The {Best} Apple Pie - Ever!

     Hello!  It's Recipe Tuesday and this Apple Pie  recipe comes from The Grand Central Baking cookbook.  This pie is incredibly easy to make and absolutely delicious.  It's perfect for a crisp autumn evening, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
     A few tips... I haven't perfected homemade pie crust so I prefer to use Merico brand refrigerated pie crust rather than Pillsbury (gasp); it tastes better and is less expensive.  I've only recently started to see this at my local grocery store so I'm not sure if it's available in all areas.
     Definitely use firm, tart apples, like the recipe suggests.  We picked up ours at the local apple orchard and they were a bit too soft, making the pie filling a little juicy.  Not that this was a bad thing but if you're going for presentation it could be a problem.
   I sprinkle a packet of "Raw Sugar" (the little brown packets of sugar at the coffee shop) on the top of the pie.  This gives the pie crust a bit of crunch and looks pretty too.

     I have to admit that these are not the best photos of the pie... I forgot to take the foil off the crusts 10 minutes before it was finished so it looks a little unbaked around the edges and overcooked in the middle.  

 Apple Pie

• 2 pie crusts
• 2 lbs firm, tart apples (4-5 large apples)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Peel, core and slice apples into 1/2" slices.  You should have about 8 cups.  Toss apples with sugars, cinnamon and set aside for an hour or so, until they begin to release some of their juices.  (This helps prevent the apple slices from shrinking in the oven as they lose their juices, which creates large gaps between the crust and fruit)

2.  Preheat oven to 375.  Place one pie crust in pan and pour apple filling onto crust.  Cover with second crust and crimp edges.  Cut several steam vents in top crust.

3.  Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate pan and lower oven temp to 350.  Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.