Bake the Perfect Freezer Ready Apple Pie
For years I have enjoyed baking pies for the holidays. Pies are the perfect homemade dessert for any holiday gathering - apple pie is the classic. After lots of trial and error I have found the perfect apple pie receive -- filling and crust -- that you can make in advance, freeze, and pull out day of to bake. This saves so much time around the holidays because you can do the messy time consuming parts weeks or even a couple months before the holidays. This year I used my apples from our family apple picking outting to make two pies - one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Heat them up, add some ice cream, and viola - the perfect time saving dessert that gives your family gathering a thoughtful homemade touch without the hassel while you manage other preparations.
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Baking Tips
Start by making the filling so that the sugar pulls out the juice from the apples and the apples absorb the flavors of the spices.
Use a variety apples including Granny Smith, Honey Grisp, Northern Spy, Fuji, Golden Delicious, McIntosh Reds, and Cripps Pink.
Cut the Apples 1/4-inch thick totaling 6-8 cups of sliced apples (shallow vs. deep dish pie plate).
For the crust start by combining the dry ingredients - you can use pulse on a food processor (on Amazon - this is my favorite - it's an investment but is big enough to accomodate other recipes), I mostly do by hand.
Make sure the butter is COLD - you can even freeze it before cutting into cubes and adding to the dry ingredients.
Cut in the butter - this this can be done on pulse in the food processor or by hand with a pastry cutter (Amazon).
Add in the ice-cold water until the dough starts to come together - if too dry add more water or if too dry add more flour.
Roll out the dough and assemble the pie - check out these great design options.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.
When ready to bake, thaw for 24 hours and brush with milk or egg wash - I like to sprinkle course sugar (these sugars are so yummy - not affiliated) on top for extra sweetness.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees for 40-50 more minutes.
The Best Pie Plates
Nothing is worse than working hard to bake a gorgeous pie only to find that it didn't cook through or has a soggy crust. For years I have tested out a number of pie plates with varying sucess. I'm sharing two of my favorite pie plates (Amazon) that give me the perfet bake every time - highly recommend trying these out!
