There is nothing like apple pie for dessert. My deep dish apple pie is a great combination of tart Granny Smith apples and sweet Honey Crisp apples with lots of warming spices to enhance the apple flavor. It is definitely worth the time invested to make this pie because it is not an ordinary apple pie.
Ingredients
Crust
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
- 1/3 cup shortening, cold
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup ice cold water
Filling
- 2 lbs Granny Smith apples
- 2 lbs Honey Crisp apples
- zest of one lemon
- juice of one-half lemon
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
Directions
Dice the butter and shortening and return it to the refrigerator. (Photo A)
Photo A
Photo B
Photo C
Photo D
Place the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix the ingredients. Add the cold butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture resembles small crumbs. (10 - 12 pulses generally works) (Photo B) Remove the ice from the water. Slowly add the water through the feed tube until the dough comes together in a ball. (Photo C) Dump the mixture out onto a floured surface and form into a ball. Cut the ball in half and form two small disks. One is slightly larger to accommodate the deep dish pie plate. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.(Photo D)
Photo E
Photo F
Peel and core the apples. Cut each quarter apple into 4 - 5 slices and place in a large bowl. (Photo E) Add the zest and lemon juice to keep the apples from browning. Combine the brown sugar, flour, salt and spices and mix into the apples. (Photo F)
Photo G
Photo H
Photo I
Roll each dough disk into a circle on a well floured surface.(Photo G) Roll from the center of the dough and continue to flour and turn to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the surface. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and fit into a 9 in. deep dish pie plate. (Photo H and I) Fill with apple mixture and dot with remaining 2 tbsp butter. (Photo J) Fit second crust onto top of the pie. (Photo K) Trim the excess dough and crimp the edges to seal. (Photo L)
Photo J
Photo K
Photo L
Whisk together the egg and water. Brush entire pie and sprinkle with granulated sugar. (Photo L) Cut 4 or 5 slits in the top crust.
Bake at 400 degrees on a baking sheet for 1 to 1 1/4 hours (60 - 75 minutes) or until the crust is brown and the filling is bubbly. Shield with aluminum foil to prevent over browning. Cool at least one hour before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.