Here's how to bake the best apple pie ever. No arguments.

I’m not usually much of a braggart.

Maybe it’s where I was raised. I grew up in small town Iowa where everyone knew everyone else. You couldn’t get too high on yourself before someone brought you back to earth by reminding you of something you did when you were 5.

Or maybe it’s in my genes. My people are stout German Protestant farmers.

Recently when I was at a church meeting, we were asked to describe what got us “excited.” My response was, “We’re all Northern European Lutherans. We don’t get excited about anything.” The rest of the council laughed … because they knew it was true.

Or maybe it’s a combination of both. I have a friend who grew up in Minnesota. Our No. 1 putdown for one another is “That’s a little showy.”

That’s what makes what happened a few weeks ago so unusual. I was teaching a first-year writing class, and we were talking about food.

One of my students was talking about her grandmother’s apple pie, declaring it to be “the best.” I held up my hand and said, “Excuse me. I don’t mean to contradict you, but my apple pie is the best.” She laughed and tried to object, but I was having none of it. “Nope,” I declared. “My pie is the best. I will accept no debate on the matter.”

So what was it that made me stand up in front of class and get all “showy?” The truth, that’s what.

My apple pie is simply the best I have ever tasted. Bar none. You may disagree, but that won’t change the fact that my pie is the best.

Here’s why.

First, it’s the apples. I will use whatever apple is on hand to make a pie. They are all pretty good.

However, if I have my druthers I will choose a variety of apples that have different textures and levels of sweetness. I am especially fond of so-called heirloom varieties like Wealthies, Jonathon’s and MacIntosh. I mix those older apples with Granny Smiths because they are a bit more tart and they tend to hold their shape better when baked.

Next, there’s the cider. Yes, I use cider in my pie.

Apple cider adds another layer of spice to the flavor of a pie, and it also makes it incredibly juicy. In fact, it’s so juicy that you need to bake your pie with a drip pan to catch all of the juice that leaks out of the crust.

As for spice, I tend to keep things simple. Recently, I took a pie to share with a friend. He immediately asked, “Does this have nutmeg in it? I don’t like nutmeg.”

I thought for a moment, and I realized that it didn’t. The only spices in the pie are cinnamon and mace.

Finally, there’s the crust. This is the one area where I am willing to accept the possibility that my pie may not be the best.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my pie crust. It includes both shortening and butter to assist with texture and flavor. It’s also a breeze to throw together. That said, I am always looking around for a new crust that may be better than mine.

And that’s it: Fruit + Cider + Spice + Crust equals a pretty great pie. I’ve included the recipe below in case you’d like to try it for yourself.

Compare it to your grandma’s recipe. You can still think hers is better than mine.

You’d be wrong, but you can think it.

Pie Crust

This is my go-to recipe for pie crust. It comes from the good folks at King Arthur flour, and what I love about it is that you can make it in your stand mixer. Some bakers will probably object that using a machine results in an overworked (and, therefore, tough) crust. I haven’t found that, however. Maybe that’s because I work in the initial tablespoons of water with the mixer but then switch to my bare hands to finish the dough. That allows you to “feel” when it’s ready.

One variation I am interested in trying comes from Kieran Baldwin, a pie baker from New York City. Baldwin was interviewed a few years back by the New York Times, and she suggested stirring one egg yolk into the ice water that is later added to the crust. I have yet to try this, but I will definitely give it a go before Thanksgiving.

The recipe below will make a double crust for a 9-inch pie.

Ingredients (according to King Arthur Flour)

  • 2½ cups flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • ¼ cup shortening

  • 10 tablespoons butter, very cold, and cut into small cubes

  • 8-11 tablespoons ice water

Combine the flour, salt and shortening in your stand mixer. Mix on medium until shortening is worked into the dry ingredients. Add the butter, and mix until some of the butter disappears into the dough. Make sure you can still see chunks of butter, however. Now, add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing briefly (a few seconds) after each addition. Like I said above, I usually add the first 8 tablespoons this way, and then I add the remaining water by hand. You want the dough to be wet enough to hold together when you squeeze it into a ball, but not too wet.

Once you’ve reached the right consistency, divide the dough in half. Press into disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling.

Apple Cider Pie (aka my FAVORITE apple pie)

This is not the first time I have run this recipe in the newspaper. It’s a recipe that I first encountered in the November 1991 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. It immediately caught my eye as I had never before thought about adding cider to an apple pie.

It was a revelation. While I’ve toyed with a few of the instructions over the years – i.e., I cook the apples before adding them to the crust – it’s still the same basic pie I’ve been making for 31 years.

Note: As I say above, you will want to protect your oven by using a drip pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. That’s how juicy this pie is. You also will want to let it cool completely before cutting. That will give the filling time to set.

  • 2⅔ cups apple cider

  • 3 tablespoons butter

  • 3½ pounds apples (use whatever variety you like)

  • 1 cup sugar

  • ¼ cup flour

  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • ¼ teaspoon ground mace

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • 4 teaspoons lemon juice

Boil the cider in a small saucepan until reduced to about ⅔ of a cup. Cool.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt the butter in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped and peeled apples, and stir to coat. Sprinkle the sugar over the apples, and stir until sugar melts. Continue to cook the apples, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes. The apples should be soft. Pour the apples into a large mixing bowl, and allow them to cool a bit before proceeding.

In the meantime, stir together the flour, cinnamon, mace and salt in a small bowl. Stir this mixture into your cooked apples. Add the reduced cider and lemon juice and stir.

Roll out your first disk of dough to about a ⅛-inch thickness. Place in 9-inch pie plate and trim the edge until there is about a half-inch overhand.

Place filling in pie plate (which already has been lined with the first crust), mounding apples in the center. Cover with second crust disk (rolled as directed above). Pinch the edges of the two crusts together to seal the pie. Crimp edges to make a decorative border, if you like. Cut several slashes in the top crust to help steam escape.

Bake pie for 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking until filling bubbles, covering edges with aluminum foil if the begin to brown too rapidly. Bake at reduced temperature for about 50 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before serving.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Here's how to bake the best apple pie ever. No arguments.