Apple Pie & Cinnamon Things

The kids and I love working in the kitchen – today’s adventure includes making a homemade apple pie and cinnamon things.  When I think about things that remind me of my mom – apple pie is one of them.  She makes the best apple pie I’ve ever had.  I typically use her recipe and still don’t think my pies are as good – I’ve gotten better over the years but pie dough is still a fickle creature to me.  Some days it comes out amazing – others a crumbly mess (today’s crust was leaning towards the bad end of the spectrum to be honest!!).

For the crust my mom always uses Betty Crocker’s recipe (as do I)

Crust Recipe

(yield – 1 – 9 inch two-crust pie)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tbs shortening
• 4 to 5 tbs cold water

Instructions

• Mix the flour and salt in medium bowl.  
• Cut in shortening with pastry blender (I use my stand mixer) until dough pieces are the size of small peas.
• Sprinkle with the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time (1 to 2 teaspoons extra if necessary).  
• Gather dough into a ball.  
• Cut in half and shape into two balls.  
• Roll pastry on lightly floured surface.

For this pie I used a quart jar of apple pie filling I canned in the fall.  The recipe for the apple pie filling is from The Canning Diva’s site and can be found here.  I find that one quart jar doesn’t make the pie quite as thick as I would like it to be so I add a couple fresh apples.  I top the filling with a few pats of butter, roll my second piece of dough, place on top, flute the edges, prick the top crust with a fork and mark with an “A”.

I bake the pie with a pie shield (you could use foil wrapped on the fluted edges) at 350º until bubbly.

Growing up my mom always made “Cinnamon Things” (I’m not sure why they are named cinnamon things – that’s just how it was in our house) anytime she made pie dough.  You form a ball with the remaining dough (I always make an extra single batch – half the recipe above), roll it out, sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, roll it up, and cut.  You bake them with the pie until they are golden brown – roughly 20 minutes.

The kids love pie dough so its hard to keep them from eating any pieces they can get there hands on – it reminds me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo – shouting – “mine, mine”.  I’m happy to pass on my love of baking – it is so much fun to see their skills develop over time.  Do you have any recipes that make you think of special loved ones?  If so feel free to leave a comment – I would be happy to feature recipes if anyone has one they would like to share.

Join us during #AppleWeek in our celebration of all things Apple!

Monday: Appetizers and Drinks

Tuesday: Main Dishes and Sides

Wednesday: Sweet Treats

Thursday: Apple Projects

Friday: Anything Apple Goes