Give your taste buds an instant trip to grandma's house with this deep-dish apple-pear pie. Then, top it with a big scoop of dairy-free ice cream and make the entire culinary visit complete!
The Crust:
1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) of cold unsalted Earth Balance
3 cups unbleached whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt2
2 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar
1/3 cup very cold shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
The key to making a light and flaky, buttery pie crust is to keep all of your ingredients cold. Try not to handle the dough with your hands any more than is necessary.
Cut the butter into small cubes and return it to the refrigerator. Meanwhile, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Next, add the butter and shortening — pulse 8 to 12 times until the butter is about the size of peas.
With the machine still running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball.
Dump the mixture onto a floured board and roll into a ball, working as quickly as possible. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, start the apple-pear filling.
The Filling:
5 medium to large baking apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
2 large firm pears, peeled, cored, and quartered
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
½ cup raw turbinado sugar plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on top
¼ cup unbleached whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
Cut each apple and pear slice into thirds crosswise and combine them in a large bowl with the lemon and orange zest, juice, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Preheat oven to 400° Reduce the heat by 25° if using glass.
Cut the ball of dough in half. Roll out one-half of the pie dough and drape it over a Deep Pie Dish to extend approximately ½ inch over the rim. Try not to stretch the dough too much. If it is too small, put it back on the board and continue rolling it out.
Fill the pie with the apple mixture. Brush the edge of the bottom pie crust with the maple syrup so the top will adhere to it.
Roll out and top crust and place it over the pie. Trim to extend approximately 1 inch over the rim. Tuck the top edge under the bottom and crimp the two edges together with your fingers.
Brush the entire top crust with the remaining maple syrup and sprinkle with one teaspoon of sugar. Cut four or five slits in the center to allow the steam to escape.
Place the pie in the oven and bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hour, or until the crust is golden and the juices begin to bubble out.
Let cool slightly, then serve with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream!
Refrigerate any leftovers.
