Tag: baking

Easiest Cherry Apple Pie Recipe (Chapel Pie?)

During this holiday season, I got really into baking. I spent hours in the kitchen learning new recipes, trying to master techniques and appreciating the art-form that IS a perfect pie crust.

One of my most favorite pies I made was a makeshift cherry apple pie (with a homemade crust!)

This was my favorite pie to make because I didn’t follow a recipe! I had one can of apples and one can of cherries so I decided to wing it. And this delicious pie was the outcome.

Cherry Apple Pie Recipe

What you need:

Pie Crust: I used the same recipe as the last pie I made! Find it here.

Pie Filling:

Pie Topping:

  • 1 tbs melted butter
  • 1 tbs sugar (I used turbinado, but any kind of sugar will work!)

How to make it:

  1. Make your pie crusts using this simple recipe.
  2. Combine brown sugar, flour, and allspice in a large bowl.
  3. Add apples and cherries and toss until mixture is well coated.
  4. Heat oven to 400°F.
  5. Place pie crust dough into a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Press the dough firmly against the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.
  6. Roll the extra disk of dough on your floured surface. Slice the dough to create ribbons to weave across the top of your pie.
  7. Pour the apple mixture onto the crust in the pan.
  8. Add your dough ribbons to the top of your pie. You can weave them, braid them, or lay them randomly like I did – it will all taste the same! 😉
  9. Press the dough strips into the sides of the pan so that they adhere to the crust edge.
  10. Cover the edge of the pie with aluminum foil to prevent the crust edges from burning.
  11. Bake 35 minutes. Remove aluminum foil. Brush the crust with melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
  12. Continue baking for 10-20 minutes or until crust is a deep golden brown and filling is bubbling.
  13. Let the pie cool for at least 30 minutes, so the filling can set.
  14. Then enjoy!

If you decide to make this, tell me! I’d love to hear what you think! This was one of my favorite pies I’ve made so far, and it inspired me to get more creative in coming up with my own recipes!

Pecan Pie and Homemade Crust

I love eating pie, but I’ve never baked a pie.

Sure, I’ve picked up a frozen pie from the grocery store and heated it up in the oven… but I’ve never actually baked one from scratch.

So this Thanksgiving, I wanted to challenge myself. I baked a pie, but not just any pie. I baked what is probably the sugariest pie in the world: Pecan Pie (and I made my own crust!).

For the pie and the crust, I followed recipes from The Pioneer Woman (I love her!)

Pie Crust

  • 1-1/2 cup Crisco (vegetable shortening)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 whole egg
  • 5 tablespoons cold water
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

Separate the dough in half. Form 2 evenly sized balls of dough and place each dough into a large Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it’s still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)

When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it’s a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it’s about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.

With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.

See original recipe here.

Pecan Pie

  • 1 pie crust
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup corn syrup
  • 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/3 cup melted butter (salted)
  • 3 whole eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl.

Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell.

Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.

If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. I made this mistake and took my pie out while it was too jiggly and my pie turned out very liquidy! 

Allow to cool for several hours. Serve in thin slivers (because it’s super sweet, although I had a huge piece because it’s so good!)

See original recipe here.

Thanksgiving at Home

The last two Thanksgivings have been very different. Last year, I didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving because I was in Canada (so I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in October). The year before that, I was living on my own in DC, and I spent Thanksgiving by myself.

So this year when I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving at home with my family, I was over the moon.

We spent the day baking and cooking, watching the parade, playing board games, and of course… napping. It was perfect. Here are some photos from that day!

Spending the holidays with my family will always be my favorite thing to do. Did you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family? How did you spend the day? 💛