Admittedly, the pecan and maple are primarily part of the crust. Either way this is an apple pie elevated for the perfect decadent fall bake. Pies are generally straight forward to make. One of the key things is making sure your crust doesn’t shrink by allowing it to rest in the fridge for a good 30 minutes and don’t over stretch the dough as you’re fitting it to the pie dish. If it doesn’t fit, roll it out some more or take some overhang and fill in some gaps.
I simply adore apple pies because of all the fun latticing. Because I actually like a little crunch in my apples, this recipe doesn’t pre-cook the slices before baking. I think there’s a 50/50 split on recipes that pre-cook the fruit beforehand. If you do like an extra soft gooey interior, take the filling and cook it on the stove top till soft and the liquid has mostly evaporated. My recipe uses brown sugar so that naturally creates that oozing thick filling.
It’s really hard not to dig into a bake right away, but this is one where you really should wait! If you don’t the filling will be liquid because it hasn’t had time to settle. So let it sit a while, eat your dinner and then dig in. It’ll still be a touch warm but it’ll be so perfect!
Pecan Maple Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecan, toasted
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 tsp sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/3 cup maple oat milk
- 6 apples (granny smith or other tart apple)
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed and zested
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp white sugar
Instructions
- Pecan Maple Crust: In a food processor, ground the toasted pecans until it becomes a fine powder. Careful not to over process or it'll turn to a butter.
- Add in flour, salt and sugar and blend lightly. Add in the butter and continue to process until coarse crumbles appear.
- Slowly add 2 Tbsp at a time of the milk until the dough starts to stick together. If it's too wet and sticky, add a little extra flour as needed. The crust dough should just barely hold itself together. Divide into two parts and chill in the fridge in a sealed container or plastic wrap.
- Apple Filling: Place the lemon zest and juice in a large bowl. Peel the apples and slice them in wedges. Place slices into the bowl and continually turn them. The lemon helps them from discoloring.
- In a bowl, mix the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice) with the flour and brown sugar. Combine with the apples. Set aside
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Assembly: On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of pie crust dough. Using your pie pan as rough measurement, roll out to a size at least 2 inches larger than your pan, so about 12 inch diameter for a 9 inch pie an. Fit the dough to the pan and chill it as you work on the lattice.
- For the lattice, roll out the second piece of dough to roughly the same size as before. Cut out strips - they'll be used to criss cross in whatever pattern you wish. If you're feeling fancy, take some scraps to make a braid. Chill it in the fridge.
- Take out the pie base and pour the apple filling in. Use a spatula to help even out the slices for a flatter top.
- Carefully transfer your lattice work to the pie. Alternatively, make the lattice directly on the pie. I like to do a crimp edge, using a finger to create the indents on the inside and 2 fingers to shape the crimp on the outside. Be careful not to make the crust too thick.
- Brush the egg wash over the whole pie and sprinkle the sugar on top. Cover the pie with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350ºF and bake for another 40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling vigorously.
- Cool to near room temperature before serving.
Notes
- I really like the maple oat milk that Trader Joe's sells during the holiday season. If you don't have that handy, use normal milk and swap out 2 Tbsp milk for 2 Tbsp maple syrup.
- If you don't have all the spices, that's okay, you can generally mix and match as long as there's more cinnamon than other spices (the others go a long ways with just a dash).
- Some people like heaping apple pies. If that's your thing, add a few more apples and increase the time by ~15 minutes.
- You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar for the filling but it'll be less gooey-gooey.
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