In the Draves household, nothing is as sacred as pie. No holiday or birthday was ever complete without a pie made by my father. There was something so magical about spending a whole day with my (usually very busy) father creating a delicious pie for our family to share. Something so warm and so cozy. Turn a dreary day into a homey fall afternoon with this classic apple pie recipe.

Supplies

Oven, preferably a convection oven. Preheat to 450 degrees F.

Pie plate, I recommend a glass or ceramic deep-dish pie plate

Rolling pin, a cylindrical wine bottle works in a pinch

Assorted measuring cups and spoons

2 butter knives

Saran wrap or wax paper

Ingredients

For the filling

4-8 granny smith apples (depending on the size of your pie plate)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of cornstarch

½ tsp of cinnamon

Sprinkle of nutmeg

2 tbsp of butter

For the crust

2 cups of flour

1 tsp of salt

⅔ cup of Crisco (room temperature)

2 tbsp cold butter (cold)

Cold water

Process

To make the filling

Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into thin slices approximately 1-2 mm thick.
Gently toss the apples with the juice of one lemon until they are all covered.
Add brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Let rest in the refrigerator.

To make the dough

Carefully measure the flour, making sure to tap out air pockets in the cup measure. Gently mix in the salt.
Add the Crisco and butter. Using two butter knives and a cutting motion, slice through the pieces of butter and Crisco to incorporate them into the dry ingredients. When they are mostly combined, use your fingers to smush any remaining fat pieces into the dough. By the end, there should be a few pea sized pieces but most should be the size of a grain of rice.
Sprinkle in cold water a few tablespoons at a time. Use the same knife and cutting technique to incorporate the water. Continue adding water and cutting it in until the dough begins to stick together, typically about ¼ cup of water.
Gently smush the dough into a ball. Do not knead it because that will make the dough tough.
Cut the dough ball in half. Put one half in between two pieces of saran wrap or wax paper. Gently roll out the dough. Repeat with the other half.

To assemble the pie

Peel off the top layer of saran wrap from one rolled-out dough sheet. Using the bottom saran wrap layer, carefully flip the dough into the pie plate and gently push it along the bottom of the pie pan.
Place the filling into the pie pan. Layer them in flat so they are as densely packed as possible. Mound the apples about 2-3 inches above the top of the pie plate because they will shrink when baked.
Add 2 tbsp of butter in thin slices to the top center of the apple mound.
Peel off the top layer of saran wrap for the other rolled-out dough sheet. Using the bottom saran wrap layer, carefully flip the dough on top of the apples. Cut off any excess dough but leave 1-2 inches around the pie pan.
Using the extra dough, gently crimp the top crust dough into the bottom crust around the edge of the pie. Cut a few small steam vents into the top of pie.

To bake the pie

Bake for approximately 10 minutes at 450 degrees until the crust is a nice golden brown.
Turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-45 minutes. Look for steam or bubbles to ensure the filling is fully cooked before removing from the oven.
Let it rest for at least 1 hour before eating (preferably 2-4 hours or until cool).
Serve with vanilla ice cream and good company.