Apple pie is one of America’s favorite treats.  Who would ever think apple pie could be improved upon?

Well, apple pie in my house is a little different from apple pie in most people’s houses, because my family now prefers Texas Pepper Jelly’s Zesty Apple Pie to regular apple pie!  It’s easy to make, too.

Ingredients:

Double pie crust – homemade or store-bought

Approx. ten large apples ( I use Granny Smith, plus two or three of whatever other kind of apple you might have. Apple pie is best when several different kinds of apples are used.)  (You can also used canned pie filling, but it’s not as good.) Peel and core the apples, and slice them thin.

1/2 cup sugar (I use Splenda)

2 oz. jar of Apple Jalapeno (Apple Habanero if you like things hotter) pepper jelly

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter, divided into fourths

1 tablespoon flour

What to do:

Preheat oven to 425, and line pie pan with crust.

In a medium bowl, put all of the above ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Spoon mixture into pie pan, over the crust, and cover with the second crust.  Pinch edges tightly.  Ventilate the crust; I always use a toothpick and poke the shape of a pine tree on all of my pies.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes; turn oven temperature down to 325 and bake another forty minutes, or until apples are tender when you poke ‘em with a toothpick or fork.

Let the pie cool.  Get out the vanilla ice cream and some dessert plates, and dig in.  Brace yourselves for the ZEST; this is not your grandmother’s apple pie!

Delicious.