I discovered this apple pie while visiting Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville, California. It is delicious and packed with a generous amount of apple filling. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the autumn harvest than a slice of this pie served at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

Crust Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cooking oil
  • 6 tablespoons cold milk

Filling Ingredients

  • 3 pounds apples, peeled and sliced (Pippin, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious are good baking apples.)
  • 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • dash ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 9 inch pie pan

Instructions

Crust

  1. Mix together the flour and salt in a bowl.
  2. Pour cooking oil and milk in a measuring cup. Do not stir. Add this to flour mixture all at once. Stir lightly with a fork.
  3. Form the dough into 2 balls and flatten them slightly with your hands.
  4. Place each ball between 2 pieces of waxed paper about 12 inches square in size and roll each one into a circle until it reaches the edges of the paper. Sprinkling a bit of water on your work surface will prevent the wax paper from slipping as you roll out the dough.
  5. Remove the top layer of wax paper and fit one of the crusts, paper side up, into your pie pan. Remove the wax paper and set the pie pan aside.

Filling

  1. Now you are ready to start on the filling. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, salt and ginger in mixing bowl. Add the sliced apples and lemon juice. Toss to coat.
  2. Mound the apples into the crust lined pie pan. Dot with butter.
  3. Peel one side of the wax paper off your reserve pie crust. Place the pie crust, wax paper side up, over the apples. Gently remove the wax paper. Pinch together the edges of the upper and bottom crusts.
  4. Cut a large X into the center of the pie crust. This will act as a vent, allowing steam to escape. If you want to give the crust that glazed look, brush it with a little beaten egg white.
  5. Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any juices that escape. Bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 and continue to bake for another 45 to 50 minutes or until the crust turns golden and the filling bubbles. If the crust begins to get too brown, cover it with a foil tent.
  6. Remove from the oven and cool for about an hour.