The Best Apple Pie Ever!

Apple pie is my least favorite pie. Un-American, I know. I love apples, love brown sugar, love cinnamon, love pie, don't like them mixed together. I don't even like the smell of apples and cinnamon. Weird, I know. But, this recipe I like. Not love, but like and based on my tolerance and my family's adoration for this pie I figure it must be the best darn apple pie ever.
You will need:

1/2 to 1 cup flour
6-7 cups Granny Smith apples
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 T butter
1 tsp cinnamon (I use more...lots more.)
2 pie crusts
1 pie pan
cinnamon sugar



One apple equals about one cup, so I used 6 apples. If you get your hands on some tiny Granny Smiths you might need closer to 8. I used my handy dandy apple peeler (it also cores and slices). I love it and wish I loved to bake with apples more so I could use it more often.



The peels were so pretty I just had to take a picture.



Mix the flour, sugars, and cinnamon in a large bowl. I used 3/4 of a cup of flour. Finding the right amount of flour is tricky...it all depends on the juiciness of your apples. Unfortunately, you usually can't tell how much liquid they will give up until they are baked. It's a crap shoot--you could end up with an overly-juicy pie or one that is too thick and can stand on its own. Those pie slices that are thick and stand up high are beautiful in magazines, but they don't taste so great in real life. I have found that 1/2 cup is almost always too little, though.



I like to chop my apples instead of slicing them. With the slices you have to cut up your pie and I don't like that. I just want to dig in and get a forkful. The large chops cook all the way through, I promise.



Now add your apples to your flour, sugar, cinnamon mix and get in there with your hands to mix. Kids love to help out with this part!



Line your pie plate with one crust. I just use the refrigerated ones. Easy and super yummy. Add all of the covered apples to the pie pan. You will have lots of the mix leftover--just pour it over the apples.



Cut up the 2T of butter and place around the top of the pie.



Now here's a trick. I use mini cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the top crust. This trick allows more steam to evaporate from the pie and caramelizes the sugars inside. SO GOOD! (Save your cutout shapes.)



Place the top crust on top of your pie and seal the edges. Now brush the entire top crust with milk and place your cutout shapes anywhere you like, except over the openings. Now brush the tops of the cutouts with milk and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of the whole pie.



Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes. I use a cake tester to poke the apples and make sure they are soft. I've never had to bake for more than 55 minutes.





This pie speaks for itself, don't you think?





Enjoy!

**note: I baked this pie a few months ago. I'm still not turning on my oven in this heat and I am really, really looking forward to the big cool down in September (if we are lucky) or October. Definitely cooler by November. Or December. I'm having trouble remembering when it was cool... :)

Food Network Copycat Breadsticks

I was so excited to get a new issue of Food Network Magazine this month! They have the most amazing recipes and photographs of food. True food porn and I am addicted. My favorite part of the magazine may be the Recipe Index. Instead of descriptions of articles with page numbers, they list every piece of food with a thumbnail image and page number. Brilliant. It also has a section called Weeknight Cooking, which details a number of entrees (including a budget-friendly one), sides, salads, tips, and a dessert. Then there is Fun Cooking. For the June/July issue they made a copycat recipe of Olive Garden's breadsticks and let me tell you, it is spot on.

For the dough:
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)
2 T butter, softened
2 T sugar
1 T salt (I used 1 tsp kosher salt)

For the topping:
3 T butter, melted
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of dried oregano



Why I used bread flour...I was running low on all-purpose, true, but I always prefer to use bread flour. It is higher in gluten, which gives you more rise and a chewiness that I love in bread. Also, bread flour has a small amount of barley, which helps the yeast retain its gas. (I can hear my kids laughing at that explanation.)



Place 1/4 cup very warm water in the mixer bowl with the yeast and leave it alone for 5 minutes or until it looks like this:



Add the flour, butter, sugar, salt, and 1 1/4 cups plus 2 T warm water and mix with the paddle attachment until a slightly sticky dough forms, about 5 minutes.




This dough is a beautiful, wonderful thing. I wanted to name it (Pierre?) and keep it as a pet. Perfect texture. (It kind of looks like a Thanksgiving turkey in the picture, though, doesn't it?)

The recipe suggests kneading the dough on a floured surface for about 3 minutes, until it is very soft and smooth. I didn't want to stop kneading.



Ah, Pierre. You are so beautiful...to me.

Roll the dough into a 2-foot-long log. I spread out some wax paper, floured it, and then made small marks to delineate the 2-foot length.



Cut into 16 1 1/2 inch-long pieces. Despite using a measuring tape, I did not have perfectly even pieces. I do not blame Pierre.



Knead each piece into a 7-inch-long breadstick and place them 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. I used two sheets.



Cover with a lightweight dish towel in a warm spot until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 400. After they have doubled, brush them with 1 1/2 T butter and 1/4 tsp salt. The recipe calls for sprinkling on the salt, but I mixed it with the butter.



Bake for 15 minutes then brush with remaining butter and sprinkle with the salt, garlic powder, and oregano. (Again, I mixed it all together and brushed it on.)

Lemon Squares

After I got married my mom gave me a Better Homes and Gardens cookie cookbook. On the inside she inscribed, "have fun baking--be sure to clean up the flour!" I did a lot of baking as a kid/teenager and maybe, once, I got one tiny speck of flour on the counter top. But it was a tiny amount and just that once, right Mom? ;)


I love this cookbook. The first half is "All Day Treats" and then you flip it over and the other half of the book is "Christmastime Treats." This cookbook is well-used, spotty with recipe remains (and just a touch of flour), and marked up with alternate measurements and ingredients. The Lemon Bars recipe is the best I have ever tried.



Just look at that gooey lemon deliciousness! Makes your mouth water, doesn't it?

1/3 cup butter, softened (Smart Balance sticks)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
4 tablespoons lemon juice (use lemons, not the bottled juice stuff)
1/4 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar for dusting





For the crust, cream butter and sugar in mixer and add 1 cup of flour. Beat until mixture resembles crumbs. Just like a pie crust.





Press this mixture into an ungreased (because of all the butter) 8x8 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. You aren't looking for golden brown, so don't overbake.




That's the before baking photo. I forget to take the after, but it looks like that only puffy.


While the crust is baking, beat the eggs in the same mixer bowl until they are foamy.



Now add the 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 T of flour, lemon juice (I have started using real lemon juice-not from the bottle-and it makes the squares soooo much better), and baking powder. (If you are using unsalted butter you might want to add just a pinch of salt.) Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir in the lemon zest and pour mixture over the partially baked, still hot crust.




Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges and the center is set. Be careful putting it into the oven...I slung it around a bit and had the lemon mixture slosh up the sides of the pan. So...it looks a lot browner around the edges than it should. :)



Cool in pan on a wire rack, dust with powdered sugar, and cut into squares. What? You have a crappy wire rack that sits directly on the counter and allows no airflow thereby defeating the purpose of the wire rack? I have a solution for you! A word of caution...kids find this hilarious. Don't know why.




Now, as Tinker Bell likes to say, time to feast!





That is not a fair representation of how many squares this recipe makes. Most of them never made it to the plate. The recipe claims it makes 20, but I have never counted. I've found it best not to count how many baked good I eat.