Classic apple pie is probably my favorite pie of all, although truth be told, pretty sure there isn’t a pie I don’t like.  One pie on my list to try though?  Strawberry rhubarb!  Tony had a taste for it towards the end of the summer of 2014, and for some reason by then, I couldn’t find rhubarb anywhere.  And well, after that, he didn’t even have much of a taste for anything.  I’d still like to try to make it though – if for no other reason than nostalgia.

The secret (but it probably isn’t!) is that I shred my butter so that it incorporates really easily into the flour – less hands in the dough means the less the butter melts, although it really doesn’t matter because I refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes (sometimes overnight – days!) until I make the pie.  Super cold butter + hot oven = flakey crust.

I’ve also reduced the amount of butter to my pie crust to 6 tablespoons – some recipes call for up to two STICKS of butter.  I find that 6 tablespoons is plenty.   I divide it into two disks, put in plastic wrap and let it hang out in the fridge until I’m ready.

Three pounds of apples also seems to be the right ratio to me for a standard pie pan.  Which is really only about 6 apples.  I think we brought home about 60 apples?!  

I bought these containers at Sam’s Club – I love having something big to toss stuff like this – and then I can just throw it away – I think 24 of them was like $6?

I put the trick of rolling up the pie dough on my rolling pin to transfer to the pie plate, and was surprised that several people hadn’t heard of that before – so it’s worth repeating here 😀

Fill the pie with the apples – I promise they will fit!

Then a simple egg wash on top, sprinkle some more sugar and it’s ready for the oven.  I like to start my pies at 400 degrees for the first 20 minutes, then drop the temp down to 325 for 40 minutes.  I never have to worry about putting foil around the crust because it’s getting too browned.  Just set it and forget it.  

It was already dark by the time I pulled my pie out of the oven – another sure sign that fall is upon us.  But look at how pretty that looks!  Sadly, because this uses real sugar and butter – 1/12 of the pie is 7 points – but it’s worth every single one.  I used half honey crisp and half McIntosh apples – and the pie is not overly sweet and has a nice tartness to it.

You can see the crust is perfectly cooked all the way through.  

I waited until the next day to take a better picture in natural light.  This can sit on your counter for about a day or two, then store it in the fridge.  Hannah and Jacob gave this two big thumbs up.  Insulin worthy for sure!

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What’s your favorite pie?!  

Happy Tuesday my friends – make it a great day!