Xanthopoulos Family Apple Pie

Aside from the million reasons that I love my friend Alexa, the fact that her family is Greek is a foodie's dream! I have been threatening to bother both Alexa and her mom with tons of Greek cooking & dessert making questions. I always love going up to their house in Maine because, aside from the gorgeous views, I get to marvel in their Greek culture.

Tonight, however, Alexa dazzled me with a very traditional American dessert: Apple Pie. After a last minute invite to a delicious Greek dinner (a chicken & orzo dish - not sure what it was called but I plan to get the recipe!) we had apple pie & vanilla bean ice cream. This is one of my favorite desserts of all time!

Alexa has generously shared with me her family's recipe for this delicious dessert. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I was eating it :).

Xanthopoulos Family Apple Pie

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

1-2 TBSP flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/9 tsp salt

6-7 cups apples (peeled & cut into slices)

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP butter 

Sugar in the Raw

1 TBSP milk (enough to coat top of pie)

Pie Crusts:

Store bought or follow my recipe

Mix cinnamon, sugar, flour & salt in a bowl. Peel and slice 6-7 cups of apples (Alexa used cortland apples in the pie I tasted). Dump half of the sugar mixture over the apples & toss to coat. 

Place one pie crust in pie dish. Spread the remaining half of the sugar mixture on the bottom pie crust. 

Place the apples in the pie. According to Alexa's mom (who is a fantastic chef), you must place, not dump, the apples in an organized pattern that mounds in the middle.

Sprinkle lemon over the apples. Cut the butter into little pieces and sprinkle over apples. Place the top crust over the apples (you can do lattice - Alexa did full crust over the top and it was fantastic) & crimp the edges to make a nice design & seal the pie.

Brush milk over the top crust & sprinkle extra sugar over the top. Alexa's mom recommends using Sugar in the Raw for the top sugar sprinkles. Using a knife, make small slits in the top of the crust to allow it to breathe while baking.

Bake on lower shelf of oven at 425 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.