Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts

.  'Wedding' has undoubtedly taken over my life.  I'm completely and undeniably consumed.

From the engagement, to picking out a wedding planner, designing/managing a wedding website, interviewing/selecting a number of vendors, engagement photos, creating a save the date, stressing over which bridesmaid dress to choose, emotionally selecting my own wedding dress...

WHEW!

Who freakin' knew a wedding would be so much work.  Now I understand why people elope...

So with all of this wedding shenanigans going, the first half of the first month of the New Year has completely passed me by.  Particularly in posts.  Which I do feel bad about.

Due to the fact that every waking moment I'm not working my mind is reeling about anything and everything wedding, I've had little brain power to devote to this dear blog.  I realize life happens, but I try to remind myself that I can't forget about the other important things.  Like my fiancé [he is the reason there's a wedding, anyhow!].  My sweet baby pups.  Shopping [☺️].  And, of course, LSM.

So in attempt to ring in the New Year [a month late] and one of my [informal] resolutions, I opted to try out a baked goodie I'd never attempted.  And it just so happened to be at the request of my good ol' fiancé because they're his fav.

Brown Sugar. Cinnamon. Pop-Tarts.

Not gonna lie, if I had to choose a Pop-Tart to [absolutely] devour, this would not be in my top 10.  I usually went straight for flavors like Hot Fudge Sundae [no doubt my favorite], Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cherry, or Wild Strawberry.  Something with a little more...oomph...than brown sugar.  Get me?

But fortunately I have Robbie in my life for things just like this.  Because without him, I never would have given this recipe a second glance.  But since I was trying to be a good fiancée, I pinned the dang thing.  And then made it.  Just for my Wobbie.

And I'll just be honest with you all.  I ate more of them than he did.

There.  I admitted it.

These flakey, buttery pastries filled with a sweet, brown sugar-cinnamon filling, and dolloped with a simple cinnamon glaze are to. die. for.  And simply irresistible.

I kept telling myself to stop.  But I couldn't.  Then one.  Two.  Oh, two and half, were gone.  Dang it...

So what more can I say?  Except that you'd be making a big mistake to pass these up.

Maybe we'll take a stab at my New Years resolution [i.e., doing things for others] the next baking round...sorry, Wob  .

Adapted from The Baker Chick

Ingredients:

Pastry Crust:

2-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 c. unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks

1/4 c. cold water

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling:

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tsp. all purpose flour

1 large egg

Cinnamon Glaze:

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 to 4 tbsp. heaving whipping cream

Directions:

1. For the pie crust, place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse just to combine.  Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  With the processor on, add cold water in a steady stream just until dough holds together [do not process for more than 30 seconds].  Turn the dough out to a work surface and divide dough in half.  Shape each half into a slightly flattened disk and wrap with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
2. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to soften [about 15 minutes].  Place one half of dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to 1/8-inch thick.  Trim the edges and cut dough into thirds to form 9 rectangles.  Place the rectangles onto lightly greased pans.  Repeat with second half of dough to form the tops of the pop-tarts.
3. For the filling, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour to combine; set aside.  Slightly whisk the egg and brush onto the bottom pieces of the pop tarts [on the greased baking sheets]. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling onto each of the rectangles and spread evenly, leaving a slight edge around the dough.  Place a second rectangle on top of the filling and slightly press down along the edges with your fingers to seal the pop-tarts.  Press the tines of a fork around the edges to complete the sealing process.  Repeat with the remaining pop-tarts.
4. Prick the tops of each pop-tart with a fork so steam can escape while baking.  Brush the tops of the pop-tarts with the remaining egg mixture.  Refrigerate the pop-tarts for 30 minutes.
5. Heat oven to 350ºF.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes before moving to wire racks to cool completely.
6. While pop-tarts are baking, stir together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and heavy whipping cream to make the glaze.  Once pop-tarts have cooled to a lukewarm, evenly spread the glaze across the tops of the pop-tarts.

