A beautiful fall day calls for a great apple pie. This one is my favorite and it is so simple. It is always a hit. I have co-workers who beg me to bring it in year around.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
2/3 cup pecan halves
2 prepared pie crusts
6 cups peeled, sliced apples
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 450. In a small bowl, combine butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar and spread evenly in the bottom of a 10-inch pie pan. Arrange pecan halves in a design on the pie pan bottom, pressing in to the sugar mixture. Roll out each pie crust to about a 10-inch diameter. Cover pecans with 1 pie crust leaving 1/2-inch of pastry hanging over the sides. In a mixing bowl, sprinkle the apples with lemon juice and set aside. In another bowl, combing remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the apples and stir well. Pile apples on the pie crust, making as level a surface as possible. Cover with the second pie crust. Fold top crust over bottom crust, wetting the edges to seal as you go. Flute edges and prick top with a fork. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake 45 minutes longer, covering the top with foil if necessary to prevent excess browning. Remove from oven. When syrup in the pan stops bubbling, place serving plate over pie and invert. Remove pie pan.
Enjoy with vanilla ice cream!
