Delicate, flaky crust and the caramel apple pie filling flavor is outstanding! We’ve replaced the Crisco,(high in hydrogenated fat), with something MUCH, much better. Coconut oil is good for you!

 

Coconut Oil is great in baking. This crust recipe uses coconut oil in place of butter for my pie crust.I have always used butter in my crusts. Coconut oil is different to work with but very tasty, keeps the kitchen pretty clean while you work (I have a trick for that) and is VERY easy to work with.

In the past, I made my crusts with butter. I used a lot of butter, and made really yummy pie crusts… that looked. Just. AWFUL!  The dough would never hold together. The crust tops looked like a zombie pie with a patched together, falling apart, messy look. Ok for family, but never leaving the house!

Storytime: Way back when, my youngest daughter Kayti, about 13 years old, got talked into making a pie for our local Northwest Washington Fair. This was one of those last minute things. After dinner, in the middle of  preparing her sheep and rabbits for fair and trying to get her sheep showing outfit together, rushing here and there, she told me she had to enter a pie!

 

This was so random. She was entering it in the adult section; not 4-h. She had never made a pie, had no recipe, and didn’t have a clue. I stood back from the whole situation and said. “That’s not a good idea!” I thought she would give up on it, but nope. She went out to our transparent apple tree and found some stragglers still left on that, mostly done apple tree. “I’m making an apple pie”, she says and starts digging into cookbooks.

She did make that Caramel Apple pie. I refused to help. If I started helping, I’d take it over and it would be my pie entered, so I stayed out of the kitchen. Kayti found this caramel apple pie recipe that I am offering today, from a cookbook we received from my Grandma Cash, years ago. The pots and pans were clattering until midnight but she finally got it done. She entered that caramel apple pie into the fair. 

She won best of show with her first ever pie! We were all SHOCKED! Kaytie’s pie went up against some very lovely competition from women who had baked for decades.  She won because the flavor of that pie was outstanding.  None of the other, really perfect looking, pies could compare to Kayti’s.

 

Her dad was so proud of her that, after that pie had sat at the fair a week and was definitely the worse for wear, he brought it home and proudly ate every bit of it…which is just really gross! And on a Mother’s Note…let me tell you how glad I am that I stayed out of the kitchen. The other contestants in the contest were sure I’d made that pie. I could look them right in the eye, and say she made it all by herself.  I was so proud of her. It was a good day!

The lemon juice keeps the apple slices from turning brown. BUT! Drain and pat the apples pieces dry before making the pie. And you don’t want too much lemon flavor either.

 

Filling:
6 cups sliced apples.(about 6 to 8 medium sized, fresh apples)

 

Prepare apples: Wash apples thoroughly and drain. Cut each apple into quarters, core, and then slice into small slices for the filling.  Coring and Cutting up fresh apples takes time. To make this process faster and easier I use an apple corer

• Sprinkle one Tablespoon vanilla over the drained apples.
• Mix the filling ingredients together and pour over the apples.
• Mix well until all the apples are coated and a rich syrup forms.

 Coconut oil pie crust Tips:

NOTE: This recipe makes one two crust 9 inch pie. If you are using a large pie plate or deep dish please double the recipe. 

For easy handling and rolling out the dough for the pie crust; roll it between 2 pieces of oiled parchment paper. It comes off the parchment easily and the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin! Here’s how to do it.

• Remove the top layer of parchment paper
• Put your hand under the bottom parchment and invert into your other hand. Carefully place the crust into the pie plate so it is centered.
•  Peel off the remaining parchment. Be careful to peel the edges of the dough off the parchment and then peel the parchment back. Keep the parchment fold close to the dough, as you pull. 

The bottom pie crust ready for the filling.

• Place the apple pie filling onto  the bottom crust.
• Cover the apple filling with thin slices of firm butter
• Make your top crust as above and…
• Place top crust over the filling and flute the edges.
• Make several small slits in the top crust
• Whisk an egg white with a bit of water and brush it lightly on the top crust
• Sprinkle sugar lightly over the crust

• Pinch, with a slight twisting motion the pie dough between your thumbs and forefingers in opposing directions. This is easy, but confusing at first. Keep trying!
• Move to the next section of dough and repeat this action around the pie.
• The idea of fluting is to seal the pie edge. It doesn’t have to be perfect, or even fluted, just sealed. Fluting is a pretty way to do that.

Another Pie Finishing idea!

My granddaughter Lainy and I  made this recipe recently with our homegrown Fuji Apples. She requested a baking day with me. We went to Michael’s and bought a set of Pastry leaf cutters like these (affiliate Link)to make it a fun project.

It was fun to use the leaf punch outs. Lainy enjoyed crafting this pie with me. We made special memories and she had a beautiful pie to take home to her Mom, Dad and Sisters. Proud grandma too 🙂 Using the leaf cutters made this a really kid friendly project. She arranged the leaves and brushed on the egg whites too. They turned out so pretty!

Delicious recipe any way you choose to create it!

Pie filling source:  Avon Church cookbook of the century 1983 Edition. Contributor Pat Mehler
Pie crust source: Avon Church cookbook of the century 1983 Edition. Contributor Hannah Brandstrom