I use Tenderflake for the pastry, using 25% wholewheat or Einkorn flour and 75% all-purpose flour. I find this adds a bit of goodness (whole wheat) to the pie while not impacting the flakiness of the crust.
The Tenderflake recipe gives me 3 double (top and bottom) pie shells and one bottom shell. I freeze them so they’re easily available when I’m ready to make a pie.
The only downside of this is you may end up having pie more often 🙂
Filling Ingredients for Homemade Apple Pie
(when not using Granny Smith Apples)
8 to 10 peeled, thinly sliced Apples (Gala, Macs or whatever you can find – the number depends on the size of the apples and your pie plate)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (I use the pulp too)
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar (for sprinkling over top of pie shell) – optional
Preparation Steps for Homemade Apple Pie
- Prepare pastry according to Tenderflake instructions. Set aside in a cool place (like your fridge – pull out top pastry 10 minutes or so before you’re ready to roll and use on top.)
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Peel and slice apples.
- Stir together apple slices, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.
- Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir everything together.
- Spoon/scrape mixture into bottom of pie shell.
- Roll out top of pie shell and lay over top of apples.
- Use sharp knife to cut vents (see photo) in top of pie shell (allows steam to escape while baking).
- Sprinkle sugar over top of pie shell.
- Place pie on cookie sheet covered with foil or parchment paper. (Some juices from pie are likely to bubble over. The covered cookie sheet prevents a mess in your oven and makes clean up easier.)
- Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees.
- Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft when pricked.
- Remove from oven and cool for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. (To allow juices to thicken.)