An Apple A Day...

We went to Centennial Farms and got a bag of apples. While it was a fun family activity, on the drive back I kept thinking that I had just filled up my weekend and evenings coming up because I would have to do something with them quickly. Fortunately I had several easy, yummy apple recipes stashed away and we successfully ate them all before they even had a chance to think about going bad!

Topsy-Turvy Apple Pie

Glaze & Crust:

1/4 c brown sugar

1 T butter, melted

1 T corn syrup

1/2 c pecan halves

1 box refrigerated piecrusts, softened as directed on box

Filling:

2/3 c sugar

2 T all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 c sliced apples

Heat oven to 425°. In 9" glass pie plate, mix brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Spread evenly in bottom of pie plate. Arrange pecans over mixture. (I left the pecans off b/c I didn't have any on hand and it still tasted YUMMY.) Make piecrusts as directed on box for two-crust pie, placing bottom crust over mixture in pan.

In small bowl, mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Arrange half of apple slices in crust-lined plate. Sprinkle with half of sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining apples and sugar. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.

Place pie on sheet of foil (or baking sheet) on middle oven rack; bake 8 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°; bake 35-45 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Immediately run knife around edge of pie to loosen. Place serving plate upside down over pie; turn serving plate nad pie plate over. Remove pie plate. Serve warm or cool with whipped cream.

The only thing I would do differently next time is to spray the pan with oil first. My bottom pie crust stuck to the pan in places, making it a little messy on top when I flipped it over. Maybe this is because I didn't use the pecans, but better safe than sorry, especially if I was making it for something other than just our house.

Glazed Cinnamon Apples

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in 8 wedges

1 T lemon juice

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c packed light brown sugar

2 T flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

6 T butter, melted

Place apples in a slow-cooker; drizzle with lemon juice. Mix sugars, flour and spices in a medium bowl. Sprinkle mixture over apples; stir gently to coat apples. Drizzle with butter. Place lid on slow-cooker. Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 2 hours until apples are done. Carefully remove lid to allow steam to escape. Serve warm apple topping over ice cream.

My apples were Winesap, not Granny Smith - as long as they're a good cooking apple they'll be fantastic. Also I substitued pumpkin pie spice for nutmeg since I used the last of my nutmeg a few days earlier. And the first time I made this (I actually made the recipe twice in one week, once for my family and then later for some friends who came over) I used the full 6 T of butter and it seemed unnecessary. The second time I reduced it to 1 1/2 T and that even seemed unnecessary. I think next time I'll leave it out entirely.