Luckily, March 14, at my school in Alaska, just happens to fall during spring break. Darn. I reallyreallyreally wanted to plan something special for my least favorite subject to teach. (Did you catch the sarcasm?) Although, perhaps it would have been a good excuse to make lots of pie and feed it to people...
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I'm not sure why this is, but I've never been a "pie person". Maybe because most of the pies I ate growing up were made with Pillsbury crusts.
It wasn't until I made this galette last summer that I realized my love for flaky pie crust. It has to be homemade and it has to be Crisco. Inmyopinion, of course.
I still buy pre-packaged pie crust for emergencies, like a chicken pot pie for dinner, but for a fruit dessert this crust is perfect. Flaky, flavorful, and, most importantly, easy. Actually, this is like a giant "pie-cookie". I don't think it gets any better than that.
Caramel Apple Galettes
makes four 4-inch galettes or 1 large galette
crust adapted from this recipe
Crust:
1 1/2 cups Crisco
3 cups flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
5 T. cold water
1 t. salt
1 T. white vinegar
Apple filling:
2 large Granny Smith apples (peeled and diced)
1 t. lemon juice
3 T. brown sugar
1 T vanilla
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
Optional:
1 egg+2 T. water to brush on the crust before baking
White sugar for sprinkling
In a large bowl, cut the Crisco and flour together with a pastry blender or a fork until it looks like crumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until just blended. Form the dough into a ball and place in a Ziploc bag. Put in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, flatten out the dough until it is a 12-14 inch circle OR 4 smaller circles. Place on foil on a cookie sheet. Lay out the pastry on the foil.
In a bowl, mix the diced apples, lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla together. Spoon into the center of each dough circle and fold up the edges to keep the filling in place. Brush the tops and crust with the egg-wash (if desired) and sprinkle with white sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. More time may be needed depending on your oven.
Drizzle with caramel sauce before serving.
