Apple Pie

Crunch Top Apple Pie

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 55 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

Dough and Filling:

Dough for a double crust 9-inch pie (see recipe at the bottom for Paula's perfect pie crust)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
3 1/2 cups peeled, chopped cooking apples
1 (16-ounce) jar applesauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces
Crunch Topping:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Dash salt
1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of dough. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Stir in apples, applesauce, and lemon juice. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter. Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of pie. For crunch topping, combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over top of crust. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown.

Paula's Perfect Pie Crust

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, 2008
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 30 min
Level: Easy

Serves: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold
12 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and break it up with your hands as you start to coat it all up with the flour. Add the cold butter cubes and work it into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter. Work it quickly, so the butter doesn't get too soft, until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together forming a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball.
When it comes together stop working it otherwise the dough will get over-worked and tough. Divide the dough in half and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. On a floured surface roll each disk out into a 10 to 11-inch circle to make a 9-inch pie.

*I made this pie today for my family's Christmas dinner. We have yet to eat it, but it smelled divine. Unfortunately, Ben and I had to leave for church before it was done and I had to leave it all to Alex. When Alex discovered it wasn't browning very much, he decided to turn the broiler on. This is my first pie (unless you count jello pie with cookie crust), but I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea to broil it! He only burnt small parts that he tried to scrape off before I got home. Ah well. What are you gonna do? The guy has only gotten like 8 hours of sleep the last several days.

Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread CookiesAdapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

Makes 32 cookies

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (plain, or a toffee variety), finely chopped, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips (used Hershey's milk chocolate with toffee and almonds)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.

3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

5. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

7. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

*I made these for the first time this morning for my 2nd annual cookie exchange party (at 4 PM today!). I don't know how you could do this without the bag/refrigerate technique. It made it so much easier to deal with the sticky dough. They turned out delicious! I love how the espresso and the chocolate toffe bits give them a little bit of texture. The 2 sticks of butter make them absolutely decadent!

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 can pumpkin

2/3 cup water

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs and pumpkin. Add dry ingredients alternately with water. Add to greased and floured 8 or 9 inch pans. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

*This is Mom's recipe (not sure what the source is) for pumpkin bread...we had lots of this growing up. I don't think Ben has ever had pumpkin bread. He's in for a treat tonight!