Apple Pie and Apple Tarts!

Here is another "From Mom" recipe. I make Apple Pie every Thanksgiving, and always get rave reviews. The crust is so easy to make!

Now, truth time. I really battled myself over whether to make this recipe public. I mean, it's family tradition! But, the recipe is too good to NOT share!

I do usually make a full pie with this. This time, however, I thought that little pies, or tarts, would be fun to make! As you can see, they are far from perfect! But, they had just the right ratio of crust to apples. Add some ice cream... yum!

Apple Pie and Apple Tarts!

Pie Crust (Makes 2 crusts-one bottom, one top)
2 cups flour
1 teas salt
1 teas sugar

Mix ingredients together.

Add 1/3 c. Shortening.

Cut with fork or pastry cutter until it looks like cornmeal. Add another 1/3 cup of shortening and cut with fork until it looks like giant peas.
Add 4-5 TB COLD water.

**The cold water is important. The colder the water, the flakier the crust will be. So, before starting, put a cup of ice water in the freezer. By the time you get to this step, it will be cold enough to use! I also seem to need more than 5 TB of water- just use 1TB at a time until the dough forms a ball.

Mix until dough forms a ball.

Divide dough in half, and roll out on wax paper or flour covered surface.

For Pie: Flip dough in pie pan and press in.
Roll out second crust.

For Tarts: Use a round cookie cutter or glass and cut out circles about 1/2 inch bigger than your muffin tins. Try to get them as close as possible, as the dough gets tougher every time you have to re-roll it.

Tarts: Place dough circles in muffin tin, pressing against the sides. There should be some dough that overflows the tins.

Now for the Apples!

Now, here is my secret. I use 3-4 different brands of apples.
Why?
This adds texture, color, and different taste to the pies! Try it! You may get an odd look from the cashier when you hand her 3 bags full of 2 apples each, but hey, what do you care? You are making fabulous pie!

5-6 Apples - peeled or not, your choice. I leave the peels on cause I'm lazy.
Chop apples. I chop them very finely as you can see in the picture.
You need enough to heap in the pan; but don't put them in the pan yet!

Apple Topping:
1 cup sugar
3 TB dry Tapioca Pudding (Absorbs moisture, keeping your crust dry)
1 1/2 teas. cinnamon
1/4 teas. nutmeg
Mix all ingredients and pour over apples. Mix thoroughly.

Fill your pie crust(s) with apples- heaping it in the crust.

Place dabs of butter (pea sized) over apples.

Place second crust over the top, and seal edges.

Poke some holes in the top- or get creative and make a fun design.

For Pie: Cover edges with foil until the last 5-10 min. of baking.
(This insures that your edges won't burn!)
Bake at 425 for 60 min. or so. Check at 40 min.

For Tarts: Bake at 425 for 20-30 min. or until top is slightly browned.
Let cool in pan, then remove to serving plate.
Serve warm with Ice Cream or whipped cream!

Enjoy!

Crockpot Applesauce

I had some extra apples lying around, so I thought I would make applesauce. It was so easy to make! I think I'm going to make it from now on!

Here is the recipe I used. It turned out tasting just like the inside of an Apple Pie! If you don't want it to be as sugary, or taste like apple pie, you can use less spices!

6-8 Apples, peeled, sliced
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 to 1teas. Pumpkin Pie spice (or add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)

Place all ingredients in a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hrs, or on high for about 3 hrs. Mash all the apples, and Enjoy!

Bread Machine Challah Bread

Italian Spiced Challah Bread!

I wanted to make bread in my bread machine, so I searched for a good recipe. This one is A-mazing! Very easy to make, and you can turn it into so many different flavors! Here we go!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Milk
3 Eggs
3 TB margarine/butter
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 teas. active dry yeast

1. Add ingredients to the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. (Usually wet ingredients first, and then dry)

Then do EITHER of these options:
A. Select Basic Bread and Light Crust settings. Start. Bread will be cooked completely!
B.(I did it this way) Select DOUGH settings and press Start.

1. After the machine is done, take the dough out, and place it on a very lightly floured board, punch the dough down, and let rest for 5 minutes.
2. Divide the dough in half. Then divide into 3 equal pieces, roll into ropes about 12 to 14 inches, and braid into a loaf. Do the same with the remaining other half. Gently put the loaves on a greased cookie sheet, mist with water, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a warm, draft free place, until double in size.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water.
4. Brush risen loaves with egg mixture. Sprinkle with sugar. (optional)
5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then, cover loosely with foil, and bake for another 10-15 minutes. This prevents the crust from browning too soon.

Then, check out all the variations I have thought of... and let me know if you come up with more!
* Add 1-2TB Italian herbs to dough. Sprinkle garlic powder on top of loaf after spreading egg/water mixture. This tastes BETTER than Italian Bakery Bread! (The top picture is of the Italian bread!)

* Add Cinnamon, Sugar, Nutmeg to dough. After cooking, drizzle cinnamon roll frosting on top!

*At your machine's add-in cycle, add shredded cheese and spices.