Yield: 9 pastries

Caramel Apple Streusel Pie

.  How has Thanksgiving already come and gone?  I haven't even had a split second to catch up with everyone to see how their food-filled day went.  And now it's almost Christmas...

But let's recap.  My Thanksgiving was spent out in Naperville, Illinois, where my aunt and her family live.  My parents [in Minnesota] and my brother [currently in Missouri for Army training] also made the trek to the Chicago suburb.  We're all over the place, huh?  But fortunately we were all able to be under one roof for one of my favorite holidays, if even for a short while.

But my Thanksgiving was off to a great start the moment I got to my aunt's house.

Right before our early dinner, my aunt asked me to grab the wine.  Unbeknownst to me, I snagged a bag in the fridge and brought it out to the table.  The next couple of seconds were a bit of a blur but I remember my mom asking me what kind it was.  I casually shrugged and started reading the label.

'Jess.'  'Bridesmaid.'  'Melissa.'

Those are basically the only three words I remember reading.  But as the utter confusion passed, I started piecing it all together.  My best friend, and Maid of Honor, was asking me to be in her wedding!

Mel is a huge wine connoisseur, so her 'invitation' was so completely her.  Absolutely perfect and I couldn't be any more honored to stand by my beautiful best friend on the biggest day of her life.

See?  A great start to my Thanksgiving.

Comically, the rest of the holiday went by rather quickly.  We apparently got right down to business and the first round of 'Thanksgiving' was over in all of about 35 minutes.  If that.  But I guess that only alludes to the delicous-ness of the our meal: we were all heads down, forks to mouths.  And then once we were done, we got back to catching up with everyone.

The aftermath of Thanksgiving.

And of course, there was dessert.  Made by me.  Unfortunately dessert is the only contribution I will ever have to any dinner party.  But I think everyone agreed, this recipe didn't let me down.

From the crunchy toffee crumble to the luscious caramelized-apple filling overflowing in a homemade crust, what's not to love?  And the fact that we only had a modest sliver left by the end of the night signifies there wasn't much we didn't love about it.  Plus my papa requested this pie for Christmas.  Musta been good then, huh?!

Well I hope everyone's enjoying the holidays, they always seem to fly by faster each year.  Like I said, it's been busy our way, too, and hopefully I can get caught up sharing everything.  But in the mean time...enjoy this pie!

Happy baking!  .

Adapted from Handle the Heat

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

2 tbsp. cold sour cream

2 to 3 tbsp. cold water

Caramel Apple Filling:

6 large apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

4 tbsp. butter

Toffee Streusel Topping:

1/4 c. all purpose flour

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. cold butter, cut into chunks

Scant 1/3 c. toffee bits

Directions:

1. For the crust, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, and sugar until combined.  Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with larger chunks of butter remaining.  Add sour cream and pulse to combine.  Drizzle two tablespoons of ice water over mixture and pulse until it just comes together without being wet, sticky, or crumbly (if dough doesn’t hold together when pinched between your fingers, add another tablespoon of water and pulse).
2. Place the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a disk.  Chill in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.  
3. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling out on a lightly floured work surface (keep turning dough after every roll to ensure it doesn’t stick to the counter and is of even thickness).  Roll out into a 1/8-inch thick 13-inch circle. Gently place the dough over a 9-inch pie pan and press into the tin.  Trim the dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang.  Crimp or decorate edges and pierce the bottom of the crust all over with a fork.  Freeze for 30 minutes, or until very firm.
4. Heat oven to 375°F.  Remove the pie shell from the freezer and place a double sheet of foil over the shell, pressing the foil gently across the bottom and up the sides of the pie.  Place two cups pie weights or dry beans over the parchment.  Bake 20 minutes or until crust is dry and light in color.  Carefully remove the parchment and weights and continue baking for another 12 minutes, or until just turning golden.
5. Meanwhile, for the filling, combine apples, lemon juice, light brown sugar, sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vanilla extract, and heavy whipping cream in a large bowl. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the apple mixture and cook 8 minutes or until the apples begin to soften.  Pour the apple mixture into the pie crust.
6. For the topping, in a medium bowl, combine flour and sugar.  Cut butter into the flour with a fork to form coarse crumbs.  Stir in the toffee bits and sprinkle over apple mixture.  Wrap the edges of the pie crust with a crust shield or foil.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Let cool before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

  

A Recipe Contest/Giveaway and Flakey Cran-Apple Hand Pies

.  I'll be honest.

