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Pie dough can be intimidating and I would not blame you for using store bought dough as it will make this recipe much, much faster. However, I think that the technique that I have described here will make it a little easier to make super-flaky delicious pies.
dessert
8
20-25 minutes
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 large apples, peeled and cored, and cut into 1/2-in. pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs. Apple Spice blend (5240)
1 Tbs. cornstarch
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, frozen for at least 1 hour
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 large egg
1/2 cup demerara sugar (5172)
Heat butter in skillet over medium-high heat and add apples. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and cook 5 minutes more. Stir in Apple Spice and cornstarch and let mixture simmer for 1-2 more minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl and refrigerate until cool.
Place flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Using the largest holes on a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into flour and toss gently to combine. Pour in ice water and using a spatula, gently stir to bring together dough. Use your hands to gently knead and bring the dough together into a disk. Add a little more water if the mixture is too dry. The key is to add just enough water to make the dough come together into a cohesive disk. You want to handle the dough as little as possible as the more you handle the dough, the tougher it gets. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
Remove dough from fridge and place on a well-floured counter. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough out to a rough rectangle about 12-in. x 14-in. Fold dough into thirds, like a letter. Roll out dough again to a rough rectangle and now fold into thirds the opposite way. You can now roll out the dough for pies, but I like to put it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes to an hour so that it is easier to handle.
Beat egg in small bowl. Remove dough from fridge and place on a well-floured surface. Roll dough with a floured rolling pin to a rectangle that is 1/8-in. thick (approximately 20-in. x 14-in.). Cut into 8 even squares. Place about 2-3 Tbs. filling on each square and brush edges with beaten egg. Fold dough over filling and press edges together to seal. You can choose to form either rectangular or triangular pastries. Once sealed, use a fork to crimp the edges to ensure a tight seal. Transfer pies to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. When all the pies are filled, you can bake them right away, or place them in the fridge and bake them off later.
Heat oven to 425F. Use a small knife to make small vents in pie. Brush pies with beaten egg and sprinkle generously with demerara sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Once assembled (and before they are brushed with egg and topped with sugar), these pies can be frozen, and baked off whenever you feel the need for a treat. Simply remove them from the freezer, brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar, and maybe bake them 5-8 minutes longer. They are ready when golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
