Apple Pie with Milk
My mother didn’t enjoy cooking, but she did her best to cook family dinner every night, with an occasional dessert made from scratch. About once a year she made an apple pie, always serving the slices in a bowl with cold milk poured over. As I recall, her recipe was from the Betty Crocker cookbook, but I’ve been using a recipe I learned in high school home economics class and it’s perfect every time. The crust is made with butter and there are plenty of apples in the filling. And like my mom, I serve it with a cold glass of milk poured on top.
Ingredients
Serves 8
Crust:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 sticks butter, cold and cut into 1/4” cubes
1/2 cup ice water
Apple Filling:
7 or 8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
Process
Crust:
In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the cold butter pieces, and cut into the flour, using a pastry blender or two knives. Alternatively, you can put ingredients (except water) into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 20 times. Add cold water and gently blend into the flour mixture until you have a soft dough. You may need to add a bit more water, but don’t let the dough get too wet. Do not knead the dough, just work it together with your hands into 2 equal size discs. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
When ready to assemble the pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll one out on a floured board. Roll into a circle that will fit into a 9” pie pan. Lift the dough and place into the pan, pressing lightly into the bottom and up the sides. Roll the second disc in the same way, but slightly larger than the first. Pour filling into the bottom crust and dot with the extra butter pieces. Place the second dough over the filling and seal the edges, crimping or pressing with the back of a fork. Using a paring knife, cut slits on the top of the pie to allow steam to escape during cooking. Cover the rim of the pie with aluminum foil pieces or a metal ring made for covering the crust during baking (to prevent burning). Bake for 45-50 minutes, removing the foil or ring after 30 minutes of baking. When the pie is golden, remove from the oven and cool completely. Serve in slices with cold milk.
Filling:
In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and salt. Pour into crust and dot with butter pieces.