Couldn't be any more excited about this giveaway.

I've done a number of Lucky Leaf giveaways that include a package of goodies for myself and in turn, I bake up a recipe using the Lucky Leaf products and basically write a review.  So whether I like their pie fillings or not, you guys are getting the honest truth.  Fortunately, I've fallen head over heels for their pie fillings and will [most likely] never use another brand again.  They got me hooked.

Well for this giveaway, one of you is getting my most favorite package to date but also have a chance to enter the Lucky 13 Recipe Contest!

Without getting into too many of the details [who needs those?], the Lucky 13 Recipe Contest basically entails using [at least] one can of Lucky Leaf's pie fillings, the entire recipe must only take one hour, and...that's it!  Just come up with something creative and fun using their scrumptious product and YOU could win the grand prize of of $2,500!  I'd say that's a hefty payment for a pan of bars.  Or whatever it is you decide to make.

Unfortunately, I didn't read closely enough about the one hour limit, so this here Flakey CranApple Hand Pie recipe won't be making it into the contest as planned.  Dang it.  Because I'm really excited about these.

One could always use a store-brought pie crust to cut the prep time.  But to substitute for the homemade, flakey crust recipe I have here just wouldn't be the same.  The shining star [in my humble opinion] couldn't be replaced by Pillsbury.  Sowwy.

I realize this comparison is probably a baking sin and Laura from Tutti Dolci [source of the original recipe] would cringe if she read this, but for relatable purposes I'm going to say it.  The crust and filling combination of these hand pies strongly resembles a gourmet Toaster Strudel.

Gah, I'm sorry.  I said it.  But who hasn't had one of those stuffed pastries?!  And dang it, they're good!

But these hand pies are even better.  Not even on the same level actually.  But the flaky, peel-away-layers reminded me of those breakfast treats [minus the icing].  So I had to say it.

And now that I've spurred your creativity, get in that kitchen and bake up some goodies with Lucky Leaf pie fillings!  Oh, but you don't have any pie filling, you say?  Well then!

Enter a comment below telling me what you would bake up for the contest [if you were to enter] and I'll choose a random winner that will receive a Lucky Leaf package containing a can of Lucky Leaf pie filling, a ceramic pie bird, a recipe card, and and two pie slice boxes with forks.

Uh, awesome!

So get thinkin' and commentin', you have until December 2nd, to enter my contest as well as the Lucky 13 Recipe Contest.

Happy baking!  .

My Notes:

• These hand pies are best the day they are made, but just keep them tightly covered when you're not snackin' on them and they'll keep for a good number of days.

Adapted from Tutti Dolci

Ingredients:

Flakey Pie Crust:

1 c. cold unsalted butter, divided

1/2 c. buttermilk

2 c. flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Large pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

3 to 4 tbsp. cold water

Filling:

1 (21 oz.) can pie filling (your choice)

