It’s getting close to September and one of my favorite things about that month is picking apples. I always talk my husband into getting at least 2 big bags. Here are 3 really good apple pie recipes. Now, don’t you want to go pick apples too?

Apple Pie 1

Make crust for two crust pie (9″ pie plate)
1- 3 pound bag of Granny Smith apples
1 cup brown sugar (makes a richer and tastier pie)
1/4 cup flour (as a thickener)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
About 2-3 tablespoons real butter, room temperature

Peel, core and slice apples. Place in a bowl and add brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix well; set aside.

Make crust and line pie plate (glass works best). Pour in apples; scraping out all juices in bowl over top of apples. Dot apples with butter. Cover with second crust; crimp and seal edges. Trim off excess and cut steam slits in middle of crust.

Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes or until apples test done (use a knife in slits to test apples for tenderness).
To keep crust from burning on edges line with foil.
Place a baking sheet with foil on shelf under pie to catch any run off of pie.
Any good crust recipe will work.

Apple Pie II

5 cups sliced green apples
½ stick butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
⅓ cup all purpose white flour
pastry for 2 crust pie

In saucepan over low heat, combine first 7 ingredients. Cook until apples are slightly tender. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, almond extract and flour.

Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges with water and flute. Cut steam slits in several areas of top crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees, reduce temperature to 325 degrees and continue to bake an additional 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Apple Pie III

Make this right in the plate – no rolling!

1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tbsp. Sugar
Quick dash of Salt
½ cup Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp. Milk

Mix the dry ingredients directly in the pie plate. Draw a little circle in the middle with your finger. Pour the oil and milk into a jar and put the lid on tightly. Give it a good shake. Pour this mixture into the circle and mix it gently with a fork until completely blended.

Press the Pastry against the sides of the Pie Plate, first, then fill in the bottom.

Bake this at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes if you need a baked shell, or just go ahead and fill it with any fresh or frozen berries and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees for a filled pie shell.

A really easy way to make a nice Fruit Pie is to put the prepared fruit in a bowl and stir in a half a cup of flour with a half a cup of sugar (mixed together), and it’ll automatically make it’s own sauce.

5 to 6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (to your taste and depends on the sweetness of the apples)
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash salt
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Lay 1/2 the pastry, rolled out to about 1/8″ thickness, in the bottom of the pie pan and press it in gently to lay flat in the pan. Leave the excess crust hanging over the edges for now.

Place peeled, sliced apples in a bowl. Mix together the sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Pour over sliced apples and mix. Fill the pie pan with the apples and pat down with a spoon. Dot the filling with pieces of butter.

Moisten the lip of the pie pan with water. Place the top layer of rolled out crust over the filling, making sure crust reaches outer edges of the pie pan all around. Seal the edge and flute all around.

Take a fork and prick the pie top in several places to create vents for steam to escape. Bake for 50 minutes, until pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents.

Let cool a bit before cutting to allow the filling to settle.

Makes a 9″ pie.