Apple Pie Collection

All the apple pie recipes I've collected.

I love warm fruit pies ala mode. Fortunately apple pies are high on my favorites list, which is great because apples are one of the few fruits that can be found year around, and at fairly high quality. The only problem is, I make homemade ice cream so grocery-store ice cream doesn't work for me anymore, hence making pie ala mode is a longer task.

Here's an index to the recipes:

New York Times Classic Apple Pie
New York Times Dutch Apple Pie
WP Double-crust Apple Pie
WP Caramel Apple Pie
WP Apple Crumble Tassies
WP Apple Hand Pies
Salted Caramel Apple Pie (Martha)
Apple-Bourbon Pot Pies (Martha)
Ice Cube Apple Pies
Salted Caramel and Apple Hot Pockets

ALSO

Here's links to my pie crust page and a crumble topping alternative:

Pie Crust - this is my collection of pie crusts, the first one is the one I use now
Crumble Pie Topping - this is for the traditional "Dutch Apple Pie", it is really delicious and I often use it instead of a top crust

New York Times Classic Apple Pie

This is very good. It pre-cooks the apples, which seems to be fairly common in recipes. This is a PDF, click here for the recipe.

New York Times Dutch Apple Pie

This is a PDF, click here for the recipe.

WP Double-Crust Apple Pie

Pretty standard recipe. It suggests using only Golden Delicious apples, which is an improvement over many other recipes because they often suggest hard to find or even weird exotic apple types, whereas GD apples are always available. The crust recipe is all wrong, the recipe calls for a 10-inch pie pan but the crust recipe is the same or smaller than the one I use for 9 inch pies. It also doesn't use anywhere's near enough ice water to bring the crust together. It doesn't matter to me though because I'd use my own recipe anyway. This is a PDF, click here for the recipe.

WP Caramel Apple Pie

Haven't tried it. In this recipe, the top crust isn't put on the pie, instead decorative cut-outs (leaves, flower blossoms, bathtubs, etc) are made from the pastry and then baked separately. The pie is baked without a top crust and the cutouts arranged attractively on top. They even suggest using food-dye to color the cutouts! Isn't that darling? No. This is a PDF, click here for the recipe.

WP Apple Crumble Tassies

Tassies are a unique type of pastry, like tiny pies made in mini-muffin pans. The crust is always made with cream cheese. They're often modeled after regular pies, when I was young we used to make ones that were like little pecan pies. This is a PDF, click here for the recipe.

WP Apple Hand-Pies

Hand pies are usually deep-fried but oddly, this one is designed for the badly-named kitchen appliance called an "air fryer" - which is nothing more than a countertop convection oven, named so people can deceive themselves into thinking they're eating "healthier" because they're not deep frying. The recipe says using an air fryer isn't quite as good as deep frying but it's a lot more convenient, which is a valid point, deep frying is a pain. Fortunately the recipe does NOT make any claims about it being "healthier". Baking something instead of deep-frying it isn't going to make a rats-ass difference in someone's health. If you want to be healthier then exercise more, eat less, and stop deceiving yourself that stuffing your face with pastry sprinkled with sugar and filled with an apple-pie filling isn't so bad just because it wasn't deep fried. Yah moron. This is a PDF, click here for the recipe.

 

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

From Martha. Here are some notes: To showcase the very best in cozy fall flavors, this decadent apple pie uses a mix of different varieties such as McIntosh, Cortland, and Granny Smith. A buttery homemade caramel and delicate lattice top crust puts it in the running to be a blue ribbon winner. The pie will need about four hours to chill, so it's best to make this pie the day before or the morning that you need it.

Ingredients

For the Caramel

1 cup sugar such as Sugar In The Raw
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

For the Pie

3 pounds (6 to 7) baking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for top
2 disks of pie crust
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 large egg, beaten
Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling, optional
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Flaky sea salt, for serving, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F with a rack in center and a large sheet of foil on rack below. Bring 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming, until sugar dissolves. Cook, swirling occasionally, until mixture is deep golden brown. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, then heavy cream (it will bubble up) and salt. You will have about 1 cup. Let cool while preparing pie.