1 large egg

1 tbsp. water

Turbinado sugar

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, grate 1/2 cup of butter.  Cut the remaining 1/2 cup of butter into cubes and place in small bowl as well [keeping separated].  Place in freezer for 15 minutes to chill as well as buttermilk.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Sprinkle cubed chilled butter over flour mixture and cut in butter using a pastry blender or fingertips until the biggest pieces are the pea-sized.  Fold in grated butter.  Drizzle buttermilk over mixture and using a spatula, gather dough until it forms clumps.  Add tablespoons of water, one at a time, and gently knead dough to form a ball.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and flatten slightly to form a disc.  Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or up to 2 days.
3. Heat oven to 400°F.  Grease two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.  Whisk egg yolk and water in a small bowl to create an egg wash; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, rotating dough after each stroke.  
5. Use a pastry wheel [or cookie cutter] to cut out 2-inch squares.  Place half of the squares on the prepare baking sheet and brush with egg wash.  Place one scant teaspoon of pie filling onto crusts.  Cut two slices into the remaining crusts and use to top the pies.  Seal edges with a fork.  Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Repeat with scraps and remaining half of dough.
6. Bake 16 minutes or until pies are puffed and golden.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.  Repeat steps with scraps and remaining half of dough.

Yield: 2 dozen hand pies

National Pi Day!

.  3.14.

March 14.

Get it yet??

If you don't, we may need to have some words.  Or maybe it's just a nerdy baker thing.  Who knows!

But regardless, it's National Pi Day and that means only one thing: Pies.  So in honor of this wondrous holiday [yep, it's official] I've compiled a couple of my favorite pie recipes made by, drum roll please.....me! 

Duh.  You should have seen that coming.

So enjoy scrolling through the next few pics and don't be shy, get to whipping one up!  Trust me, they're easier than they look.  Happy Pi day everyone!  .

Blueberry Nectarine Pie

Cherry Cheesecake Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Bumbleberry Pie

Mini Fruit Pies

Lucky Leaf Pie Filling GIVEAWAY and Mini Fruit Pies

.  Yep, you betcha!

I have another Lucky Leaf Pie Filling giveaway!  And just in time for Valentine's Day.  I'm always thinking of you guys.  How nice of me ☺ 

You may have caught my previous Lucky Leaf Pie Filling giveaway and fortunate for me, Lucky Leaf tapped me on my shoulder to do a second one!  And because giveaways are simply exciting [we gotta switch it up every now and then around here, right?] and Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings are just so dang scrumptious, there was no way I was passing this up.

Like before, Lucky Leaf sent me a lovely package filled with three pie fillings [strawberry, blueberry, and apple], three recipe cards, a bakery bag, and a Rachel Ray 6-cup Muffin Pan.  Uh huh, it was an awesome gift I got in the mail.

One of the recipes cards I received was for Mini Pies and I opted for this choice because 1) pies are my absolute fav to eat and make and 2) my wonderful friend was having a Super Bowl party with some fancy homemade dishes.  Remember the gourmet cook I mentioned in a prior post?  Well it only seemed fitting to add to her spread with something that deserved to accompany her gourmet-ness, and lattice-crust pies are always a winner.  At least in my book.  Oh, and don't forget that these would be the most perfect Valentine's Day dessert.  Eh, eh?!

Anywho, I must say these pies went over rather well!  The recipe only made a dozen but there wasn't a crumb left in the house by the end of the night.  That's a good sign, right?

I of course chose to make a homemade [super easy] buttery pie crust and filled each with the delectable Lucky Leaf Pie Filling.  I decided on making Strawberry and Blueberry Mini pies simply for variety but the colors also went with the teams playing in the big game [i.e., red for the Niners and purple for the Ravens].  Like that?!  Then I topped the fillings with a fun lattice top and voila, mini fruit pies for everyone!

So enough chatting and let's get to this giveaway, shall we?!  Let's see what one lucky reader will win:

1 can of Lucky Leaf Pie Filling

1 recipe card

Festive muffin cup papers

1 bakery bag

And like usual, it's rather easy to partipicate.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post below telling me what your favorite kind of pie is!  And to earn some additional entries, follow Lucky Leaf on Facebook, Pinterest, and/or Twitter, and leave separate comments telling me you did so.  The giveaway will be open until Saturday, February 23, so get commentin'!  And don't forget to spread the word!  .

My Notes:

• I chose to make a homemade pie crust, but if you're in a complete bind for time, feel free to use store bought crust.

