Cinnamon Apple Pie {With a Lattice Crust}

Fall is one of my favorite seasons and ever since Kevin and I got married we’ve done a fall weekend with my family.  It’s one of the things I look forward to immediately after the leaves start to change.  We go to a corn maze, carve pumpkins, and visit the apple orchard.  This year at the apple orchard we went late in the season, so they encouraged us to pick a lot of apples, to stuff the bag, and pretty much pick as much as we wanted.  And pick we did.  We stuffed the bag, our hands, and our pockets.  We gave some to my parents, but were still left with a ton of apples. So what do you do when you have way too many apples?  Apple pie, of course.

I decided to be adventurous and try a lattice woven crust.  It’s not as hard as it seems, folks.  I learned how to make it from Simply Recipes.

Recipe

(I used pre-made pie crust, so the recipe is just for the filling)

Ingredients for Apple Pie Filling

• 1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar (add more if you have tart apples, less if your apples are sweet)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 6 medium apples (I used Harralsons because they tend to hold up well for pie)

Peel, core, and cut your apples.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Sprinkle the mix on the apples and stir to combine.

Roll out your dough and place one of the rolled pieces of dough into your pie pan (mine was a 9″ pie pan).

Spoon your apple mixture into the bottom pie crust.

Making the Lattice Crust

Cut your second piece of dough into 1/2″ to 3/4″ strips.  I used a pizza cutter and a (washed) straight edge to cut a straight line.

Place strips parallel about 1/2″ apart.  I took every other strip from the original piece so that I wasn’t left with only small pieces to work with.

Carefully fold back every other strip and put one of the remaining strips perpendicular to the existing strips to create the start of a grid.

Fold the strips back, then take the alternating strips and fold it over the existing strips.  Place another strip of dough on your pie.

Repeat the process until your run out of dough strips.

My dough didn’t extend over the edge of the pan, but if yours does you can roll and crimp your dough to make the outer crust.  I had to improvise a bit: I tucked the ends into the inside edge of the pie crust and pressed to seal.  Then, I took a knife and trimmed the edges.

Brush the crust lightly with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Baking

Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  Serve plain, with ice cream, or with Cool Whip (my favorite!).

Impress your family and friends with a pie your grandma would be proud of!

In search of other recipes?  Check out my stuffed mushrooms and cheesy potatoes.