BEST WAY TO FREEZE APPLE PIE RECIPES

Steps:

• Make crust: Place flour and butter into freezer for 30 minutes before starting crust process. In a large food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add butter and pulse until pea-sized and some slightly larger pieces form. With the machine running, add vinegar, then ice water into feed tube, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough starts to come together and is moist but not wet and sticky (test by squeezing some with your fingers). Mixture will be crumbly. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, form into 2 equal size balls, and flatten into disks (making sure there are no/minimal cracks). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is very cold, at least 2 hours or up to overnight. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of dough into a 12” circle. Drape over pie dish and gently press to fit (don’t stretch). Refrigerate 30 minutes or freeze 10 minutes. In a large bowl, toss apple slices with lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Transfer apple mixture into the crust-lined pie dish. Dot all over with butter. Preheat oven to 425º with a large baking sheet on the middle rack and lightly grease a 9”-x-1.5” pie dish with cooking spray. Roll out second disc of dough into a 12” circle and drape over apple filling, trim edges to 1”, tuck overhang up and over itself, and crimp edges.  Brush with egg wash and make six 2” slots in the center. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place pie onto preheated baking sheet and bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375º and bake until golden and bubbly, 40 minutes more. (If edges begin to look dark, cover with foil.) Let cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours before serving.

Steps:

• For the pastry, put the flour in a large mixing bowl with a pinch of salt, add the butter and rub into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through the sugar with a round-bladed knife, then stir in just enough of the water until the dough starts to come together in chunks (it shouldn’t be sticky). To make this in a food processor, whizz the butter and flour together, then pulse through the sugar and water until the dough starts to come together.
• Bring the dough together with your Hands, then tip onto a floured surface and give it a quick knead until smooth. Roll it out to a rough square, fold it in thirds like a letter, give a quarter turn, then repeat twice. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 30-60 minutes (or see make ahead).
• Heat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Remove the pastry from the fridge, cut off two thirds (chill the remaining third), then roll out on a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use the pastry to line a 23cm x 5cm deep tart case with a removable base. Press it into the edges, trim the excess, then chill (5 minutes in the freezer or 20 minutes in the fridge). Line with foil or baking paper, fill with baking beans or uncooked rice, then blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil/paper and beans/rice, then cook for 5 minutes or until the base is sandy coloured with no grey patches.
• In a large bowl, toss the apples with the sugar, spices and cornflour, then use to fill the pastry case. Dot the top of the apples with quince jelly. Roll out the remaining pastry until a little bigger than the pie. Cut off a long, thin strip (enough to fit round the pastry case), wet the edge of the baked pastry case and press the strip of pastry on top, gently, all the way around. Brush this with a little water, then loosely roll the pastry for the lid around a rolling pin and unroll on top of the pie, pressing it gently onto the strip to seal. Trim any overhanging pastry, then crimp the edges with your fingers. Shape the trimmings into decorations, if you like. Cut a steam hole in the centre of the pie, brush the top with the beaten egg to glaze, add the pastry decorations, then glaze again and sprinkle with caster sugar.
• Put the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crisp. Allow to cool (see tips), then serve with cream or custard.