2. In a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, lemon juice, flour and salt. Add 3/4 cup cooled caramel, and toss to combine.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a 13-inch round, about 1/8-inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Pour filling into shell. Roll remaining disk of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into at least 16 1/2-inch-wide strips using a fluted pastry cutter.

4. Lay 8 strips across pie. Fold back every other strip, and lay a horizontal strip across the center of the pie. Unfold folded strips, then fold back remaining strips. Lay another horizontal strip across pie. Repeat folding and unfolding strips to weave a lattice pattern. Repeat on remaining side. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar, and salt, if desired. Freeze 20 minutes.

5. Bake until crust is golden on bottom and juices are bubbling in center, 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. If browning too quickly, tent top or edges with foil. Let cool completely on a wire rack, about 4 hours. Serve slices with vanilla ice cream drizzled with remaining caramel (reheated in pan over low heat or in microwave) and sprinkled with flaky salt.

 

Apple-Bourbon Potpies

From Martha. Individual pies made with puff pastry.

Ingredients

4 pounds apples, preferably a combination of Granny Smith and Rome, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup bourbon (or whiskey, rum, or rye)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 pound thawed frozen all-butter puff pastry
1 large egg, beaten
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together apples, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and allspice. In a large straight-sided skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter over high heat. Add half of fruit mixture and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining 3 tablespoons butter and remaining fruit mixture, then return first batch of fruit mixture to pan. Stir in bourbon, then add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat.

2. Divide fruit mixture among six 8-ounce round baking dishes (each 5 inches). Place on a rimmed baking sheet; let cool completely.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out six 4-inch squares; place one over filling in each dish. Cut X-shaped vents in tops. Brush pastry with beaten egg. Bake until fillings are bubbling and crusts are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then serve with ice cream.

 

Ice Cube Apple Pies

This very odd recipe makes little apple pie cubes using ice cube trays. I'm thinking you could try it with puff pastry, and maybe use something other than an ice cube tray.

Ingredients

2 apples, peeled, cored and diced small
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
Ready made Pie Crust
1 egg wash
Demerara sugar

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 200ºC (390ºF).

2. In a bowl, mix together apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch.

3. Place pre-rolled pie crust into an ice cube tray. Press into the center to create a small well. Place a 1/2 tsp of apple mixture into each well. Brush all edges with egg wash and top with another piece of rolled out pastry.

4. Using a rolling pin roll over the tray to seal the edges. Cut the excess pastry from around the edges and flip over onto a cutting board. Cut through the sealed edges to create individual cubes.

5. Brush each with egg wash and sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake for 25- 30 minutes until golden brown.

6. Serve as bites or on top of a bowl of ice cream with caramel sauce.

(Ice-Cube Apple Pies above)

 

Salted Caramel and Apple Hot Pockets

Not sure where I got this from, it's inspired by the fast-food item so it's another hand-pie, puff-pastry and baked in this case. Uses homemade salted caramel sauce.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 medium honey crisp apples, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
All purpose flour, for dusting
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, beaten
Confectioner's sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions

Melt butter in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar until it melts and blends with the butter. Slowly add the heavy cream and stir until it's combined. Bring to a simmer, add the apples and stir occasionally for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce is thick. Stir in the salt. Remove caramel apple mixture to a bowl and cool, then place in the refrigerator to firm up.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Unfold the puff pastry and cut along the seam to make 3 equal pieces. Cut each long strip in half to make 6 rectangles. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry for a total of 12.

Lay 6 rectangles on the parchment lined sheet tray. Brush the edges with the beaten egg. Remove the cooled caramel and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the apple caramel filling to the center of each rectangle. Top each with an evenly sized piece of puffed pastry, press the edges to seal, then use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges.

Place in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden and bubbly around the edges.

Optional: Once they've cooled, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving.