Apple Pie

Step 2 in our make-ahead Thanksgiving Dessert Trying New Things in 2016!  

It's a working title.  

Anyway, pie!  I made us pie.  Specifically, I made apple pie that can be frozen, baked from a frozen state, and an all-butter pie crust made in the food processor.  It was easy, tasted great, and you can literally make this today to bake next Thursday and no one will be the wiser.  There are a few items such as turkey, gravy, and fresh veggies that obviously need to be made on the day of your big holiday meal, so I'm all about listing the things that can be made ahead with no sacrificing of flavor or quality.  Desserts are almost all great if made a few days in advance, and this is tricky in that you make it in advance but bake it on the day of (after everything comes out of the oven, while you're eating your turkey), so it fully tastes fresh and warm and cozy.  Everyone needs a little bit of cozy, right?  

Right.  

You need pie crust, obviously.  The kind I make is great, storebought is fine, or your favorite recipe is perfect too.  Then for the filling we have apples, salt, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and ginger.  

The longest part of this whole mess is peeling and slicing the apples, which you'll do one at a time in between stuffing your kid full of shredded chicken.  Might want to wash your hands in between. 

Now, note that in these pictures the apple mixture is in a colander.  Ignore that.  I did that because I read somewhere that a lot of moisture could come out of the apples, rendering the pie soggy if you freeze it before baking.  Not....true.  So, just add your apple slices to a bowl with the flour, sugar, and seasonings.  

Mix the apples together, and let them hang while you prepare the pie dough.  

Roll the dough out to larger than your pie plate (this recipe is for a deep 9-inch dish), and place one crust in the bottom of the pie plate.  

Fill the pie with apples - they should HEAP.  They'll cook down a lot, so don't be scared of really filling the dish and then some.  

Drape the second pie crust over the apples, and use a sharp knife to cut any extra dough off.  Save the dough!  The scraps can be made into shortbread, cookies, another small pie...you name it.  

Pinch the edges of the pie crusts together (using any method you like, no worries about how it looks), and cut slits in the top of the pie for steam to escape as it bakes.  

Then, you can wrap this and freeze it, or you can bake it right now.  400F for 40 minutes, or closer to an hour if you're baking this from a frozen state.  You don't need to thaw the pie, just bake it frozen and it works beautifully.  

After 35 minutes or so, check the pie.  If the crust looks very dark you can cover it in foil (just set a piece of foil gently over top) to keep the apples cooking but not burn the crust.  The pie is done when the filling is bubbly and the crust is puffy.  

Look!  This can only be described as rustic, which people laugh about because it means imperfect, but in my mind it means I made this and I am not a factory or a machine.  It looks like a dang pie, and it tastes like a great dang pie.  

Almost caramely filling, not too sweet at all, huge apple flavor, and a nice pop from the ginger and heavy handed cinnamon sprinkle.  

Like I said.  Make today, bake next week, golden.  Enjoy!