Buttery Apple Pie Recipes

BROWN-BUTTER APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until butter is golden brown and fragrant, about 8 minutes; let cool. Toss together apples and lemon juice in a large bowl. Combine flour, salt, granulated and brown sugars, and vanilla-bean seeds in another bowl, breaking up clumps and combining with a fork or fingers. Add browned butter to apples. Stir in flour mixture.
• Roll out 1 disk of dough to just under 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface and fit into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Roll out remaining disk of dough to a 13-inch round. Rolled-out dough can be refrigerated up to 8 hours. (Be sure to let the 13-inch round sit at room temperature until pliable before topping pie, or it will break.) Place apples in pie shell, brush edges with water, and cover pie with top crust. Trim excess, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold top edge over bottom crust to seal, and crimp as desired. Cut steam vents in top crust. Freeze pie 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lowest position. Brush pie with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet on floor of oven to catch any drips. Bake pie on lowest rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until well browned, about 1 hour. Tent pie with foil and continue to bake until bubbling through vents, about 20 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack, at least 6 hours. Pie can be made 1 day ahead and stored at room temperature.

APPLE BUTTER PIE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine apple butter, egg, sugar, flour and milk; mix well. Pour into the pie shell; sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°; bake 35 minutes more or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

BUTTER-CRUST APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in fourths so that two portions are slightly larger than the other two; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle., In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, brown sugar, molasses, flour and spices., Roll out one larger portion of dough to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry even with edge. Spoon half of filling into crust. Repeat with remaining large portion of dough and filling., Roll out remaining pastry to fit tops of pies. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry. Beat egg white and water; brush over pastry., Bake at 375° for 55-65 or until crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

ULTIMATE APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Put a layer of paper towels on a large baking sheet. Quarter, core, peel and slice the apples about 5mm thick and lay evenly on the baking sheet. Put paper towels on top and set aside while you make and chill the pastry.
• For the pastry, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until just mixed. Break in a whole egg and a yolk (keep the white for glazing later). Beat together for just under 1 min - it will look a bit like scrambled egg. Now work in the flour with a wooden spoon, a third at a time, until it's beginning to clump up, then finish gathering it together with your hands. Gently work the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and chill for 45 mins. Now mix the 140g/5oz sugar, the cinnamon and flour for the filling in a bowl that is large enough to take the apples later.
• After the pastry has chilled, heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Lightly beat the egg white with a fork. Cut off a third of the pastry and keep it wrapped while you roll out the rest, and use this to line a pie tin - 20-22cm round and 4cm deep - leaving a slight overhang. Roll the remaining third to a circle about 28cm in diameter. Pat the apples dry with kitchen paper, and tip them into the bowl with the cinnamon-sugar mix. Give a quick mix with your hands and immediately pile high into the pastry-lined tin.
• Brush a little water around the pastry rim and lay the pastry lid over the apples pressing the edges together to seal. Trim the edge with a sharp knife and make 5 little slashes on top of the lid for the steam to escape. (Can be frozen at this stage.) Brush it all with the egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 40-45 mins, until golden, then remove and let it sit for 5-10 mins. Sprinkle with more sugar and serve while still warm from the oven with softly whipped cream.

FRESH BLACKBERRY PIE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine sugar, tapioca and salt. Add 1 cup blackberries; toss to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Cook and stir over medium heat until berries burst and mixture comes to a gentle boil. Remove from the heat; gently stir in remaining berries., Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim even with rim. Add filling; dot with butter. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top., Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 35-40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

DOUBLE APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse together flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms 3/4-inch pieces. Mix vodka with 4 tablespoons ice water (or use 1/2 cup ice water). Add half the ice water mixture to dough, pulse a few times, then continue adding liquid a tablespoon at a time until dough just comes together (you might not use all the liquid). Dough should be moist, but not wet, and hold together when pinched. If there are visible pieces of butter in the dough, all the better.
• On a lightly floured surface, gather dough into a ball. Remove a third of the dough and form into a disk. Form remaining dough into a disk. Cover both tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 5 days.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger disk to a 12-inch circle. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork, then chill crust for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
• While dough chills, heat oven to 400 degrees. Line chilled crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes; remove foil and weights and bake until pale golden, 5 minutes more. Cool on rack until needed. (You can bake the crust up to 24 hours in advance.)
• Toss apples with sugars, tapioca, spices, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lemon juice. Fold in apple butter. Transfer apples to crust and press gently to make sure fruit is tightly packed.
• Roll out remaining dough disk to a 10-inch round. Use a knife to cut strips 1 3/4 inches wide. Arrange strips over the filling in a lattice pattern. Brush top of crust with heavy cream or milk. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
• Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling thickly, about 1 hour 15 minutes more. Let pie cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before cutting. Serve with whipped cream, sour cream or crème fraîche.

'BUTTER PIE' WITH APPLES & CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then cook the potatoes for 8 mins until just tender but not falling apart. Drain and leave to steam-dry in the colander.
• Meanwhile, heat the butter in a wide pan. Stir in the onions, seasoning and the thyme, then cover and cook for 8 mins until translucent and turning golden. Peel and slice the apples, toss with the lemon juice, then cook with the onions in the now uncovered pan for 5 mins, stirring often. Mix in the potatoes, then leave to cool. Remove the thyme.
• Cut just under two-thirds of the pastry from the block, squash into a round, then roll out on a flour-dusted surface until large enough to line a deep 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, leaving a little excess overhanging. Fill the pastry case with layers of the potato and apple mix, and all but 1 tbsp of the cheese. Dot with the rest of the butter, if using, and season generously. Brush the overhanging edge of pastry with egg. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and put a baking tray in the oven to heat up.
• Shape the remaining pastry into a round, then roll out until just large enough to cover the top of the pie. Press the edges together. Trim the pie by pressing your thumb against the rim of the tin all the way around. Brush with egg, then cut slits to allow steam to escape. Slide the pie onto the hot baking sheet and cook for 1 hr, scattering with the remaining. cheese with 10 mins to go, until the pastry and cheese are golden. Serve warm or eat cold with the pickled cabbage or beets on the side.