Apple Pie!

I love autumn. It is probably my most favorite season of all. It's not too chilly and it's not hot. Plus the leaves are changing color and they go all crunch under your feet. What's not to love?

Also, when I think about autumn, the first thing that comes to my mind is cinnamon. I LOVE cinnamon! It is my absolute favorite spice. And cinnamon tastes best with apples and that's where you get apple pie with loads of cinnamon in it - perfect autumn dessert.

So, I got around to looking for the perfect Apple Pie recipe but all the recipes that I found asked for a pre-baked pie-crust. Then I had to go and look for a pie-crust recipe. But in the end I found easy recipes for both & combined them. Here goes:

For the crust:

Ingredients:
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 3/4 cups Shortening (or Oil)
3 Tablespoons White Sugar
2 teaspoons Salt
1 Egg
1/2 cup Water

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter until crumbly.
2. In a small bowl, mix egg with water. Blend into flour mixture. Knead through until slightly firm. Divide into 2 balls and roll both out to 1/2 cm thickness.
3. Once rolled out, take a knife and cut 1-inch thick strips out of one of the crusts.

Original Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ruths-Grandmas-Pie-Crust/ 

For the Filling:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter

3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

1/4 cup Water

1/4 cup White Sugar

1/4 cup Packed brown sugar

8 Granny Smith Apples

1 Lemon

2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

2. Core & slice the apples and squeeze the lemon juice on them so that they don't go brown. Put in the cinnamon and mix gently until apples are coated well with the cinnamon.

3. Place the bottom crust of in a 9-inch pie pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover by placing the dough strips in a crisscross manner. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it doesn't run off.

4. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 dergrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35-45 minutes or until apples are soft.

Original Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-pie-by-grandma-ople/