 Pie Crust from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

All Butter Pie Crust:

3 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening, cut into chunks

1 large egg

4 to 8 tbsp. ice water

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Lucky Leaf Baby Pies Recipe

Directions:

1. For crust, place flour in food processor.  Add sugar and salt and process 20 seconds to combine.  Add chunks of butter and shortening and pulse to break up butter until mixture looks crumbly
2. Add egg and drizzle ice water and lemon juice on top.  Turn on food processor for 15 seconds until mixture more or less holds together.  
3. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead very gently for a few seconds to smooth out dough.  Divide dough ball in half, pat each ball into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill dough for 1 hour or overnight before using.
4. Refer to the Lucky Leaf Baby Pies Recipe for the assembly instructions.

Yield: 4 single pie crusts

Musselman's Giveaway Winner, a Lucky Leaf Pie Filling Giveaway, and Cherry Cheesecake Pie

.  One giveaway ends and another begins. 

But who's complainin'?!

Can you believe this?  LSM has NEVER had one giveaway.  Not even one in it's almost two years of existance.  Yet in the past month, we've had three!  Weird how things work, huh?

So first things first.  The Musselman's Apple Butter Package giveaway winner!

Drum rolllllll, please...

Cyndi Hamm!

Congratulations, Ms. Hamm, you are officially LSM's second giveaway winner!  You should be receiving [or already received] an e-mail from myself to get some of the info I'll need to get you your Apple Butter package, which I can't wait for you to get because I had such an amazing time with it!



And now on to some more exciting news!

I have for you both another giveaway and a stupidly [outrageously delicious] festive holiday pie that you will not want to pass up.  I kid you not.

So let's get into the details for this giveaway.  Like the Musselman's giveaway, I was contacted to see if I would like to test out some Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Fillings and offer up a package to one of my readers.  And like Musselman's, I said heck yes! 

My BFF.  She makes me proud.

If you've read any LSM pie posts, you know that I adore pies pretty much more than anything.  Seriously.  Flaky, buttery crusts and sweet fillings will never be passed over by me.  No, sirree.  So there was no way I was skipping this opportunity.

After my acceptance, I received a substantial package in the mail a few days later filled with ALL sorts of goodies, including peach, blueberry, and cherry pie filling, a [SUPER ADORABLE] handmade warming towel, and three recipes demonstrating the various ways you can use the filling!  Hmm...AWESOME.

So what to do with all of these options?!  Well, make a pie, of course!  And that I did.  But not just any ol' pie.  Nah, I had to go for something a bit more creative.  A bit more sinful.  And, of course, holiday-ish.

And here's what I [a.k.a Woman's Day] came up with: Cherry Cheesecake Pie.

Yes, it's as good as it sounds.  And probably more decadent.

So what we have is exactly what you think.  The easiest, butteriest [word?], flakey crust you'll ever meet encasing an outrageously smooth, almond cheesecake, topped with the thick and creamy Lucky Leaf Cherry Pie Filling [seriously, it's impressive], and finished with a stunning pie crust lattice.

And even with all of those layers, this pie is actually quite simple.  And to make your life even easier, you can always use a store brought crust.  Though [like I'll say time and time again], it will never get any easier than this pie crust right here.

So what do you have to do to get the chance to make this very pie free of charge?  Leave a comment below, silly! Just tell me what creative recipes you'd try using the Lucky Leaf Pie Filling.  And to get some additional entries, follow Lucky Leaf on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest and leave an extra comment below for each one telling me you did so.  Sweet and simple.  You have until November 24, 2012, so get commenting!

And just to recap, the winner will win the following:

1 (21 oz.) can Lucky Leaf Cherry Pie Filling

1 Seasonal Towel

1 Recipe Card

And lastly, I leave with you the recipe for this mouthwatering pie I made with the Lucky Leaf Filling.  Fo reals, it's pretty dyaaaaamn good.  That is all  .

