Rustic Apple Pie from Baking Kids Love

For Thanksgiving, get the kids in the kitchen too!

I’ve included a recipe below from Baking Kids Love, a new book just out this fall. To make the Rustic Apple Pie more eco-friendly, choose organic apples, sugar, flour and butter.

Baking Kids Love by Sur La Table with Cindy Mushet features 30 recipes designed for 8 to 12 year-old kids. Do you have any favorite holiday items that the kids help you make?

Rustic Apple Pie
—From Baking Kids Love by Sur La Table with Cindy Mushet/Andrews McMeel Publishing

(Enough for 6 to 8 pie peeps)

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Easy Pie Dough (included below)

Filling:

• 4 large (about 1¾ pounds total) Granny Smith apples
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

To finish:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Tools

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Vegetable peeler
• Cutting board
• Paring knife
• Large bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Pastry brush
• Metal spatula
• Oven mitts
• Cooling rack

1. Before you begin
Position an oven rack in the bottom ¹⁄³ of the oven, and preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Make the filling
Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into ¼-inch-thick slices. Transfer the slices to the large bowl. Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch over the apples. Using the wooden spoon, gently stir the fruit until it is evenly coated with the sugar mixture.

3. Assemble the pie
Remove the rolled-out pie dough on the baking sheet from the refrigerator. Spoon the apple filling onto the circle, creating an even layer in the center and leaving a 2-inch-wide border uncovered around the edge of the dough. Fold the border up and over the filling, gathering the dough into pleats so it fits snugly around the fruit. The center of the pie will be open.

4. Finish and bake the pie
Brush the pleated dough edges with the melted butter, then sprinkle them with the sugar.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown and the fruit is juicy and bubbling. Use the metal spatula to lift the pie slightly so you can look underneath. The bottom of the crust should be golden brown. Using the oven mitts, transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the pie cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with a big scoop of ice cream.

Playing around
You can substitute other fruit for the apples. Try peaches, plums, cherries, or berries. If the fruit is very tart, like sour cherries or tart plums, you may want to increase the sugar to about ½ cup. If it is really juicy, increase the cornstarch to 1½ tablespoons.

Easy Pie Dough
—From Baking Kids Love by Sur La Table with Cindy Mushet/Andrews McMeel Publishing

(Makes 1 gorgeous crust)

Ingredients

• ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter (keep refrigerated until needed)
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Tools

• Measuring cups and spoons
• 1 small and 1 large bowl
• Whisk
• Pastry blender
• Table knife
• Table fork
• Plastic wrap
• Bench scraper
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pin
• Small icing or offset spatula
• Ruler
• Pastry brush
• Baking sheet

1. Cut up the butter
Cut the cold butter into small cubes and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Put the water in a small bowl and refrigerate at the same time.

Bella’s Tip: The trick here is to keep the butter cold. Keep it in the fridge until you need it. Once the butter is in small pieces in the dough, if they start to feel warm and squishy, stop and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes, then continue with the recipe.

2. Cut the butter into the flour
Put the flour, sugar, and salt into the large bowl and whisk until blended. Scatter the cold butter pieces over the dry ingredients and toss them with your fingers until they are coated with the flour. Using the pastry blender, cut the butter into smaller and smaller pieces. If any chunks of cold butter get stuck in the wires of the pastry blender, use the table knife to push them off, then continue cutting. You are done when the mixture looks like bread crumbs, with very tiny pieces of butter in the flour.

3. Mix the dough
Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the cold water over the top of the flour-butter mixture, then stir with the fork about 25 times. The mixture will begin to hold together in shaggy clumps. Grab a handful of the clumps and some of the dry stuff at the bottom and squeeze firmly. Open your hand. The dough is ready when it holds together, even if a few small pieces fall off.

If the clump falls apart and looks dry, you need a little more water. Before adding more water, remove any large, moist clumps from the bowl, and set them on your work surface. Then add the remaining tablespoon of cold water to the dry crumbs in the bowl and stir again.

4. Shape the dough
Turn the clumps of dough out onto the work surface. Gently knead it all together 3 to 6 times, just until blended into a smooth dough. Press the dough into an 8-inch circle, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Use the bench scraper to clean the work surface.

5. Roll out the dough
Line the baking sheet with the parchment paper. Dust the table generously with flour. Unwrap the chilled dough and place it in the center of the flour. Sprinkle a little more flour over the top.

Bella’s tip: Don’t worry about putting plenty of flour on the table when you roll out the dough. As long as the dough is cool to the touch, it won’t absorb the flour. If the dough starts to get warm and squishy, transfer it onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes, then continue rolling. The extra flour keeps the dough from sticking to the table, and you brush it all off at the end anyway.

Starting from the edge closest to you, roll gently but firmly to the edge opposite you and then back again twice. If the dough cracks when you try to roll it, it’s too cold. Let it sit on the table for 8 to 10 minutes, then try to roll it again. Be careful not to roll the pin off the edge of the dough, or the dough will stick to the surface.

Pretend the circle is a clock face, with 12 o’clock at the top. Turn the dough 2 hours, to 2 o’clock, and then roll up and back again twice. When you turn the dough, it should move easily. If it doesn’t, gently lift the stuck area, loosening it with a small icing spatula, and sprinkle some more flour underneath. Turn the dough 2 more hours and roll up and back again twice. Repeat the rolling up and back and turning until the dough is a circle 14 inches across.

6. Chill the dough
Brush any flour from the top of the dough. Gently fold the circle into quarters, brushing off any excess flour as you fold. Transfer the folded dough to the prepared baking sheet. Unfold the circle so it is flat. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling for the pie.

(Book cover image: Andrews McMeel Publishing, Apple image flickr/Stevie Rocco)