Apple Cranberry Pie
I have been making this pie for years! There are homes I’m not allowed to enter if I don’t have this pie with me. I buy pie plates at Goodwill so that I can just leave the plate. Sometimes I get them back, sometimes I don’t – it just doesn’t matter!! I love cooking and baking for my friends.
APPLE CRANBERRY PIE
You will need pastry for a 9″ two-crust pie. You can buy the frozen pie crust, but trust me when I tell you pie crust is SO easy to make. Here is the recipe I use and it has never let me down.
PIE CRUST
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. cold butter, cut into pieces
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor and give it a quick pulse to blend the ingredients. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add 6 tbsp. ice cold water and pulse until mixed. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
PIE FILLING
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 c. sliced Granny Smith apples
2. cranberries – whole
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugars, flour & cinnamon. Add fruit and mix well. Pour into a pastry lined pie plate. Dot the tops with butter. Cover with pastry and cut slits in the top crust. Seal the edges. I like to use tiny cookie cutters to cut holiday themed designs out of left over pie crust and decorate the edges of the pie. Brush an egg wash over the crust and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. (I use a pie shield on the edges of the pie for the first 30 minutes of baking. Keeps the edges from getting too brown.)
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Enjoy!
Vanilla
Homemade vanilla is so easy and so delicious. Once I discovered how easy it is to make your own vanilla I won’t use anything else. The one thing to keep in mind is that it takes three (3) months to brew. I try to make a new batch as soon as the previous one is done brewing. That way I never run out!
Here are the ingredients:
2 cups vodka – I use Tito’s – it is my absolute favorite vodka for all purposes.
24 Madagascar Vanilla Beans
Pour vodka in a Ball jar. Slice the vanilla beans down the center and scrape out the caviar. Put the caviar and the remainder of the bean in the Ball jar. This process is a tad tedious, but so worth it!
Once you have finished, seal the Ball jar and shake. Put in your cupboard and shake once a week.
In three months pour the brewed vanilla through a coffee filter and store in an air tight container.
After three months your vanilla will turn into this beautiful, rich liquid. It smells heavenly and adds great depth to your recipes. Once you make this, you will be like me, it will be the only vanilla you will use.
ENJOY!!