The Best Apple Pie Ever - Dutch Apple Pie

By

It's not quite apple season yet in Minnesota (speaking of which, when will the grocery store start stocking fresh apples?), but that didn't stop me from making my fabulous apple pie recently. I realize, after re-reading my posts, that I actually have blogged about this pie before, but I figure 1). I didn't include a picture before, and 2). it's just that good. I've also used this recipe with fresh rhubarb instead of apples with great success.

View complete recipe

Ingredients

  • Bottom Crust:
  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 1 TBSP sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • ..............................................
  • Filling:
  • 4-5 sliced apples (sour-ish ones are better)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ..............................................
  • Top Crust:
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix bottom crust together with a fork and press into pie plate.

Mix sliced apples and cinnamon/sugar; put in pie tin with the bottom crust. When filled, it should look sort of like a dome.

Mix brown sugar, flour, & butter to a crumbly mass (do this with your hands). Top the apples with this mixture.

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
.........................................

RHUBARB PIE

With this post, I'd like to introduce what I hope to be a new segment on this blog called "Stuff I Made with Stuff I Grew in my Backyard." Yep, that's right - I have a garden this year. I'm very excited. My first creation from my homegrown goods was a rhubarb pie.

I grew up eating rhubarb and I love it. When baked, it's somewhat similar in taste to an apple, but softer and more tart. It pairs well with berries, but I prefer it on its own. It's very easy to work with, too. When picked out of the garden, it should look like this:

Don't be alarmed... your pile should be that size. Trim off the leaves. Don't be alarmed if some of your apparently mature rhubarb stalks are more green than red - they taste the same as the deep pink ones, they just aren't as pretty. Don't eat the leafy greens. Be sure to wash the stalks well. When you're all done with that, they should look like this:

Isn't that better? Cut them up into little pieces like you would chop up celery.

For this pie, I used my regular apple pie recipe, but used rhubarb instead of apples and coated them in a bit more cinnamon & sugar than normal. The result is an amazing pie. You must try it!

View complete recipe