 Adapted from Woman's Day

Ingredients:

1 recipe Easy Peasy Crust

1/2 c. sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

2 (8 oz. each) packages cream cheese, softened

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 (21 oz.) can Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling

1 egg white

1/3 c. sliced almonds

Directions:

1. Prepare crust.  Roll one half of dough to fit a 9-inch pie pan and place into pan.  Crimp as desired.  With second half of dough, roll to fit a 9-inch pie pan.  Cut strips of dough for lattice.  Place pan and strips into refrigerator while preparing filling.
2. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Add cream cheese and beat on medium speed until smooth.  On low speed, beat in egg and almond extract just until blended.
3. Spread batter evenly into crust; spoon pie filling evenly over top. 
4. Beat egg white with fork until foamy.  Brush pastry strips with egg white and arrange strips across pie as desired.  Trim and press ends to bottom crust.  Brush rim with egg white; press on almonds.
5. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cherries bubble (you may need to place foil or a pie crust shield on crust to keep from burning for the 15 minutes or so).  Remove to wire rack to cool for several hours or over night.

Yield: 8 servings

Apple Crumble Pie

.  Fall, Fall, Fall.

Unfortunately my Fall baking hasn't occurred quite as rapidly as I would like, but hey, life happens.

However, I did manage to set aside some time to make this pie.  This Apple Crumble Pie.  Or a more approrpiate name may be the Apple [Mile High] Crumble Pie.  Seriously.  Ain't no joking around when it comes to the crumble in this recipe.

Last weekend Robbie's [good looking, single] brother came into town for the week from Houston, Texas, and it's a rare treat that we get to see him.  His brother works ridiculously hard, and thus, finds it hard to get away most of the time. So you can bet everyone was happy to see his smiling face ☺

So due to his arrival, I decided to make this pie for him.  Robbie told me his brother especially likes fruity desserts, so in order to stay within my Fall mantra, apple pie it was.

I would say this pie is your classic apple crumble pie.  The crust is rather basic, letting the homemade cinnamoney-apple filling and thick-as-can-be crunchy crumble topping completely steal the show.  Personally, I could eat the crumble all.  day.  long.   For reals, it's splendid.

On a side note, I'll be traveling to Washington State this weekend to visit my dad, who's out there for the month with Tasty Bites.  I'll be visiting Yakima, where most of my relatives live [yay!!] and where my dad has planted the trailer at the Yakima State Fair.  Fair food?  Count me in!  So unfortunately this will be my only post for the week.  Sorry guys...

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and weekend though.  Bake lots!  .

My Notes:

• I'm not kidding around when I say that this pie has a lot of crumble.  So much so that you probably won't know where to put it all when you're piling it on the pie before baking.  But fear not, put it all on there.  The pie and crumble bake down quite a bit, so it'll all end up just perfectly.
• I used Golden Delicious apples, which were indeed very good, but I would recommend going with something a bit more tart such as Granny Smith's.  The Golden Delicious were very tender but didn't quite pack the punch I was hoping for.

Adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-1/3 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. solid vegetable shortening

1/4 c. unsalted butter

3 tbsp. iced water

Filling:

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 c. peeled, cored, and sliced tart apples

Crumb Topping:

2-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1-1/2 c. light brown sugar, unpacked

1 c. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F.  For crust, place flour in a large bowl and using pastry blender or your fingertips, cut in shortening and butter until pieces are pea-size.  Sprinkle ice water by tablespoons over flour mixture, tossing with a fork until all dough is moistened.  Form dough into a ball.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to fit into a 9-inch pie dish.  Fold edges under all around and crimp.
2. For filling, in a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Add apple slices and toss gently to coat.  Transfer apple mixture into pie crust.
3. For topping, in a medium sized bowl, mix together flour and brown sugar.  Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture until well covered.
4. Bake 10 minutes, then turn down oven to 375°F and continue baking additional 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown on top.  

Yield: 8 servings