February is Apple Month and in honour of it, BC Tree Fruits is holding a competition between food enthusiasts on this side of the country including Jillian Harris and Chef Faizal Kassam of Cibo Trattoria. You can check out their recipes and vote for your favourite with a chance to win an Okanagan getaway for 2! Check out the website here.

Apple Month couldn’t have come at a better time – I was planning on making a simple but delicious Apple Pie for Brian. I used the great powers of the Google and asked for the best apple pie recipe and this is what came up. The original recipe is originally from Canadian Living, so be sure to check out the website as well.

Ingredients

Pastry:

  • 3/4 cup (175 mL) shortening
  • 3 tbsp (45 mL) butter, softened
  • 2-1/4 cups (550 mL) all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) Ice water

**If you’re short on time like I was, you can skip this by purchasing Pillsbury Pie Shells.

Filling:

  • 8 cups (2 L) thinly sliced peeled tart apples – it’s about 8 small-medium sized apples, I used Granny smith and I chopped them into small chunks rather than thin slices.
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp (45 mL) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon – I added a pinch or two more because…cinnamon.
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg – I added this because I had a little bit left in my pantry.

Glaze:

  • 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp (10 mL) granulated sugar

Preparation:

1. Unroll the pie crust from the box and push into pie pan. You can either cut off the excess or keep it, I chose to keep it.

applepie-

2. Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Stir together sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples and toss until coated. Scrape into pie shell. Brush pastry rim with water.

3. Unroll the second pie crust and place over top, you can trim it but make sure to have at least an inch or two to build up the crust.

applepie--2

4. Take the trim and roll underneath, so that it is sitting on top of the pie pan. After, you can make it look fancy by crimping it with your fingers.

5. Whisk a yolk with 1 tbsp water and brush over the crust. Sprinkle some sugar over.

apple pie

6. Bake in bottom third of 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C); bake for 40 minutes or until golden, filling is bubbly and apples are soft when pierced with knife through vent. Let cool on rack.

apple pie

7. Serve with some vanilla ice cream and some salted caramel sauce for deliciousness!

Check out the video on Youtube!