Apple Galette Recipe

2 ½ c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

¼ c. shortening (Crisco)

1/3 cup cold water

1-3 Tbsp. cold water

Combine flour, sugar and salt and whisk until incorporated. Cut butter into small squares and allow to chill until ready to use. Do not let butter get soft.

Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter, two knives or in food processor until the mixture resembles small peas and the flour and butter mixture have the texture of soft sand. If the butter gets too soft when using, put the bowl into the refrigerator until chilled again. The flour/butter mixture should not be wet.

Cut shortening into flour/butter mixture with pastry cutter. Drizzle 1/3 ice cold water on top and stir with plastic spatula. Add 1-3 Tbsp. ice cold water as needed until a soft ball begins to form. Take care not to add too much water or the dough will become too wet. The dough should be pliable, smooth and a bit sticky. It should not be too wet.

Once you have a ball of dough, break it in half. On a sheet of plastic wrap, form dough into a disk; cover and refrigerate. Do this for both pieces of dough. Refrigerate about 30 minutes. You can make the dough a day or two in advance and keep refrigerated or wrap well and put in the freezer for later use. You will only need one of these dough disks for this recipe. You could freeze the other half, use it in another recipe or make two apple galletes. You can also choose to make 2 or 3 smaller apple galettes-follow the recipe below but use smaller portions of dough and filling (spread filling evenly between the galettes).

Once the dough is chilled, sprinkle some flour (not too much) on a clean surface or Roll-mat if you use this to roll dough. Begin rolling the dough out, making sure each upward stroke is matched with a downward stroke on the dough. This is one of the secrets to rolling out an even pie crust. The crust should be about 1/8 inch thick.

Apple Galette Filling:

4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

3 Tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

On surface of the pie crust, spread about 1 Tbsp. of melted butter, covering the surface. Do not make it overly wet. Then, beginning in the center, arrange apples in a concentric circle, leaving about 2 inches of border. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon over the apples. Carefully begin folding the border over the apples. You will not completely cover the apples, and you should be able to see the apples in the center of the gallette. Once the border is folded over to form the crust encasing the apples, dot the opening with the butter and sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of sugar all over the apples and the pie crust.

Slide galette onto a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a baking rack. You want to give the apples and juices a chance to settle down and thicken. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.