Deep-Dish Apple Pie Recipe (2024)

Recipe from Kate McDermott

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Deep-Dish Apple Pie Recipe (1)

Total Time
2 hours, plus chilling and cooling
Rating
4(452)
Notes
Read community notes

If you’re going to the trouble of making a pie, why not make it a blockbuster? This pie, adapted from the professional pie coach Kate McDermott, is both deeper and wider than the traditional nine-inch version. The thicker rim is especially satisfying, like a buttery, crumbly slab of shortbread. You can use a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan, or a deep nine- or 10-inch square, or another 2½- to 3-quart baking dish of your choice. A mix of apple types always makes the best filling. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: An Apple Pie That Lasts for Days

Learn: How to Make a Pie Crust

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Ingredients

Yield:12 to 16 servings

    For the Crust

    • cups/450 grams all-purpose flour, more for dusting surfaces
    • teaspoons kosher salt
    • ½teaspoon sugar
    • 12ounces/340 grams cold unsalted butter (3 sticks), cut into large dice

    For the Filling

    • About 10 cups/40 ounces/1200 grams peeled and sliced apples, more as needed (see note)
    • ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
    • ½teaspoon salt
    • 1teaspoon cinnamon
    • Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
    • ½teaspoon allspice
    • 1 to 2teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or 1 tablespoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar
    • 1 to 2tablespoons Calvados or other apple liqueur, brandy or cider
    • ½cup/70 grams all-purpose flour
    • 2tablespoons/30 grams cold butter, cut into small pieces
    • 1egg
    • 2teaspoons coarse or granulated sugar for sprinkling

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)

408 calories; 22 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 17 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 294 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Deep-Dish Apple Pie Recipe (2)

Preparation

Make the recipe with us

  1. Step

    1

    Make the crust: In a food processor or stand mixer, mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and pulse (or mix at medium-low speed) until the pieces are coated with flour. Add ½ cup ice water and mix until incorporated. Keep dribbling in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing until the dough just comes together into a lump. It should be moist, but not sticky. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If dough feels wet, use a little extra flour.) Press the dough together, turning over a few times, until smooth and solid.

  2. Step

    2

    Shape into 2 disks, using about ⅓ of the dough for the top crust and the remaining ⅔ for the bottom crust. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

  3. On a lightly floured surface or nonstick baking mat, roll out the larger disk to about ¼-inch thickness. The size and shape will depend on your dish. Use the crust to line a large 2½- to 3-quart baking dish, like a 10-inch round or 9-inch square, at least 2 inches deep. Refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

  4. Step

    4

    Make the filling: In a large mixing bowl, combine the apples, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, lemon juice or vinegar, 1 tablespoon Calvados and flour. Toss together until the apples are roughly coated with what looks like wet sand. If filling is dry, add the remaining tablespoon of Calvados. Pour into the pie crust, mounding above the rim, and dot with butter. (If necessary, add more apple pieces to the top. Don't worry about mixing them in.)

  5. Step

    5

    Roll out remaining dough to ¼-inch thickness (or a bit less) and lay it gently over the fruit. Trim any excess and fold the edges into a thick rim. Crimp, if desired.

  6. Step

    6

    Whisk the egg thoroughly with 1 tablespoon cold water. Brush over the entire top crust, including the edges. Cut 5 or 6 vents on top. Refrigerate pie while the oven heats.

  7. Step

    7

    Place a baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and heat to 425 degrees. Place pie on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake another 25 minutes.

  8. Step

    8

    Open the oven and carefully sprinkle the sugar over the surface of the pie. Bake about 10 minutes longer. Look for steam and bubbling juices coming out of the vents, and a well-browned crust, before removing the pie from the oven.

  9. Step

    9

    Let cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Tip

  • A mix of sweet and tart, crisp and soft apples produces the best filling. If using mainly firm apples (like Honeycrisp, Gala, Cameo or Golden Delicious), try to add a few that will soften and become jammy (like Idared, McIntosh or Cortland).

Ratings

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452

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Harvey Green

A few thoughts after 50 years of making pies:Tapioca flour cooks up clear and there's no chance of a floury taste in the fillingBoiled cider in the filling adds a really deep apple flavor to the filling. All-butter is a great crust, but half butter and half something like Smart Balance or Earth Balance cuts the cholesterol and makes a really nice crust.A half-cup of sugar in the filling is plenty and a lot healthier. Skip it on the crust.A great recipe whatever you do.

Bainbridge Island Baker

Sorry, but a pound of butter is 16 oz and there are four sticks to a pound, so each stick is 4 ounces (a 1/4 pound). Perhaps you are thinking of tablespoons as there are 8 tablespoons to a 1/4 pound stick of butter

PF

Love the idea of a little cider vinegar and Calvados, but I'd also suggest a heaping tablespoon of tapioca flour to help thicken the juices. The best pies I've made have always been a combination of apples, and you can often buy discounted "pie" apples at farm stands– slightly blemished, less than perfect fruit.

elle

excellent catch -- the grams, at 340, is correct. the ounce conversion is not. Thank you!

