Homemade Apple Pie

Ingredients

For the pie

• 3 pounds good cooking apples such as Granny Smith, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Fuji, or Braeburn (about 6 to 8 apples, depending on the size of your apples)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like your pie
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon brandy, optional (if you have Calvados apple brandy, use it!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 double crust sour cream pie dough, OR all-butter crust, OR your favorite pie crust recipe

For the egg wash

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon cream

Instructions

Peel, core, and slice the apples:

1. Peel, core and slice or roughly chop the apples into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices or chunks.
2. As you cut your apple slices, add them to a large bowl and toss them with the lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to help keep them from turning brown.

Make the apple pie filling:

1. Combine the sugar, flour and spices (allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon) in a bowl. Add the flour mixture to the apple slices and use your hands to distribute the flour through the apples so they are well coated.
2. Sprinkle with brandy (if using) and vanilla extract and stir to coat all the apples.

Preheat the oven to 375°F

1. Place one oven rack in the lowest position and put a large rimmed baking sheet on it to catch any drippings from the pie. Position a second rack the next rung up (still in the lower third of the oven).

Roll out the dough and line the pie plate:

1. Remove one disk of pie dough from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes. Place disk on a lightly floured, clean, flat surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pie dough to a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick.
2. As you roll out the dough, check to make sure it isn’t sticking. If and when it starts to stick, gently lift it up and sprinkle a little more flour on the table surface or on the pie dough to keep the dough from sticking.
3. Gently place the rolled out dough onto a 9-inch pie plate. Press down to line the pie dish with the dough.

Add the apple filling:

1. Arrange the apple slices in the dough-lined pie plate. Mound the apples in the center.

Roll out the top crust, place over apples, trim and crimp edges:

1. Roll out the second disk of dough, again to 12-inches. Gently place the second round of pie dough over the apples. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang from the edges of the pie pan.
2. Fold the dough under itself so that the edge of the fold comes right to the edge of the pan. Press the top and bottom dough rounds together as you flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.