My Favorite Things: As American As. . .

Apple Pie.

While my mom and dad were staying with us for Thanksgiving, I asked her to do a couple of guest recipes for me, things that I don’t necessarily like to eat, but I know that others love to eat these dishes from my mom’s kitchen.

I don’t like to eat anything apple so it’s definitely not my mother’s cooking ability that makes me pass on her apple pie. In fact, it smells divine while it’s cooking, and according to Preacher Man, it is the BEST apple pie you will ever eat. And Preacher Man is not a fan of desserts so this is high praise indeed.

So why is this recipe included in My Favorite Things blog series this month? Because cooking in the kitchen with my mom IS one of my favorite things to do even if I don’t always eat what we cook.

I do feel the need to give a quick warning before sharing the recipe with you. This is definitely not healthy and it’s not something you should eat every week, but the holidays is generally the time that we all splurge a bit and enjoy some desserts and treats that we don’t indulge in the rest of the year.

Here is what you need to make Skillet Apple Pie:

{We totally forgot to take a picture of the ingredients before we started cooking. Thanksgiving Day was a little crazy to be taking pics for a blog post.}

2 refrigerated pie crusts

2 pounds of Braeburn apples, peeled and chopped or sliced

2 pounds of Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped or sliced

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

First, put apples in a large pot with just enough water in it to cover the bottom and cook for about 15 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. According to my mom this allows the apples to partially cook before putting them in the pie so that there is no crunch left to the apples when you serve the pie. As you can see from the picture my mom chops her apples, but if you slice yours thin enough, then this step would probably not be necessary.

Next, melt butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. We used my 12-inch skillet for the blog post because my mom actually prefers a bigger skillet for this recipe, but a 10-inch works great as well.

After butter is melted add the brown sugar to the skillet and mix well. Let the butter and sugar cook over low heat until the brown sugar is completely dissolved.

Remove skillet from heat and place one of the refrigerated pie crusts on top of the brown sugar and butter mixture.

By now the apples should have finished softening, so add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the apples.

Stir gently to coat.

Pour apples into the skillet.

Place the second pie crust on top of apples and cut slits in the top to vent.

Liberally sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Dish it up and serve with vanilla ice cream. By the way, this is a great apple pie to make for a crowd because it will serve a lot more than a regular apple pie.

Skillet Apple Pie

2 refrigerated pie crusts

2 pounds of Braeburn apples, peeled and chopped or sliced

2 pounds of Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped or sliced

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

First, put apples in a large pot with just enough water in it to cover the bottom and cook for about 15 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. Next, melt butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. After butter is melted add the brown sugar to the skillet and mix well. Let the butter and sugar cook over low heat until the brown sugar is completely dissolved. Remove skillet from heat and place one of the refrigerated pie crusts on top of the brown sugar and butter mixture. By now the apples should have finished softening, so add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the apples. Stir gently to coat. Pour apples into the skillet. Place the second pie crust on top of apples and cut slits in the top to vent. Liberally sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

The smell of cinnamon baking is one of my favorite things in the tree house,

Chelli