We have a special visitor here on the farm this week – my grandmother! Nana, as I call her, visits from Arizona whenever she gets the chance. With this sudden cold spell, it’s been a bit of an adjustment for her after 95° days… especially since our space heater quit in the middle of the night. She’s adding plenty of layers and doing her best, though!
She spent her childhood summers in the Catskills and later raised my dad here before moving to Arizona, so she’s always happy to come back and visit. Usually, she’s only able to come once or twice a year, so we have to make it worth her while!
When she visits, my mom makes our special apple pie recipe. It’s Nana’s favorite dish, and it’s one of ours as well! This recipe is the gold standard for apple pies – every other apple pie I’ve tried, be it homemade, restaurant, or… store-bought (wow, I gagged just writing that), falls short.
The trick is to make the pie with the Perfect Pie Crust recipe. The buttery crust pairs perfectly with the sweet, cinnamon-sugar coated apples.
Another important part is using McIntosh apples. While you can use pretty much any reasonably sweet, tender red apple, my mom says McIntosh is the best. Whatever you do, don’t use a nasty green apple like Granny Smith. Whoever decided those were pie apples is insane.
Just like the pie crust, this recipe was handed down from my mom’s great-aunt. Though she passed away when my mom was a baby, her legacy lives on through our family baking. She was very special to my Grandma growing up, and she sure had a lot of great recipes!
The Very Best Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 6 cups peeled and sliced McIntosh apples
- 1 cup sugar (or more, depending on tartness of apples and desired sweetness)
- 2 tbsps. cornstarch
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- Make a double crust recipe of Perfect Pie Crust. Roll out one crust and line a 9" pie plate.
- Mix the apples, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and cinnamon altogether in a large bowl. Add filling to crust-lined plate.
- Add top crust, roll up edges, and poke with a fork.
- Bake at 425° for 50-60 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly golden.
- Let cool and enjoy!
Nana says
I Nana Can Attest to this delicious recipe I will only eat an apple pie now when I see my beautiful daughter-In-Law and she makes one for me! I don’t understand it but even following this recipe it never comes out the way it tastes when she makes it must be the love she puts in it when she is making and baking the pie.