Do you like pie? It’s, hands down, my dessert of choice. So it should come as no surprise that I assembled not one but two for Thanksgiving: a vegan pumpkin pie and this deep-dish Pennsylvania Dutch apple pie.
I’d never made either before and, thankfully, both were a hit with my dining companions. The first was an unexpected success (as I’d never baked without eggs and dairy) and the Pennsylvania Dutch apple pie was a shoo-in (as I knew the combination of a buttery crust, fruit filling and crumb topping would be delicious).
And the best part? You can prepare the pies 24 hours in advance. That way, you can sit back and relax the day you plan to slice and serve them.
Recipe adapted from The Splendid Table.
Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie
Makes 1 9" pie
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
- ¼ cup ice water
- 4 teaspoons sour cream
Crumb topping:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 2½ pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼"-thick slices (see notes)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the crust:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, combine the water and sour cream; add to the flour mixture and mix with a fork until the ingredients start to come together. Then use your hands to lightly knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Prepare the crumb topping:
- Melt the butter in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Transfer to the freezer.
Prepare the filling:
- In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. Let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Assemble and bake the pie:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 14" circle. Carefully transfer the dough to a 9” springform pan, pressing it against the bottom and sides. Use a sharp knife to trim the edge of the dough so it comes about 2 inches up the side of the pan. Transfer the crust to the freezer and let chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell. Sprinkle the chilled crumb topping over the filling.
- Place the springform pan on a baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown and the apples are very tender, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
- Remove pie from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Then remove ring and transfer pie to a wire rack to cool for at least 4 hours before serving.
Notes
I used a mix of Cripps Pink and Honeycrisp apples.
