Fall and the holiday season is the time to whip out your pie pans and get creative! I wanted to make a traditional apple pie this season but with a small twist. So when I came across this hard cider apple pie recipe in a baking book called the Boozy Baker, I wanted to definitely give it a try, with a few adaptions of my own!
This pie ended up delicious, it was a spice to it, and I would definitely make it again! Check it out!
Ingredients:
– 2 packages of Pillsbury pie dough
– 2/12 pounds (about 5 medium apples) of apples (I used one of each type of apple of my choice)
– 2/3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of hard cider, divided
– 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
– 1/3 cup granulated sugar
– 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1 tablespoon corn starch
– zest of a lemon
Instructions:
1. Start by making the filling. First, peel and cut up each apple and set aside. *I bought an apple peeler, and let me tell you, it changed my life. It makes peeling and cutting apples 110 times better.
2. Once the apples are cut, combine the applies, 2/3 cup hard cider, the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook – stirring often, until the sugar has dissolved and the apples are thickly covered (about 5 minutes.)
3. While the apples are cooking, combine the reaming 2 tablespoons of hard cider with the cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture to the apples and boil for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the heat and stir in the lemon zest and allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes.
4. Butter a pie pan thickly and remove the pie dough from it’s box. With one of the pie doughs, place it for the bottom of the pie in the pie tin. *I like to cut a round circle and place it over the first pie dough for a thicker crust.
5. Once the pie dough is ready, pour in the apple mixture into the middle of the pan.
6. Now comes the fun part – it’s up to you to decide the design you want for your pie! I decided to do a scallop/flower look so I used a cookie cutter (or small wine glass) to create small circle with the remaining of my pie crust.
7. Before placing the circles on the pie, I cut a larger hole in pie crust to place over the apples for base. Then using milk as a glue, I coated the circles, one at a time, in milk as I placed it on the pie, starting from the inside and working my way out.
8. Once the pie was fully decorated, I covered the sides of the pie with foil and placed it in the oven at 425 degrees.
9. I cooked the pie with the foil on for 20 minutes, then decreased the temperature to 375 degrees, took off the foil, and cooked for a remaining 40 minutes.
10. Let the pie cool – very important step!
11. And finally, enjoy!