A while back I went on an apple pie baking spree trying to determine my favorite apple pie recipe. What I learned was that once you start making apple pie regularly, it's hard to stick to a recipe. Like chocolate chip cookies, there are just so many ways to make it. There are different crusts, different apples. etc. etc. But I did form some opinions and still refer back to this list. I've also updated it and have actually chosen just two favorite pies.
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Favorite Apple Pie #1
I named this Favorite Apple Pie for a reason. It's not too sweet, I love the lemony flavor and the apples don't get too soft. The downside is you have to let the apples sit for an hour and half before baking. Recipe is at the bottom and includes a good crust.
This pie filling is made without any butter, so you really taste the apples. Also, it holds together well! I use the technique of draining the apples, boiling the apple liquid, and pouring it over the apples & cornstarch. This is similar to the method I use for peach pie, but for this one I hold back the cornstarch and toss it with the apples rather than mix it with the liquid. On occasion I've accidentally boiled the syrup with the cornstarch and that worked too, but it didn't concentrate the flavor quite as much.
Favorite Apple Pie #2
Broiled Apple Pie -- I've been making this one a lot lately, but quartering the filling and baking it in a small 5-inch pie pan we found at a thrift store. It's cousin is Roasting Pan Apple Pie, which uses the broiling method, but has a slightly different filling. Broiling the apples is a quick alternative to macerating.
Variations on Traditional Apple Pie
The pies here are variations. If I don't want a double crust, I'll make Cindy's recipe. The Upside Down Apple Pie is very convenient, and the Apple Pear Pie incorporates some pears (and gingersnaps). And finally, Apple Crumb Bars are the easy alternative to all of these pies.
Cindy's Mom's Dutch Apple Pie -- This is a really good, basic Dutch Apple Pie.
Upside Down Apple Pie -- An old apple pie recipe that uses two circles of refrigerated pie dough.
Apple Pear Pie With Gingersnap Crust -- Taneka gave me this recipe years ago. It's become Fuzz's favorite, and she make it all the time for friends and co-workers. The last batch she made as minis.
Apple Crumb Bars -- Not an apple pie, but a really good apple pie bar cookie recipe.
Other Apple Pies We've Tried
These are the ones I tried back when I was testing a lot of different recipes at once. I also landed on a crust recipe which calls for a little baking powder and which I still use from time to time.
Grandma Ople's
First up was Grandma Ople's, which has about 5,000 5-star reviews on Allrecipes, and that's really no surprise, because it has ½ cup of butter and a full cup of sugar (half brown and half white). There was a lot going on in each bite, and while I can't say we didn't like it, the apples took a backseat to all the butter and sugar.
Betty Crocker's Apple Pie Recipe
The second pie was a pretty basic Betty Crocker recipe. The filling has only 2 tablespoons of butter and ½ cup of sugar to 8 cups of apples. We liked it as much as the Grandma pie and did not miss the brown sugar.
Land o' Lakes Blue Ribbon Apple Pie
Third was Land o Lake’s Blue Ribbon Apple Pie. This pie is similar to Betty Crocker's, but with fewer apples, both granulated and brown sugar and no butter at all in the filling. This was funny considering it was from the butter company, but I can see why they chose it. The apple flavor was more up front without the butter to mellow it out.
Thoughts on Favorites
My conclusion was that it's hard to make a bad apple pie filling, and that my personal favorites are ones with little or no butter, fresh lemon juice, and firm apples. I also decided that Granny Smiths, though not the most exciting variety, are my favorite both flavor and texture, but that mixing them with another apple makes the pie more interesting.
The Best Apple Pie Crust
As for crust, it's a complicated affair. It's not hard to make, just fraught with debate -- some people like refrigerated roll-and bake crusts, others insist on all-butter, and some people like the texture of a shortening or lard based crust. I usually use a crust made with a mixture of butter an shortening or all butter. My latest favorite all-butter crust is one that contains a little baking powder. It's included in the recipe below.
