Sour Cream Apple Pie
Author: 
 
Makes one large deep-dish pie.
Ingredients
  • PIE CRUST:
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup shortening, chilled
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon vodka (or vinegar, if preferred)
  • PIE FILLING:
  • 1½ cups sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups thinly sliced apples (best: Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Golden Delicious. A mixture is good!)
  • CINNAMON STREUSEL TOPPING:
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon (reduce if you want a light-colored topping)
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
Instructions
  1. PIE CRUST: Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in shortening until it looks like coarse crumbs.
  2. Mix milk and vodka (or vinegar) together and pour all at once into flour mixture. Toss lightly with a fork just until it forms a ball.
  3. Roll out between two sheets of parchment, lightly dusted with flour.. Roll from the center out, Remove top sheet of parchment. Lay pie pan upside down on dough. With a pastry cutter or sharp knife, cut a circle of dough at least 1½ inch bigger than the pan, all the way around. Place pan right side up and move dough to pan, carefully easing it in. (Hint: slide a flat baking sheet under the parchment. Gently place the pie pan upside down, centered on top of the dough. With one hand on the pie pan and one under the baking sheet, flip it all over. So easy!)
  4. Fold excess dough under and crimp or flute the edges. Place in the refrigerator to stay cool.
  5. PIE FILLING: In a large bowl, stir together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon until well combined..
  6. Stir in the sugar, flour, and salt.
  7. Heat oven to 400 F.
  8. Peel and quarter apples. (Approximately 4 large apples or 6 medium). Remove the cores and slice thin—less than ¼ inch. When you have about 6 cups, stir into sour cream mixture.
  9. Remove pie pan from refrigerator and pour apple filling into crust, all the way to the top.
  10. Place pan in the oven with a baking sheet on the rack below, just in case of drips. Bake for 15 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce heat to 350 F and bake for an additional 45 minutes.
  11. CINNAMON STREUSEL TOPPING: Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, melted butter and salt.
  12. Remove pie from oven and crumble the topping over it, covering the entire surface. (Add piecrust cutouts here, if desired.)
  13. Return pie to oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until crust is light brown and topping is firm.
  14. Allow pie to cool on a rack until just barely warm. Wonderful when topped with vanilla ice cream!
  15. Store covered in the refrigerator.
Recipe by The Rowdy Baker at http://www.therowdybaker.com/?p=8687