Basic Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients~

6 cups (about 2 lbs) peeled, cored, sliced apples (McIntosh/Cortlands are recommended. They are tasty and resist turning to mush during cooking)
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBSP flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp lemon zest or lemon juice
Option - 1/2 cup golden or regular raisins or cranberries.
Option - 1 egg white plus 2 TBSP sugar

Crust~

You can buy a pre-made 9" pie shell (regular or graham cracker) or make your own:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
5 TBSP COLD water

Steps~

Preheat oven to 400F
In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, raisins or cranberries, sugar, 2 TBSP flour, spices and lemon.
Toss until apples are evenly coated
In medium mixing bowl sift 2 cups flour and salt together
Add oil and water together in a small cup and then pour this into the dry mixture.
Gently fold until you get a ball. If dough is too dry, add 1 TBSP water at a time.
Divide dough ball into 2 balls, making one of them a bit smaller than the other.
Put larger dough ball between 2 sheets of floured wax paper and roll into a circle about 12 inches diameter.
Remove top sheet of wax paper and set your pie pan upside down, on top of the rolled out dough. Flip over and gently tuck dough into contours of pie pan.
Now roll out the smaller dough ball into a circle. This will be your top crust which you need to slit to let the steam out. You can do simple slits or cut out interesting shapes with a cookie cutter. Or you can cut it into long strips for a lattice topping.
Pour filling into bottom pie shell and then flip top crust or place lattice strips on top. You can weave the strips if you feeling extra creative.
Press all dough edges together along top rim of pan and then crimp or flute for a decorate border.
Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and then your pie on top of the foil.
Use a pie crust shield or use some foil around the edges to prevent the crust from burning.
Option - during the last 10 minutes of cooking brush an egg white and then sprinkle some sugar on top.
Bake 45-60 minutes or until you see that filling has started to bubble.
Remove pie when done and let cool on a rack uncovered.
Store at room temperature lightly covered because the refrigerator or a tight cover will cause the pie to become soggy.