Butter Crust Apple Pie Recipes

WARM APPLE BUTTERMILK CUSTARD PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• To Make Apple Filling: Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine in skillet over medium heat. Add apple, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, until tender. Set aside.
• To Make Buttermilk Custard: In a large mixing bowl combine 1/4 cup softened butter or margarine with 1 1/3 cups white sugar. Beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until yellow disappears. Mix in vanilla, then 2 tablespoons flour. Combine thoroughly, then pour in buttermilk, beating until smooth.
• Fit pastry into pie pan and prick with a fork. Spoon apple mixture into crust, then pour buttermilk custard over it.
• Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• To Make Streusel Topping: While pie is baking, combine 1/4 cup white sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 3 tablespoons butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly.
• Remove pie from oven after 30 minutes and sprinkle streusel topping over custard. Return to oven and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 1 hour before serving.

BASIC PIE DOUGH FOR APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
• Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). To help ensure a flaky crust, do not overprocess.
• Transfer half of dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into a disk 3/4 inch thick; wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days). Repeat with remaining dough. Makes 2 disks.

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.

BUTTERCRUST PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Place blade insert into bowl of food processor. Add 1 cup flour. Sprinkle frozen butter cubes over flour. Add remaining 1 cup flour, sugar, and salt. Cover. Pulse in short bursts on and off until butter is broken into small pieces and looks crumbly, about 1 minute. Drizzle in ice water. Pulse with longer pulses, on and off, until mixture turns pale yellow and looks like crumbs, about 10 to 12 seconds. Scrape down sides with spatula. Pulse once or twice more.
• Transfer mixture onto a work surface. Bring pieces together to form a tight round ball of dough. Flatten slightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight before rolling out.

DOUBLE CRUST APPLE BUTTER PIE

Steps:

• To mix the dough by hand: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the butter cubes, tossing them through the flour until each piece is well coated. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your palms or your fingers, flattening the cubes into big shards and continuing to toss them through the flour, recoating the shingled pieces.
• For a flaky crust, continue cutting the butter into the flour just until the pieces of butter are about the size of walnut halves.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add 6 tablespoons ice water and mix to incorporate. Then add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and continue mixing just until the dough comes together. As it begins to come together, you can knead it a few times to make sure it's fully combined. It's important not to add too much water to the dough, which should never be sticky--it should hold together easily in a ball but still feel almost dry to the touch.
• Divide the dough in half and shape into 2 equal disks. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
• Lightly flour the work surface. Roll out one disk of the dough to a circle 1/4 inch thick: Start in the center of the disk of dough and push away from you using even pressure. Return to the center and repeat, this time moving toward you. Continue, rotating the dough occasionally and reflouring as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. This produces a more even result than just rolling back and forth, which can often yield thin edges and a thick center.
• To transfer the dough to the pie pan, roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, starting at the far edge of the round. With the pie pan in front of you, start at the edge closest to you and gently unfurl the dough into the pan. Press gently to make sure the crust settles all the way to the bottom, but be careful not to poke any holes in the dough. Trim away the excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes or freeze for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Roll out the second disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes or freeze for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the apple butter, sugar, and eggs until well combined. Pour into the chilled bottom crust.
• Roll the top crust up onto the rolling pin, starting at the far edge of the dough. With the pie pan in front of you, start at the edge closest to you and gently unfurl the dough onto the filling. Use your fingers to press the edges of the bottom and top crusts together so they are lightly sealed. Trim the excess dough from the edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Tuck the excess dough under at the edges, pressing lightly to help "seal" the dough to the outer rim of the pie pan.
• Crimp the edges of the piecrust as desired. I refrigerate the pie for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C), preferably with a baking stone on the bottom rack.
• Make the egg wash: In a small bowl, beat the egg with the water and fine sea salt.
• Brush the top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Use a small sharp knife to cut a dew small vents in the crust. Bake the pie on the stone or bottom rack until the crust is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling up through the vents, 40 to 45 minutes. If the crust begins to brown too quickly, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and/or tent the crust or edges with foil. Cool the pie for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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.

