, slip a baking sheet under the pie (I like to line it with foil to catch any drips) and bake another 45 minutes. For the filling to thicken properly, you have to let it cool completely (2 to 3 hours). You can keep the pie for up to 3 days on the counter.

#apple #pie