Apple

Brown Sugar AppleĀ Pie

November 10, 2013
4.3
3 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Prep time 25 minutes
  • Cook time 50 minutes
  • Makes 1 nine inch pie
Author Notes

This is my favorite apple pie - simple and to the point. I like to use Baldwin apples when I can find them, but any good baking apple will do. Bonus points for arranging the apples very precisely (if you do them in concentric rings, the top crust will be very smooth and even). —Erin Jeanne McDowell

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • pie dough (do two times my recipe here: http://food52.com/recipes..., or your favorite)
  • 6 pounds apples, sliced 1/4 inch thick (peeling optional)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (30 g)
  • 2/3 cup dark brown sugar (142 g)
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour (23 g)
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon (9 g)
  • pinch salt
  • egg wash, as needed
  • turbinado sugar, as needed
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out half of the pie dough on a lightly floured surface into a circle at least 3/4 of an inch larger than the pie plate on all sides. Gently transfer the dough to the pie plate, trim any excess exceeding 1/2 inch. Refrigerate the base crust for 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the apples, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt together to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust.
  3. Roll out the second half of the dough on a lightly floured surface into a circle at least 1 inch larger than the pie plate on all sides. Gently top the pie with the second crust, trim any excess exceeding 3/4 inch.
  4. Fold the top crust under the bottom crust, pressing lightly to seal. Crimp the edges as desired. Egg wash the top crust evenly, and top with a sprinkling of turbinado sugar. Cut vents into the top crust.
  5. Bake the pie until the crust begins to turn golden, about 15-20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 375 and continue to bake until the crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is heated through and bubbling, 25-30 minutes more. Let cool for at least 2.5 seconds and serve with a generous scoop of ice cream.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

I always have three kinds of hot sauce in my purse. I have a soft spot for making people their favorite dessert, especially if it's wrapped in a pastry crust. My newest cookbook, Savory Baking, came out in Fall of 2022 - is full of recipes to translate a love of baking into recipes for breakfast, dinner, and everything in between!

1 Review

Margaret T. November 27, 2020
Pie was great, but I believe there is an error on the amount of apples.
The recipe calls for six pounds, no way would that many apples fit in a 9 or 10 inch pie plate.