Recipe
Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (340 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks (230 grams)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 8 tablespoons of ice cold water plus more if needed
Filling:
- 2 ½ pounds apples, mix of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith Can vary the Honeycrisps, but keep the GS!
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream for brushing, and coarse sugar (opt.)
Instructions
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add half of the butter and pulse until mixture is coarse. Add remaining butter and pulse until mixture is coarse, but still has some pea size chunks of butter.
- Mix vinegar with the water and add ⅓ cup to processor. Pulse and test to see if mixture holds together when you pinch it. Continue adding liquid 1 tablespoon at a time and pulsing until dough holds together just when pinched. Empty it onto a pastry mat and shape into a large mass. Note: If you find your mixture is still too crumbly to form a mass, go ahead and sprinkle a little more water on it. Mash it down, fold it over on itself and continue doing this until it holds together. Cut in half and shape into two disks. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill until ready to use (at least one hour).
- Peel, core and cut the apples into fairly thin slices.
- In a large mixing bowl or a roasting pan, toss the apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, sugars, and salt. Let the apples sit, covered, for an 1 ½ hours. While the apples sit, you can start the process of preparing the pie plate.
- On a floured surface, roll out one disc to make a 12 inch circle. Place in the bottom of a deep dish 9” deep dish pie plate. Don’t crimp or press down the edges quite yet. Chill dough-lined pie plate while you prepare the apples.
- One your crust is lined and your apples have sat for at least an hour, drain apple liquid into a saucepan, holding back the apple slices. You should get between ½ cup and ¾ cup liquid.
- Boil the liquid for about 5 minutes to reduce slightly. If you had ½ cup of juice, it should reduce to ⅓ cup. If you had more like ⅔ cup, you'll have around ½ cup. It will thicken just slightly and be more like a syrup.
- Toss the apples with the cornstarch, then pour the syrup over the apples. Transfer the apple mixture to the dough lined pie dish.
- Roll the second section of pie dough out to a large circle on a lightly floured surface and cut it into 1 inch strips. Arrange the strips in a lattice across the top of the pie.
- Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
- Set pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch drips and bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake another 45-50 minutes or until pastry is flaky and cooked through. Note: If your crust has already browned after first 20-30 minutes, lay a sheet of foil over it.
- Remove pie from the oven and let cool for at least two hours before cutting and serving.
Sue K says
This is one of two apple pies that I made for Thanksgiving this year. This was well liked but everyone liked the Roasting Apple Pie better. It was fun to have both to compare and nail down what we like best.
Katrina says
I made a gluten free apple pie at Thanksgiving. It wasn't very good. Threw it away. 🙁 Your pie looks great! I miss you. 😉 Stressed? Why?
Anna says
I'm not familiar with Pat Haney, but I was curious about the salty pie crust and found this recipe which calls for 2 1/4 teaspoons.
http://archive.indystar.com/article/20131203/LIFE10/312030021/How-make-Hoosier-Mama-Pie-Co-s-All-Butter-Pie-Dough
The reason it seems like a lot of salt is she's using a brand of kosher salt with large, fluffy, crystals. This is a common problem with recipes today. Chefs and certain recipe writers will call for what appears to be copious amounts of salt, but they are using a sea salt or kosher salt with big, fluffy, light, crystals. If you're really curious, google up "Diamond Flakes vs. Morton Kosher".
Cardamonbraid says
Just curious if you have heard or seen the cookbook put out by Pat Haney at Hoosier Mama's in Chicago? If not you might want to check it out, I was amazed at how much salt she put in her crust, I thought it was a typo but its not. She has a few youtube videos and helpful hints on her website etc. In particular she has a pork and apple pie that is really good made into hand pies.......For what its worth
Lisa says
Great comparison, Anna. I love it when you do this -- you save me a lot of work! I agree with you about the apple varieties -- Granny Smith and Macintosh are my fave combo.