Caramel Apple Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 1 double-crust pastry dough (recipe follows)
• 4 lbs. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced in 1/4-inch slices
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups Kraft caramels, cut in fourths
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 additional tsp. granulated sugar

For Pastry Dough

• 12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 6-8 Tbsp. (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400�. Prepare dough by first cutting butter into 1 Tbsp. pats.
2. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and cut in the cold butter and shortening. Continue cutting until the butter is the size of peas and resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until the dough begins to form a ball. Gather into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

For Pie Filling

1. Slice apples in to 1/4-inch slices and place in large bowl. Combine apples with zest, lemon juice, sugars, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and nuts. Stir to mix thoroughly, coating each apple slice.

Assembly of pie

1. Remove your dough from refrigerator and cut in equal halves. On lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a circle, rolling from the center to the edges, turning and flouring the dough as needed to prevent sticking. Fold dough in half, and carefully place it in a 9-inch pie pan. Unfold dough to fit pan. Repeat rolling for second pastry dough.
2. Fill the pie shell with apple mixture and drop caramel pieces evenly on top. Top with second crust and trim edges to 1-inch over the rim of pie pan. Tuck the edge of the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the edges together with fingers by pinching.
3. Combine 1 egg with 1 Tbsp. water and whisk well. Brush the entire top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar. Cut 4-5 decorative slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.
4. Place pie on sheet pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until crust is browned and juices begin to bubble out