Cast Iron Skillet Apple Pie

In my prior posts I mentioned a day trip that my husband and I took to the mountains of North Carolina and then to Apple Country in Hendersonville, North Carolina. For the past two weeks I’ve been using apples upon apples. Check out my prior post which includes a recipe for apple butter.

What is your favorite dessert? If anyone ever asks me, my answer is always the same…warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top. Since I have so many apples I decided to make a homemade apple pie. Talk about delicious! This recipe is a light apple pie recipe that is not very sweet. It is a must to serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

With any apple pie you have to have a crust, right? This is the easiest pie crust recipe ever!

Easy Pie Crust

Ingredients:

2 2/3 Cup Self-Rising Flour

1 cup Shortening

10 Tbsp Ice Cold Water

Directions:

Measure the flour into a bowl. Measure the shortening into the bowl and cut it into the flour until it looks like pieces of cookie crumble.

Next add about 5 tablespoons of the ice cold water. Make sure it is ice cold. Toss the mixture around with a fork. The mixture will start to resemble dough. Add a few more tablespoons of the ice cold water and continue to mix with a fork until the mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Your dough for the pie crust is done! See..super easy!

I like to split the dough into two equal balls. I flatten the balls just a little and wrap it in saran wrap and stick in the fridge while I prepare the apples. When the dough is chilled it’s much easier to work with when you go to roll it out especially if your kitchen is a little warm like mine usually is.

Skillet Apple Pie

Ingredients:

5 Apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)

½ Cup Sugar

1 ½ Tsp Cinnamon

Dash of Nutmeg

2 Tsp Lemon Juice

3 Tbsp Butter

1 Egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After you peel, core, and slice your apples. Again I used a mixture of Jonagold (2) and Gold Delicious (3). Place the apples in cold water with lemon juice and a little salt. This will stop them from browning while you are working with the dough and mixing the other ingredients. To make this process quick and easy use this nifty gadget. If you use this gadget all you have to do is cut a slit down the side of the apple to have your individual slices instead of ringlets. Click on the picture for more details.

In a small bowl add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix together until ingredients are incorporated well. Set to the side.

Next grease your cast iron skillet very well with shortening so the pie crust does not stick to it. You will need to grease the bottom and the sides.

Now, you will want to roll your dough out on a floured surface. Roll it into the shape of a circle the size of the cast iron pan. I used a larger skillet so I had to roll the dough a little thinner which was great. I don’t like a lot of dough, but you need it thick enough to hold the ingredients when you cut a slice to take out the pan. Place the dough into the pan and mash it lightly around the bottom edges, then fit the dough around the sides of the pan. You can cut the excess dough from around the edges.

Sprinkle some of the sugar mixture over the top of the bottom pie crust.

Layer your apples. You can sprinkle more of the sugar mixture over each couple of layers. Add the lemon juice around the apple layers. Cube the butter and scatter the cubes over the top apple layer. Sprinkle a little more of the sugar mixture on the top layer of the apples.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface for the top crust of the pie. You can roll it into a circle, place on the top of the pie, cut the excess from around the edges, and cut a few slits in the top. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then roll the dough into a square or rectangle and cut thin strips that are ½ inch in width. Layer the strips to give a weaving look. This is the way I went with the top crust.

Lastly, mix-up an egg wash to brush over the dough. Beat one egg with about 3-4 tablespoons of water. Brush this over the crust and sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture on top.