I used to stress-bake all the time when I was in high school. Not an exam week would go by without me bringing several batches of homemade cookies into my classes. When I got to college, however, dorm life severely thwarted my baking endeavors as I was rendered both broke and sans reliable oven access. I do have college living to thank for my totally fire brownie in a mug recipe, though.

Anyway, I've been feeling a little existential crisis-y lately, so tonight I put my baking skills to the test and attempted my first apple pie! Inspired by several different apple pie recipes online and in a trusty cookbook, I modified my recipe to fit with what I could find at my local grocery store and what I already had in my kitchen.

This baby did not disappoint.

Julia's Bomb Maple Apple Pie

Preheat Oven: 350ºF 

(I always forget to preheat the oven so imma remind you as much as I can)

For filling:

• 4 lbs honeycrisp apples
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp flour

For crust:

• Buy a pre-made crust if you're not a masochist, Pillsbury rarely disappoints
• 1 egg

Supplies:

• Dark metal pie/cake tin
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper/Silpat
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Peeler
• Large bowl
• Measuring implements
• Brush

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (I initially used three, but in retrospect could've definitely consolidated).
3. Peel & core apples, cut apples into thin (~1/8 in.), half-moon shaped slices.
4. Put apple slices in bowl and pour in 1/2 c. maple syrup, evenly coating the apples.
5. Arrange syrup-coated apple slices in a single layer on the baking sheets.
6. Put apple trays into 350ºF oven for 45 minutes, flipping half-way through.

While the apples are in the oven...

1. Lay out your two pie crusts on a floured surface, coating one side with flour.
2. Place one crust flour-side-down into dark metal pie tin (I used a cake tin by accident and nobody got food poisoning).
3. Press crust into corners of tin and make sure a small perimeter of the crust comes up and over the tin so it can connect with the top crust.
4. Use a fork to make a few perforations in the bottom crust.
5. Do yo thang with the top crust! Some people dig patterns, some people just like tossing the whole crust on top and adding small perforations. I made mine into a classic lattice pattern and it looked 'grammable af.

Once the apples come out of the oven...

1. Let apple slices cool on the baking trays.
2. Scoop the apples off the trays and mix in the flour and brown sugar, making sure to coat evenly (I added about a third of the apples and a third of the flour/brown sugar at a time).
3. Pour filling into the crust.
4. Add super fly customized top crust to pie, crimping around the perimeter with a fork to merge top and bottom crusts.
5. Brush top of pie with an egg wash.
6. Put pie tin onto a baking sheet and return it to your 350ºF oven for ~50 min. or until the pie crust is a pleasant golden brown color and the filling is slightly bubbling.

This ended up being a damn good pie and was definitely worth the labor! Nothing will make you feel more American than biting into this gooey, delicious, sweet apple pie and scrolling through Twitter to watch the complete and total collapse of our democracy.