Love Pie But Scared To Make It?

There’s no shame in a store-bought pie crust.

I whipped up an apple pie early this morning because I wanted to show you a picture and the recipe, and I have company coming tonight, and well — let’s be honest — I wanted a slice of pie with a cup of coffee.

You don’t need to have pie intimidation. I know you love homemade pie but you probably worry about making a crust and you don’t have time for that. Don’t fret — I’ll help you with that in a minute.

I get it. I’m a pretty good cook and baker but flaky pie crust eludes me.

Years ago I asked my mother, the queen of pie crusts, to make pie shells for Christmas and my birthday. She had complained I was difficult to buy for — problem solved!

Twenty years later she’s still doing it for me. She makes me enough pie shells for a year. Trust me — I know how lucky I am. And she always wants the bags and tins back.

I know there are purists who say you should never buy a store-bought pie shell. Thankfully for you — I’m not one of those pie snobs.

Because really, I know not everyone has a mother who makes them a year’s worth of pie shells. Trust me — if mom wasn’t my crust provider I’d buy a box of Tenderflake pie shells in a snap. It wouldn’t be the first time.

And let me be clear — I’ll show you a few tricks that turn a store-bought pie shell into looking and tasting pretty close to a homemade crust.

So there.

Homemade pie means love in our family. Whenever we get together, along with the laughs and hugs — there are a few pies and one of them is definitely apple. There’s just something about a piece of homemade pie that comforts the soul. Store-bought pies don’t even come close with their gluey, cornstarch filled selves.

My Texan friend Deb also loves homemade pie — her peach pie is heavenly and I know when I visit her there’s a fruit pie in my future. She understands there’s something about a homemade pie that makes people happy — especially when you’ve flown from another country to eat it.

She leaves a fresh peach pie on the kitchen counter so her husband can have a slice of that pie in the middle of the night. Or a hungry Canadian. You gotta love a woman like that.

But there is only one other person on the planet who loves pie as much as I do. Meet my friend Jo:

Jo is 5 feet tall and weighs about as much as a sack of apples. But she somehow always manages to eat a slice of pie the size of her head. She’s a discerning apple pie lover and she loves my apple pie and so — you can trust the recipe I’m sharing with you.

So let’s get to it — you have an apple pie to make!

An apple pie is best when you use up some of the weird-looking apples you have in your crisper. The one that came back in your kid’s lunch bag, the one with the big bruise on it that everyone is avoiding and the one that’s a little shriveled.

Go dig them out and let’s get started.

A Good & Simple Apple Pie

3–4 medium peeled apples (any variety except Delicious)

2 unbaked deep dish pie shells (homemade or not)

2/3 — 3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tablespoons of half and half cream* optional

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Take out frozen pie shells and leave on the counter for 5–10 minutes. You want them pliable so they don’t crack.
3. In the first pie shell, fill with slices of peeled apple. You want a nice full pie as the apples cook down and you don’t want a skinny little pie. I use 3–4 apples.

4. Sprinkle sugar evenly over top of apple slices in pie shell. Then sprinkle cinnamon evenly over apple and sugar mixture. Final important touch — dot small chunks of butter all over the top of the apple mixture.

5. Flip the second pie shell so it comes out of the pan and place it upside down on the first pie crust. The bottom of the second pie shell will now be the top crust. Use your thumb and go around the pie shells pinching them together. Don’t worry about cutting any ragged edges off the crust — it doesn’t have to be perfect.

6. With a knife — create 3 small cuts in the middle of the top pie crust. This lets some steam out and helps the pie to not “burgle over” as my mom says.

7. With a small spoon — pour a little of the half and half cream and spread it over top crust. Then sprinkle a little sugar. I didn’t have any cream today so I didn’t bother. But definitely add the sugar sprinkle — it ups the homemade factor.

8. Place the pie on a cookie sheet just in case it does burgle over — because apple juice burnt at the bottom of your oven is just nasty.

9. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes — set the timer! And then once 15 minutes is over — immediately turn the temperature down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for 45 minutes. Set the timer. Many pies are ruined because they were under-baked. Crunchy apples are for salad and not pie. So set the timer and listen — you don’t have to fret if the pie bakes for another 15 minutes after the ringer because you were in the shower— fruit pies are forgiving that way.

10. Remove pie from oven and let cool for about 30 minutes if you can wait that long. Eat either warm or at room temperature. The pie will keep for about 3 days but really — as if that’s ever going to happen.

You just made a homemade apple pie! Now — invite someone over and share your sweet masterpiece.