John Eckstein

I have for several years followed the Cooks Illustrated crust recipe which substitutes iced vodka for some of the water. The alcohol interacts with the fat in the crust to provide a flakier crust. This works.

SugarFree

Tapioca is certainly better than flour for thickening a fruit pie (was shocked to see all that flour used here, which will certainly make the filling cloudy and nowhere near as delicious as it can be) - - but when using acid in a fruit pie, like lemon or vinegar, arrowroot is the thickener of choice.

Nancy

It seems that Step 4 should include the 1/2 cup of flour, yes?

Raindrop

I have learned to bake fruit pies until the juices bubble, no matter what the recipe instructs. Otherwise as you said, the apples will be raw and the starch won't have thickened the juices.

Maddie

1 stick of butter = 8 oz, at least where I live. So 3 sticks = 24 oz.

Apples'nOranges

Instead of Calvados, I add a spoonful or two of thawed apple juice concentrate, with a little grated orange peel.

Blair

A half cup of sugar for ten apples might be healthier, but it won't be dessert.

Jenny in LA

My pie crust, unlike my Grandmother's, is a cardboard nightmare. I wonder home much commercially made piecrust I would need for this pie? Any idea?

Pie Perbole

1/2 cup of sugar won't be nearly enough for 10 cups of apples, especially if they are tart.

Cedarglen

I've used a variety of baking 'dishes' for decades; typical round is my least favorite. The seasonings used in this recipe are similar to what I used to use, but I like those listed here even better! For my taste, more is better. As for the fruit agree that a MIX of apples is best; beyond that, I don't much care. Preparing the fruit is a tedious pain, but must be done. Chunks or slices? Anything goes. Crust: mostly butter but 10% raw lard helps texture. GREAT!

Hubbabubba

Um...there seems to be some confusion about tablespoons and ounces, when it comes to butter. One pound is 16 ounces, so one stick is FOUR OUNCES. Meanwhile, that same stick is EIGHT TABLESPOONS...so two tablespoons is one ounce.

KJ

I wasn’t totally happy with the pastry, not as flaky as I would have liked. It could be because we don’t have a true pastry blender attachment for our stand mixer. Also next time I’ll cut up the butter into smaller bits. I’m not a pastry maker by any stretch and found the recipe lacking with respect to size of butter to cut up. It did come together very quickly, I could have also over mixed. The pie mix itself was good.

Rita

This pie has fantastic taste and I lovely to look at though a little watery on the inside. I would suggest that perhaps a little bit of a thickening agent such as tapioca would have helped it be a little bit less liquid on the inside.

Sascha

Used 5 Golden Delicious and 5 Granny Smith apples. Cut most apples into eight parts and then 1/4 inch pieces Cut 3 apples into twelve parts and then 1/4 inch piecesAdded 1/4 cup of bourbon and let marinate in refrigerator Baked for an additional 15 minutes at 375.

Emily F.

Very happy with results! My husband liked it but said would he would have preferred that that the filling was thicker and the overall flavor had more cinnamon. I served it with Turkey Hill vanilla bean and chocolate ice cream and would do it again.

Niffer

The pie needed more cooking time. I used a heavy 9” deep dish pie pan, 1200 grams peeled/cored apples. I baked it For 20 minutes at 425. It was nowhere done after another 25 minutes at 375. My total time at 375 was 70 minutes. It took an additional 40 minutes more to see the juices bubbling under the crust. Had to cover while cooking. The filling is incredible. The pie is huge, impressive. I had a lot of reservations about the size of the filling and the crust, but in the end, the pie won.

Ann

I add the zest of one lemon to this pie, and people comment on how much they like it. Try it!

Bijoux Mcloud

So good. I'd never used the stand mixer for pie crust before but I was curious. I knew my small food processor would be a mess to use for this amount of crust so I gave it a try. I ended up cutting frozen butter by hand as it softened a bit as I worked. The crust is great. I also don't usually bother putting anything but a little sugar on my apples. I did have to bake it about 35 minutes longer than called for but that's always how it goes with pies- just watch for the bubbles.

J John

I made this recipe as written with a nine inch deep dish round pie pan. I’ve searched for years for the right proportions for that pan and this really fits beautifully. I only had 8 large apples, an equal mix of Granny Smith and Macoun. The 1/2 cup sugar was perfect and the pie has a clean, tart apple taste ‘even’ with flour as the thickener.I did end up baking this 20-30 minutes more than as written. I knew it was done when the crust was well browned and the slits showed a bubbly filling.

Christine

I might suggest switching 1/4 cup white sugar to dark brown sugar, arrowroot or tapioca for thickening, and a touch of 'boiled cider' from KAF. (Or reduce some cider yourself.) The iced vodka ensures a flaky crust, and as a personal preference, all butter in the crust.

Vincent Page II

I loved the mix of apple types, and the directive to cut them into shapes other than slices. The result was a filling that was as interesting in texture as it was delicious in taste. For the crust, I substituted Julia Child's pâté brisée à l'oeuf for a delicately sweet, flaky result, but one that also did not hold its shape as well as a less enriched and sweetened pastry recipe might.

