Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie – the “best ever”

December 26th, 2009

I am forced by my family to make the same apple pie for every holiday. I love all kinds of pie and like to change it up. Chess, pecan, banana caramel, sometimes pumpkin. Does my family like any of those kinds of pie around the holidays? Nope. They insist on this apple pie ever since I first made it about eight years ago.

I found Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie on AllRecipes.com by googling best apple pie recipe ever. I add best and ever when I google recipes because I find that people who make that bold statement about a recipe are rarely wrong. It had so many glowing reviews that I had to try it, and it seriously is the best apple pie I’ve ever had.

The recipe doesn’t even call for any spices. I thought that was strange, but spices are so unnecessary with this pie. I made it with a little cinnamon once and my husband was all What did you do to my pie??

Also, I think I should explain the less than food blog worthy picture. My son got up at four am on Christmas morning and wouldn’t go back to sleep. I had to entertain him in his bedroom until 6:30 am when it seemed a more decent hour to let the materialism melee begin. I wouldn’t have been so tired if I had gone to bed earlier, but I fell asleep around 1:30 am because my daughter woke up about an hour before that and announced, “Santa Claus came!” and then, mercifully agreed to come get in our bed.

So my cooking skills suffered a bit the next day. I usually make a lattice crust for the top, but decided to be lazy and just make eight slits in the top. Not nearly as pretty, but it eats just the same. Also, it occurred to me to blog about the pie only after we had eaten half. See all those crusty lumps and bumps? That’s the sugar-butter you drizzle on the top. It really is the best ever. Here’s the recipe with a few of my notes.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

Ingredients

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (I use the Pillsbury refrigerated crust.)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
8 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced (Add a couple of Fuji for more sweetness. Eight seems like a lot of apples, but it just depends on the size. I usually use 6. You need enough to make a decent-sized mound.)

Directions

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. (I have never achieved a “paste.” It is still a runny liquid for me, even if I use 1/2 cornstarch.) Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes. (I let it simmer while I prep the apples.)
Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. (I go ahead and pour about 3/4 of the sugar butter over the apples before I put on the top crust. I also use a pastry brush to evenly coat the top crust with the sugar butter.)
Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

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