Baked Apple Butter Pie

Author: Cassie Stevens

Let me tell you this was amazing! Hand made sweet pie crust, with fresh homemade apple butter is the best way to end any meal.

Baked Apple Butter Recipe

about 10 peeled and cored Granny Smith apples

3 cups granulated white sugar

2 cups packed brown sugar

6 Tbsp Butter

2 tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp Cloves

2 tsp Nutmeg

4 Tbsp Cornstarch

1/4 cup lemon juice

Step One:

I start in the morning peeling and coring Granny Smith apples (about 10). Then I slice them and put them in my large crock-pot. Next, I added 3 cups of granulated white sugar, 2 cups packed light brown sugar, 6 tablespoons butter, 2 teaspoons real (not cassia) fresh ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, 2 teaspoons cloves, and let it simmer on low for about 4 hours.  The apples start to break down a little, and become chunky. Yours may take shorter or longer time to get to that consistency depending on your crock-pots heat and size. So, once they start to fall apart I turn my crock-pot to high and  I added 4 tablespoons of cornstarch in a mixing bowl with a little water, and mixed it into the apples to thicken it up some.  Let it come to a boil for a few minutes and shut it off and add 1/4 cup lemon juice (trust me it tastes great).  Mix, Stir, Mix, and Stir…and they should look something like this. It is a chunky apple butter consistency.

It’s A Very Nice!!

Step Two:

So once the apple butter is ready, I started on my pie crust (recipe below).  I heard somewhere that a secret to really great pie crust is a little white vinegar, so I wanted to try it out. I must say I really like how it came out. It was a really amazing crust and baked up nice without any vinegar smell or taste at all. It was flaky and sweet, and just really great. I was very pleased with how it came out.

Pie Crust Recipe:

2 1/3 cups all–purpose flour

2/3 cup shortening

4 Tbsp butter (softened)

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp white vinegar

2-4 Tbsp ice-cold water

Place the flour sugar salt in a large mixing bowl, then cut in the shortening and the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Next I added 1 Tbsp cold white vinegar and mixed it in well, then place the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up a bit.  After it has firmed up I crumble it again with my pastry blender and add more ice-cold water (1 teaspoon at a time) until the dough has become workable and I can press it into a ball nicely (I think I used about 3 teaspoons).  Cut it in half place one half on a piece of saran wrap and the other back in the bowl and back in the freezer to harden again.  Roll out the dough on the saran wrap until it has reached the size of the bottom of your pie pan. Then I placed the dough on a cookie sheet and placed it in the freezer while I worked out the other half of the dough, doing the same thing to it. Pull out the first dough that has had a chance to firm up  flip it into the bottom of your pie plate.  Work into edges with fingers, and cut off the excess around the edges and top.  Place it back in the freezer to firm up again for a few minutes, then add a layer of apple butter in the bottom of your cold pie crust plate.  Flip the second round crust on top and cut out a center hole (I chose a star shape) then trim excess around the edges.  Ball up the trimmings and roll it out to a rectangle, and place in the freezer for a few minutes. Once firmed up cut out stars and place on a small cutting board.  Crimp your edges around your pie to seal the top and bottom crusts together and egg wash the top. I used one egg and two Tbsp melted butter.  Then I put my stars on top and egg washed them, and sprinkled the whole top of pie with granulated white sugar. Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown. If edges seem to be browning faster than the rest wrap edges in aluminum foil and continue to bake.

Step Three:

Top it with some homemade whipped cream. BOOM!

Homemade Whipped Cream Topping:

2 cups Heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1Tbspoon vanilla

Whip with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks.  Done!

* note if you over beat it you could make butter

Step Four:

EAT  & ENJOY!!!!!

Thrifty Thursday ~ Toasted Coconut Pudding Pie

Author: Cassie Stevens

I always enjoy dessert, especially when it’s good and cheap. Those are two things you don’t get enough of these days.  I make this dessert when I’m pressed for time or just need a quick and easy dessert fix. One graham cracker pie crust, ( I found a sale buy one get one free for $1.79).  I also found a sale on Jello instant pudding at Food City buy ten get 5.00 off making the pudding .50 a box.  I used homemade whipped cream, a quart costs around three dollars, I used 2 cups.

There are 4 cups in a quart, making the whipped cream cost around $1.50.  So including the little bit of sugar I used to sweeten the whipped cream and the little bit of coconut I used to top it with.  I would say this dessert only cost around $3.50 for the whole pie. How’s that for cheap, easy, and so delicious.

Looks good right? Oh yeah! It’s a little heaven in your mouth!

Mix it up, you could use an Oreo pie crust and Oreo pudding or chocolate pudding and chocolate whipped cream.  Also, you could add things into your pudding say you wanted chocolate chips inside your chocolate pudding or crushed up vanilla wafers, or sliced bananas in your vanilla pudding. You could be so creative with this quick and easy dessert.

What’s your go to dessert?