My take on a classic comfort dessert. The easiest apple pie made with tender, lightly spiced apples in a scrumptious flakey pastry. This is a dessert that won’t leave you feeling heavy… only wanting more!
I hate to be basic, but the iconic apple pie has got to be one of my all time favourite desserts. My recipe is so easy, and the reward is just so good. Not only is this apple pie delicious, it’s actually pretty healthy too! You see, the key is to use sweeter apples, and only a light amount of sugar. I also find the best filling is one that does not overwhelm when it comes to spices, we want this to be warm and cosy!
Star Ingredients
- Apples: don’t get me wrong I love love love a good granny smith for baking. But because this recipe isn’t going to have the traditional thick sauce, we’re going to need apples that are a bit sweeter. You’ll want one that softens but still holds some shape so that it does not turn into apple mush. It will partially depend on where you are located, I’m located in New Zealand so our apple varieties may differ from yours. I would recommend either braeburn or jazz apples.
- Brown Sugar: you could use white sugar, but brown sugar adds to the gooey goodness of the filling. By using brown sugar you get the best results when caramelising the apples.
- Cinnamon: A staple for apple pies, I personally just use powdered cinnamon but you could add a cinnamon stick to the pan when stewing the apples.
- Puff pastry: rather than using the traditional pie crust. Using puff pastry allows the apple filling to be the star of the show, and adds a beautiful light crisp encasing, making it the perfect complimentary ingredient. I used a gluten free and vegan puff pastry.
- Egg wash: is made up of egg and milk. These will be whisked together, and then brushed on the layer of pastry before going in the oven. This helps the apple pie get that gorgeous golden brown pastry.
How do you make this amazing apple pie?
I’m glad you asked!
Preparation of the apple pie.
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 180℃. Then get the apples ready. Chop the top and bottom off the apples, then peel the outer skin. Cut the apples into small/medium sized pieces.
Stew the apples.
Add the chopped apples to a large pan or pot. Then pour in a small amount of water. Bring the heat up to low-medium temperature. Leave the apples to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until they begin to soften. Stir occasionally.
Caramelise the apples.
After the apples have softened, it is time to start the caramelisation process. Add the cinnamon, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt to the apples. Mix these in to ensure all the apple pieces are coated. Bring the temperature up to a medium-high temperature, and let the apples start to caramelise in the spiced brown sugar. You want the apples to be relatively deep in colour, and have a small amount of a syrup like sauce in the pot/pan.
Construct the apple pie.
Once the apples are nice and caramelised, add them to an oven safe dish, spread so that it is evenly laid out. Place a layer of the puff pastry on top of the caramelised spiced apples. Push down lightly so the edges are covered and stuck to the side of the dish.
Egg wash.
In a small bowl, crack in the egg and add the milk. Whisk until combined and there are no big gloops of egg. Use a brush to cover the pastry in the egg wash.
Bake the apple pie.
Place the apple pie in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Check on it about 20 minutes in to make sure it isn’t burning. If the pastry isn’t golden after 25 minutes, give it another 5 minutes. Or, until the pastry is golden in colour.
What makes this apple pie different?
I am fussy, I’ll be straight up. And when it comes to apple pies, this is where my fussiness really shines. So, here’s how this has factored into my apple pie recipe:
- Too thick sauce. I understand this may be something that many love, and I’m glad! But I have found some apple pie’s end up with more sauce than apples! Which in turn leads to the pie being too sweet. Personally, I do not want the sauce to be the main event.
- Too intense flavours. I love the warmth that the spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg bring to an apple pie… but too much is too overpowering. We want the spices to compliment and boost the apples, not take over the flavour and become overwhelming.
- Mushy apples. Need I say more? Now we don’t want to have crunchy apples either. The key is to get the apples to the point where they are tender, but still hold their shape. The way I avoid this is to use a sort of caramelising technique, we do not want to boil the apples.
- Too thick of a crust. Again, this is down to preference. I’m not a fan of thick crusts because there are often two undesirable outcomes – a) it’s soggy and doughy, b) it’s too dense and dry. With puff pastry, it’s easy to avoid sogginess, plus it’s light and avoids any dry crumbly texture.
Raw vs cooked apple filling
Some recipes I see call for putting raw apples straight in the pastry, personally, that’s not for me. I know it does help the recipe become that slight bit easier, but trust me getting those apples that caramelised golden colour first is so worth it. The only extra effort is stirring the apples every now and then. Again, the effort versus the reward is so so worth it!
The apple pie pastry
I know many people love the idea of apple pie made from scratch, but I’m afraid this recipe does have one pre-made ingredient… the pastry. You can definitely make the pastry from scratch if you would like, but to cut the time this recipe takes and to make it more accessible, I used frozen puff pastry and let it thaw.
What to serve it with?
I personally don’t think you can beat classic vanilla ice cream. The way it softens over the fresh and hot apple pie… dreamy. However, I think custard could be a good substitute too. If you were wanting to stick to the healthier side, you could skip the dairy try it with coconut ice cream – still scrumptious!
Storage
This apple pie should stay fresh up to 3 days in the fridge, if stored in an airtight container. Be sure to let the apple pie cool down first. If you’d like to freeze the pie, I would recommend keeping it in a freezer safe container, and it should last around 2 months.
More for your sweet tooth:
- Apple and Peach Crumble
- Lemon Lime Cheesecake
- Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Earl Grey Chiffon Cake
- Mango Sago
- White Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake (GF)
- Panna Cotta
Alrighty… I think you’re ready to start baking this delicious, healthy (ish), apple pie!
Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 8 apples
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃.
- Peel apples and cut into medium sized pieces. Add to a large pan/pot (not heated yet).
- Add the small splash of water. Turn the heat to a low-medium.
- Let the apples start to simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Once the apples have softened. Add the cinnamon to the apple, along with a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Mix and ensure all pieces of apple are covered.
- Turn the heat of the pot/pan to a medium-high temperature and let the apples caramelise slightly.
- Once the apples are nice and caramelised, add them to an oven safe dish, spread so that it is evenly laid out.
- Place a layer of the puff pastry on top of the caramelised spiced apples. Push down lightly so the edges are covered and stuck to the side of the dish.
- In a small bowl, crack in the egg and add the milk. Whisk until combined. Use a brush to cover the pastry in the egg wash.
- Place the apple pie in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden in colour.
