Apple Pie
If we had to choose a national dessert, apple pie would be at the top of the list. It's been part of our culture since Colonial days. This pie lets the apples tell the story, with a little bit of help from lemon juice, cinnamon, and some apple juice concentrate or boiled cider. For the best apple flavor, use more than one variety of apple in your filling. Use apples that will hold their shape during baking: Jonagold, Granny Smith, Ginger Gold, Cameo, Northern Spy, and Delicious are some good choices. And, when it comes time to serve, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream; or a slice of sharp cheddar cheese, as New Englanders often do.
Our guarantee: This pie has vibrant apple flavor and a flaky crust.
Crust
- 2 1/2 cups Mellow Pastry Blend or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water
Filling
- 8 cups sliced apples
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 cup boiled cider or undiluted apple juice concentrate
- 2 tablespoons butter, diced in small pieces
Directions
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1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. |
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8) Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan that's at least 2 inches deep. This will make serving the pie easier after it's baked. |
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9) Combine the sliced apples and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. |
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14) Time to preheat the oven to 425°F. |
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16) Flute the edges of the pie, then place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up the crust while the oven finishes heating. |
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18) When the pie is done, remove it from the oven and cool it completely before slicing. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 45 mins.
- Baking time:
- 55 mins. to 1 hrs 5 mins.
- Total time:
- 2 hrs
- Yield:
- One 9" pie, 8 servings
- Recipe comments (40) »
Tips from our bakers
- Cutting any fruit pie that's still warm is a messy business. The filling continues to thicken as the pie cools, and if you cut it too soon it will run out all over the place. It's better to bake the pie in advance, cool it completely, then warm each slice as needed after it's been cut.
- The smaller the apple slices in the filling, the neater the wedge of pie will look after its cut.
- You can add extra crunch and shine to the pie by brushing the top with milk and sprinkling it with coarse sugar before baking it.
- To minimize the gap between the filling and the top crust, you can cook all of the filling ingredients together until the apples give up their liquid and the filling thickens. Cool the filling completely before placing the filling in the crust-lined pie pan.
| Nutrition Facts | |
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| Serving Size 1 slice
Servings Per Batch 8 |
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| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 420 | Calories from Fat 160 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 18g |
| Saturated Fat | 8g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 25mg |
| Sodium | 270mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 63g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4g |
| Sugars | 31g |
| Protein | 4g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
11/17/2009
Delicious!! I made this pie today and my family loved it, especially my husband who is an apple pie afficionado! I would like to make another one in advance to serve at Thanksgiving. Would it be better to assemble the pie, freeze it and then bake it the day before Thanksgiving or assemble, bake, and defrost? If I assemble and freeze, should I defrost it first or bake it from frozen?? Thanks KAF!
Brooke - It would be better to assemble the pie and freeze unbaked. You can either bake right from the freezer or let it defrost first in a preheated 425 degree oven for the first 25-30 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 350 degrees to finish the bake. Elisabeth @ KAF
10/31/2009
I've made lots of Apple Pies over the years, most often my Grandmother's recipe. I must say that this recipe yields a superb and thoroughly enjoyable result. I used Granny Smith apples. The only changes I made to the recipe were minor... I added a healthy handful of yellow raisins to the apple mixture and I sprinkled the milk brushed top with course natural Turbinado sugar. I did not pre-cook the filling, however. My guests and family (and me) thoroughly enjoyed this remarkable pie. (I had a little dough and filling left over and made a lovely apple turnover for the cook. Yum!)
10/17/2009
Although I am not a pie baker, I decided to make this pie for a dessert night I was attending. I did not have the boiled cider but this pie was delicious. My pastry was good (it was not super flaky), and overall I was very happy with the results. It does require some time to cut the apples and make the pastry, but worth the effort.
10/12/2009
Very user friendly! My first pie-making experience; couldn't have asked for better results. I freaked out at two points. First time, my dough seemed really on the dry side after rolled out (was VERY hard to keep it all together, and several obscenities flew). Not to worry--this turned out to be delicious and flaky after baking! I do recommend peeling the dough off of the parchment paper into the pie plate instead of trying to lift and move. Also, I almost fainted when I saw how much liquid was still in the pie upon removal from the oven. I shouldn't have fretted; as advised in the recipe--after 2+ hours of cooling all the filling was texture perfection! Just the right amount of everything. I plan to make it again for Thanksgiving! :)
09/24/2009
Hi, I just received the boiled cidar I ordered from you guys and am getting ready to bake up this pie. How long do I precook the filling?Thanks,
Kathy
I don't pre cook my filling, just slice up the peeled apples, mix them with the sugar, thickener, spices and boiled cider an put it in the pan. Mary @ KAF < /strong>
09/04/2009
Wow. this is really good. I used apple juice concentrate and clearjel in place of the cornstarch and this is so tasty. I'm throwing away my other recipes and using this from now on. I used my own favorite pie crust. Thank you KAF for sharing!!
08/16/2009
I'm not a big apple pie fan but my dad and my brother love them so I took down to work by them and everyone there LOVED it!!! I did try the crust though and that was delicious! I'm definatly going to make this again because it was a huge hit!
07/10/2009
Why don't you recommend the KAF thickening products for this recipe? I just purchased SIGNATURE SECRETS THICKENER and INSTANT CLEARJEL and would like to use them in this recipe. Thanks!
Pleae give us a call. Our baker's will be happy to assist you with substitution tips. Frank @ KAF.
05/09/2009
This apple pie is excellent!!!!!!
04/11/2009
Unbeleiveable appearance and flavor. Hints to precook filling and slice apples thin made the rpesentation better than any apple pie I've had.
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