Apple pie with Cheddar Crust

Hubs used to love eating cheese on apples, I couldn't quite wrap my head around it,

but then I saw this recipe and knew that he could be right about the flavor combo.

And I still had half a bag of apples after the apple butter and a

desire to try making a real full size homeade pie.

I was sad to freeze it before I baked it, I have no need for a large apple pie to split between hubs and I this week, so I made a mini pie out of the crust I cut off and some left over apples. Apple pie has never been a to die for food for me, but the cheddar crust really gave this a great stand out quality. I almost didn't share the other mini half with Joshua, can't wait to dig into the big one!

It was challenging! I trusted the recipe over my instinct and didn't add more water to the crust so it was nearly impossible to roll out without it crumbling. I had to nurse it to roll out in a whole piece for at least half an hour per dough ball. Next time I will listen to myself.

But eventually they were rolled and the apples were inside the pan, but knowing the dough was so dry I was so so so nervous about flipping the pie top over it, I knew it was too dry to roll onto my rolling pin like you normally would do. So I grabbed the parchment paper and flung it over top as fast as I could, and got a medium size crack down the center, But the rest stayed together! I was so happy, I expected much worse, so now I just don't have to cut holes in it- It was on purpose :)

Overall I was very happy that I was able to finish the pie,
hopefully this just means I'll have a really flaky delicious crust!

Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
3/4 cup butter; chilled
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese; grated, chilled
1/4-1/2 cup ice water

1   whisk together flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl
2   mix in grated cheese
3   then grate or cut in the butter until butter bits are smaller than a pea
4   then whisk in the water 1 tbs at a time
5   only add just enough that it can be held together when you squeeze it
6   seperate into 2 equal sized balls, squish them slightly into a disk shape, wrap individually in plastic wrap
7   set in fridge to chill for 1 hour
8   roll out each disk onto parchment paper to about 12-14 inches
9   place on in the bottom of the pie tin, drape over edges, don't stretch the dough

then:
1 lemon
4 lbs of apples, not super sweet varieties
4 tbs flour
1/4 cup honey
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

preheat oven 425 degrees F
10   squeeze lemon into a large bowl
11   peel, core, and slice apples
12   toss into lemon juice as you go and coat them in the juice
13   once all apples are sliced mix in the remaining ingredients
14   place apple mixture inside of pie crust and mound it up
15   brush water onto the edges of the pie crust sticking out
15   take the other rolled out crust and roll in onto your rolling pin, or flip over from
       parchment paper onto apples
16   press the edges of the top and bottom crusts together and then trim the crust to a
       1 inch overhang
17   fold crust under itself to form a rim and crimp it with your fingers
18   cut 5 slits in the middle of the pie
19   lightly brush water over the top of the pie and sprinkle raw sugar over top (the thick turbino sugar)
20   place pie on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven on lowest rack, bake 20 minutes
21   reduce heat to 375 degrees F and bake 45-60 minutes
      (crust should be golden brown and juices bubbling)
22   if crust is browning too much cover with aluminum foil, let cool on wire rack