DOUBLE CRUST APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the apple wedges and saute until slightly softened but holding their shape, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar and stir to combine. Add the raisins, cinnamon, and cloves and stir.
• In a bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch. Stir the mixture into the apple mixture and remove the pan from the heat. Let cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Fill an unbaked bottom crust with apple filling and dot the top crust with the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Top with a rolled-out top crust. Cut 1/2-inch vents in a round-the-clock pattern into the top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush the top lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Put the pie on a cookie sheet or other low-sided baking tray to catch any spillage. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes, checking occasionally to ensure that the top is browning evenly. Rotate the pie 180 degrees to move the front edge to the back of the oven, and bake until the top is uniformly golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more.
• Remove the pie from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
• Put the flour and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse a few times until the mixture begins to become mealy and the butter forms plainly visible pea-size nuggets.
• Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon salt in the water. With the motor running, pour in the water and let mix, just until the dough pulls together. Do not over-mix the dough. If it appears dry and is not holding together, add a few additional tablespoons of water.
• Form the dough into a ball, flatten, and wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Lightly flour a pastry board and a rolling pin and unwrap the dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and keep the second piece refrigerated. Tamp down the dough with the rolling pin and gently begin to roll it out into a circular pie shape by rolling evenly in one-eighth turns to keep the rolling even. When the dough is rolled out to an even thickness of about 1/8-inch and is about 12 inches in diameter, it is ready to be transferred to a 10-inch pie dish.
• Lightly butter the dish, lift the dough with the rolling pin by partially rolling the dough up on the pin, center the dough in the dish, and unroll. Pierce the dough in several places with the tines of a fork.
• Roll the second half of the dough into a circle slightly larger than the pie dish. Fill the bottom crust with your chosen filling. Cover the filling with the top half of the dough. Using both hands, crimp the edges of the 2 crusts together to seal. With a sharp knife, make several crosshatch slits in the top crust. Brush with the egg wash and bake in a preheated 375 degree Foven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.

BROWNED BUTTER APPLE PIE WITH CHEDDAR CRUST

Steps:

• Place flours and salt in a food processor; pulse until blended. Add butter; pulse until butter is the size of peas. Add cheese; pulse 1-2 times. Transfer flour mixture to a large bowl. Gradually add ice water to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight., Preheat oven to 400°. For filling, in a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Heat 5-7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly., Stir in apples and sugars; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 6-8 minutes or until apples are almost tender. Uncover; cook 4-6 minutes longer or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour. Transfer apple mixture to a large bowl; refrigerate until cool., On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to fit a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Transfer crust to pie plate; trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate. Refrigerate 30 minutes., Add filling to crust. Roll remaining dough to a 12-in. circle; cut into 8 wedges. Place wedges over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. In a small bowl, whisk egg with water; brush over crust., Bake 45-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack.

BUTTERED APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Roll out the larger piece of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness and use it to line a deep 9-inch pie pan. Do not trim overhang yet. Roll the other piece between sheets of wax paper into a rectangle roughtly 12 inches long and 1/8-inch thick. Refrigerate shell and rolled dough for at least a half hour.
• Combine sugar, cinnamon and mace. Toss apples with rosewater, then with butter. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Sprinkle a third of the sugar mixture over the bottom of the shell. Arrange a layer of apples on it and sprinkle with another third of the sugar. Add the remaining apples, rounded sides up, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
• Brush the rim of the pie with cream and return it to the refrigerator.
• Working quickly, peel wax paper from one side of the reserved sheet of dough, replace it lightly, flip dough and remove paper from the other side. Working on the wax paper, create a decorative open-work crust either by cutting 1/3-inch strips and weaving a lattice or by using a knife or cookie cutter to make a pattern that allows the apples to show. Stop and refrigerate if the dough starts to soften.
• Carefully flip top crust onto pie. Press around the edges to seal and trim overhang to a half-inch beyond rim. Fold it over the top crust edges and crimp up into a decorative rim.
• Bake the pie 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 375 and bake 50 minutes more, or until the apples are very tender and the crust is a rich brown. Allow to cool 10 to 15 minutes and serve while still warm.