Local Apple Pie

Everything you need, it all gets called out below, too, but if you're like my son, you like a list of everything so you know you have it all.

Crust

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsl sugar
• 6 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 Stick (8 Tablespoons or four ounces) of butter
• 4-8 Tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 3 Pounds baking apples if you like the peels on 4 if not, mixed types
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice if you have it, cloves might work too
• 1 Tablespoon arrowroot starch if you have it, or just plain AP flour works, too
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• something for a glaze, I use buttermilk, milk, half and half, cream, leftoever egg whites from Jet doing cream puffs... You'll need a tablespoon or less

Someone asked me for the recipe, so I figured I'd write it up here, so that I can share it as needed. 

In a food processor:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsl sugar

Pulse together. Spoon about half the mixture out into another container.

Add to the processor 6 Tablespoons of coconut oil. Turn the processor on until you get a paste. 

Add 8 Tablespoons of Butter still cold from the refrigerator (or one stick) cut into 1/4 inch pieces. Pulse 6-8 1 second pulses until you get pieces of butter that are smaller than peas. Alternatively, grate a stick of frozen butter into the mixture (this sometimes works better for me than the processor). Add the reserved flour mixture back into the processor and pulse 3-6 one second pulses until the paste falls apart into the dry flour. 

Pour the mixture into a bowl, and then sprinkle on four Tablespoons of ice water. Toss the mixture with a spatula, and if it's too dry (at altitude it's probably way too dry still) add up to another two Tablespoons of ice water, a teaspoon at a time. Toss gently with each addition until it's wet enough. You'll know it's wet enough if most of it sticks together when you press the mixture against the side of the bowl with the spatula, just don't do that too many times or you'll form too much gluten and make the crust tough.

Unfortunately, it's likely that it's going to take a few tries at the crust until you know what the texture and moisture level "should" be, as it's variable by how dry the flour is, how dry your kitchen's humidity is, and how cold or hot it is in the house as well as how cold or hot your coconut oil is.

Press it gently together into two balls, one a little larger, one a little smaller, tuck into a food container, and put into the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to two days before rolling. If you have it in the fridge for longer than 30 minutes, let it rest on the counter top for 20 minutes before rolling to let it get pliable.

While you're waiting on the dough, preheat the oven to 425 F or 220 C. 

Cut 3 pounds of apples by coring them and then slicing them into uneven pieces. I leave the skins on. If you insist on peeling them, get at least four pounds of apples. I like using baking apples from our farmer's market: Granny Smith, Macintosh, Empire, Macoun, maybe Pink Ladies or JonaGolds if you only have name brand apples. I blend them. I saw some site saying "honeycrisp" and I'm like no way, that's an eating apple, not a baking apple. You want them tart, too firm almost so that they don't fall apart when they bake, and the Empires were super creamy when baked. NEVER use a Golden Delicious. Ever.

Sprinkle the cut pieces with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Then in a cereal bowl mix:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice if you have it, cloves might work too
• 1 Tablespoon arrowroot starch if you have it, or just plain AP flour works, too

Arrowroot has the least flavor compromise, corn can break down after everything cools, the flour can muddy the flavors a little, but I haven't found it to be bad. You can leave the starch binder out. 

Toss all the dry stuff with your apples. 

Roll the larger piece of dough out to fit the bottom of your pie tin. Mound the apples onto it. Dot the top of the apples with 1-2 Tablespoons of butter cut into slivers. 

Roll out the top crust, slit for steam vents, lay on top and then go around and seal the edge and crimp as you prefer. Brush on whatever glaze you want or none if you don't care to glaze it, and you can also sprinkle on some coarse sugar. 

Bake at 425 F or 220 C for 25 minutes, reduce the temp to 375 F or 190 C and bake another 30 minutes until juices bubble and the crust is deep golden brown.

Remove, cool to room temp, about four hours if you can. Devour.

You can add fresh cranberries (up the sugar by about a quarter cup for a cup of fresh berries) or crystalized ginger to the filling before baking, too.