Megs

I could just eat the filling raw! I have Ms. McDermott's cook book, and have loved all her recipes.Added some apple butter to make the filling extra special. Looking forward to having this all week long.

June

For those who ended up with uncooked apples, adding a little water to the apples/sugar/flour/spices in the mixing bowl will help "stew" the apples to doneness, and makes for a juicer pie. Try cardamom instead of cinnamon and allspice. Keep the nutmeg.

June

I do not peel apples. No need, really. The peel pretty much disintegrates during the baking. With red apples, leaving the skins one produces a nice color to the filling.

Hubbabubba

Um...there seems to be some confusion about tablespoons and ounces, when it comes to butter. One pound is 16 ounces, so one stick is FOUR OUNCES. Meanwhile, that same stick is EIGHT TABLESPOONS...so two tablespoons is one ounce.

Linda J.M.

I have been baking deep dish fruit pies with joy, and flaky, tasty success for years. Try a large dollop of full fat sour cream in the fruit filling for dreamy results. Sweeten only just enough. Works with everything: rhubarb, apple, berries, peach.....

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Deep-Dish Apple Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a deep dish and a regular pie dish? ›

Shallower dishes are great if you like more crust and less fruit, and they're a better size for cream pies and graham cracker crusts. Deep-dish plates are good if you like a towering slice of fruit pie.

Should you Prebake the bottom crust of an apple pie? ›

If you're making a traditional two-crust apple pie, the crust should not be pre-baked. If the bottom crust is baked, you won't be able to pinch it together with the top crust after adding the filling. Prebaking is only practical for single-crust pies.

How do you bake an apple pie so the bottom crust is not soggy? ›

Blind Bake the Crust

One of the fool-proof ways to ensure a crisp bottom pie crust is to do what is called blind baking. This simply means that you bake the crust—either fully if you are adding a custard or cream that won't be cooked, or partially if the whole pie needs to bake—before adding the filling.

What can you use instead of a 9 inch deep-dish pie pan? ›

An eight- or nine-inch cake pan is an easy pie pan substitute, as it has the same shape and volume as a pie pan. Be sure to line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper before adding the pie crust and blind-baking to make removing after baking easier.

How much does a deep-dish pie crust hold? ›

How Many Cups Does a Deep Dish Pie Crust Hold? A deep-dish pie crust can hold about seven cups of filling, which is about two more cups than a regular pie crust.

Should I poke holes in the bottom of my apple pie crust? ›

Make some good holes in the crust to let steam escape, and you might as well make a design! You can do these with a fork, or cut designs with a knife. You can also lay on extra dough cut into shapes for more styling. Ready to set the pies in the oven!

How do you get a crispy crust on the bottom of a pie? ›

Getting a brown, flaky/crispy bottom crust on your pie is all about quick and effective heat transfer. That's why aluminum or aluminum/steel pans — rather than glass or stoneware — are your best choice for baking pie. Metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat quickly and efficiently from oven to pie crust.

Should I egg wash the bottom pie crust? ›

Brushing on egg white will lead to a paler baked good with a very good shine. An egg white only egg wash is useful for brushing on the bottom of blind-baked pie crusts to create a watertight barrier between the filling and the crust. Or it can be used to help sugar adhere to pastry.

How do you brown the bottom crust of an apple pie? ›

but this alone will not brown the crust. to achieve this, i bake the pie directly on the floor of the oven for the first 20 minutes of baking and then raise it to the bottom shelf. different ovens bake differently so you may need to leave it on the floor of the oven for a longer time.

Why is there so much liquid at the bottom of my apple pie? ›

We suspect the soggy bottom is being caused by juices from the apples in the pie, rather than the shortcrust recipe itself. Even with semolina in the bottom of the pie, to soak up the juices, there is still a risk that the juices will seep into the base.

What apples not to use for apple pie? ›

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

What is the best thickener for apple pie filling? ›

All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.

Should apples be precooked for apple pie? ›

A combination of sweet and tart apples, tossed with a little brown sugar, salt, lemon, and cinnamon, promised a perfectly balanced filling. Precooking the apples solved the shrinking problem, helping them hold their shape in the oven while also eliminating any excess liquid, and thereby protecting the bottom crust.

What makes a deep-dish a deep-dish? ›

Deep-dish pizza is baked in a round, steel pan that resembles a cake or pie pan. The dough is pressed up onto the sides of the pan, forming a basin for a thick layer of cheese and fillings. The pan is oiled to allow for easy removal and it also creates a fried effect on the edges of the crust.

Is deep-dish dough different? ›

The important thing to have in mind is that there is an ingredient that makes all the difference: the use of yellow cornmeal, that bring this crunchy texture to the crust. Another difference between a deep dish pizza recipe and a classic pizza crust is the use of butter.

Can I use a casserole dish instead of a pie pan? ›

When there's no pie tin to be found, grab a casserole instead.

Why is deep-dish better? ›

Deep-dish pizzas take longer to cook than other varieties, so the extra ingredients only help extend the time before the pizza is done. The end product is a golden, crispy, chewy, buttery crust akin to a loaf of good bread. No crust will be left behind when you have finished.

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