Apple Pie with a Twist
What's the most popular pie in America? You guessed it: apple. Despite its ancient history (written recipes for apple pie go back to at least the 1500s), apple pie definitely isn't old hat. It's a must-have at Thanksgiving, and a favorite restaurant dessert. If there were a comfort food hall of fame, apple pie would be a charter member. So what's the twist? Baking the pie for 2 hours, which gives it a rich gold, nearly caramelized filling, and spectacular crust, both top and bottom. Trust us: it works! Read our blog about this pie at Bakers' Banter.
Crust
- 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 10 tablespoons (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
- 7 to 9 tablespoons ice water, enough to make a cohesive dough
Filling
- 8 cups lightly packed cored, peeled, and sliced Ginger Gold or Granny Smith apples (or your favorite pie apples); about 7 large apples
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup boiled cider
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 6 tablespoons Pie Filling Enhancer OR 1/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Directions
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1) To make the crust: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. |
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7) Pat each disk till it's about 1" thick, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes. You may also chill the dough overnight, or for up to 3 days. |
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8) Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If it's been chilled longer than 30 minutes, allow it to warm a bit and become flexible, about 15 to 30 minutes. While the dough is warming, prepare the filling, and preheat the oven to 350°F. |
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9) To make the filling: Place the sliced apples in a medium mixing bowl, and stir in the sugar, boiled cider, spices, salt, vanilla, and lemon juice. As you stir, the mixture will become syrupy. |
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10) Add the butter and Pie Filling Enhancer or flour, and stir until everything is well blended. Set it aside. |
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16) Gently place a sheet of aluminum foil atop the pie, covering its entire surface, and continue to bake for an additional 1 hour, 15 minutes, for a total of 2 hours, till the top crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. |
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18) To serve warm, heat individual slices briefly in the microwave. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 20 mins. to 30 mins.
- Baking time:
- 2 hrs
- Total time:
- 2 hrs 50 mins. to 3 hrs
- Yield:
- 9" pie, 10 servings
- Recipe comments (22) »
Tips from our bakers
- Substitute frozen apple juice concentrate for the boiled cider if you choose, but boiled cider gives the pie over-the-top great flavor.
- Whoever heard of baking a pie for 2 hours?! Well, here's how it works: The pie won't burn, because the filling insulates the bottom crust, and the top crust is protected by the foil. Instead, both top and, more importantly, bottom crust end up beautifully browned. And the filling becomes a rich, deep brown as well, with an almost-caramelized flavor.
- Because of the long bake, this pie demands a firm, crisp apple: Ginger Gold, or Granny Smith, or any apple that holds up well during baking (Rome Beauty, Winesap, Cortland, Northern Spy, Golden Delicious (NOT Red Delicious), Pippin... McIntosh apples are not a good choice here.
- For a nice finishing touch, brush the top crust of the unbaked pie with milk, and sprinkle with coarse white sugar. Lovely sparkle; delicious crunch.
Reviews
11/13/2009
This is the best apple pie recipe! I have made it many times and the filling is absolutely perfect every time. The additional cooking time and waiting time is so worth it!
11/03/2009
I was very disappointed in the apple mush inside of the pie. The crust was also very tough. I think that King Arthur Flour should re-work this recipe and see what went wrong!
Mushy apple filling might be caused by the type of apples used. If you use a Macintosh, which is high in water, the result will be mushy after baking as well as the filling settling away from the top crust. Lengthy baking time may also effect this. Sorry the crust diasppointed as well. Hope you find a recipe that meets your needs before the big pie holiday. Irene @ KAF
11/26/2008
I love this recipe! I've made it 3 times already and making it again for Thanksgiving. Each person I've shared this pie with stated it was their favorite apple pie. The boiled cider is definitely the key... makes the flavor of the pie zing. I would like to experiment with cooking it a little less though... maybe by 20 minutes and using a bit less liquid. I can see where if you don't use really fresh crunchy apples that the filling could get like pudding.
11/07/2008
I've made this pie twice now and it was beautiful both times. I don't have the boiled cider, so I substituted the concentrated apple juice as suggested. It definitely added more apple flavor and I look forward to trying it with boiled cider for comparison. The crust came out golden and fully baked, bottom included. The long baking time is absolutely worth it. I highly recommend this recipe.
10/11/2008
I had high hopes but it just was a good pie. The crust was chewier than my normal recipe. Maybe from the longer cook time. The filling I didn't care for. I don't know if it was the vanilla, boiled cider or the confectioner's sugar. I'm guessing the confectioner's sugar. I was happy to learn new techniques for rolling the dough and the blog was really helpful in how to it should look. I have made much better apple pies using other King Arthur recipes.
10/05/2008
It was the hit of our quarterly potluck. My 8 year old didn't like it as much as my other apple pie, but the adults devoured it. The boiled cider really is the key.
09/28/2008
Good flavor but I used granny smith apples and still ended up with apple "pudding" inside a perfectly browned crust. Bakes too long. However I'm glad I tried it or I wouldn't have ordered the boiled cider and I can see a lot of great uses for it!
09/24/2008
What happened to my pie? I followed the directions even having my mise en place. I used the recipe by weight rather than volume and sub'd frozen concentrated apple juice and flour. It was such a disappointment and was not sweet at all. The raw apple mixture was flavourful but the end result was a disaster and unedible. I hesitate to make another one.
Mary, I'm sorry to hear about your experience. What exactly happened? You can always contact us at the Baker's Hotline. Frank from KAF
09/24/2008
Made this over the weekend, using a crumb topping instead of a double crust and it turned out perfect. We could only wait 2 hours to eat it, but that was enough time for the pie to set and there was and still is no juice leaking. Terrific pie.
09/17/2008
I've made a lot of apple pies - we have very prolific apple trees - but this is the best. Next time a bit less spice (I eliminated all but the cinnamon this time, and plan to cut back on the cinnamon next time, It's also really important not to heap the apples up in the pie. Regarding the boiled cider - it is a must have in my kitchen. Great as a topping on apple pancakes also!
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