Homemade Apple Pie

For my first baked good, I chose the all-American classic: Apple Pie! I had never made a pie before, and I’ll admit, I cheated and used a Stop & Shop premade pie crust. I figured taking baby steps was best for my first attempt at baking. I used two different recipes for my end result. First, allrecipes.com Apple Pie by Grandma Ople, fantastic reviews from both their website and from the friends and family I graciously forced my dessert on.

To start off, obviously you have to peel a bunch of apples, allrecipes.com said eight – so for some reason I decided twelve was what I should go to. The worry about the apples cooking down and the pie not being big enough was intense. The liquid deliciousness of butter, brown sugar, and sugar, that is the apple pie filling glaze, was a beautiful sight. I had assumed that it would be difficult to make up this concoction without burning it, I was delighted to have done it correctly and it seemed to come out perfectly! Not only did it look wonderful, it made my kitchen smell like a bakery instantly.
After drizzling this liquid gold upon my mountain of apples, I took my second Stop & Shop premade crust and cut it into strips. Laying it in an array of what I thought would look cute, yet at the same time not having a clue of what I was doing. (Again, I apologize that I used premade crust, I’ll learn how to make crust from scratch, I promise!) Then I topped the pie with Paula Deen’s Crunch Top Apple Pie recipe, only the crunch top section – I also added in some brown sugar, because it felt weird not having that on top of an apple pie. After topping it, I let it cook at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes, then dropped it down to 350 for 40 minutes! The end result is something I am very proud of! The only thing that I wish I had done differently is letting it bake a little longer. Everyone who ate some said the bottom crust could have used a few more minutes in the oven, but hey, it was my first attempt! Now I know for next time! Though, thinking about it I would have also added in some cinnamon to the glaze for the inside. Overall, I would rate this a success!