Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (2024)

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Paula Deen’s Apple Pie

Paula Deen’s Apple Pie is a deliciously classic recipe with a buttery homemade lattice top crust and brown sugar apples.

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Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (1)

Who doesn’t love a juicy apple pie with that carmel-y sweet crunch of flaky crust. So perfect yet so difficult to achieve just the right balance of apples, sweetness and crunch.

Choosing your apples

Step one: select apples for apple pie. It is important to choose firm apples that are less likely to turn to mush when baked. The best apples for pies are crisp and crunchy with a low water content. These would inclue Honeycrisp, Cortland, Granny Smith and Pink Ladies.

As you’re shopping for apples, look for ones that feel firm and smell fragrant. And try to avoid apples that have ugly bruises or soft spots. Go for the freshest apples you can find. Even the highest quality apples can get mealy after being stored too long.

Ingredients for Paula Deen’s Apple Pie

  • brown sugar
  • flour
  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • green apples, peeled and sliced
  • lemon juice
  • butter, cubed
  • unbaked pie crusts
  • egg wash for brushing on crust
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Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (3)

Must-Read Tips

  1. First sweat your apple slices before using them in the pie filling. This will prevent a runny filling and a soggy crust bottom!Read this post to learn how.
  2. Using store-bought pie crust dough is fine. But if you want to make your own, here are my favorite recipes by comfort level with making pie crusts:

✓ Total Novice: No Rolling Press-in-the-Pan Pie Crust*
✓ Beginner: Easiest All-Butter Pie Crust
✓ Intermediate: Buttermilk Pastry Pie Crust
✓ Experienced: Classic 2-Pie Crust Recipe

*You’ll need to turn this recipe into a Dutch Apple Pie if you opt to use the Press-in-the-Pan pie crust, since this recipe does not make dough that rolls out easily.

Have no fear– it’s easy! Simply replace the second crust that goes on top with a yummy crumble (use the crumble from this recipe) and adjust the baking time and temperature to: 60 minutes at 350°F. Place foil over the crumble topping if it gets too brown during baking.

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (4)

What does it mean to “Sweat” Apples?

The process of sweating apples simply means to reduce the amount of juice in the apple slices intended for pie. You can easily draw the juice out of the apple slices by coating them in sugar and lemon juice and allowing them to sit for at least an hour at room temperature. Then you’ll see the juice has gathered at the bottom of the bowl (you can use this juice later to make cider or syrup!) and you can proceed to use the slightly dehydrated apples for a pie filling using any recipe.

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (5)
Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (6)

Paula Deen's Apple Pie

Paula Deen's classic Apple Pie with a buttery homemade lattice top crust and brown sugar apples.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 7 medium green apples, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp butter, cubed
  • 2 unbaked pie crusts
  • egg wash for brushing on crust

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Place the apple slices in a large mixing bowl. Toss with the dry ingredients mixture to coat.

Press a pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish. Fill with the apple mixture.

Drizzle the lemon juice over the apples. Sprinkle the cubed butter over top as well.

Place the second pie crust over the filling (you can make a lattice top or simply cut slits to vent the steam). Press edges to seal.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Let cool before slicing.

Helpful Related Posts

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (10)

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (11)

Why and How to Sweat Apples for Pie

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (12)

Classic 2-Pie Crust Recipe

After years of struggle, I finally perfected the Classic 2-Pie Crust Recipe. I picked up a few tricks along the way, and I'm sharing them with you in this post!

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (13)

Buttermilk Pastry Pie Crust

If you're like me, and the art of pie crust-making has eluded you... give this one a try! I like that it's a little softer to work with; I've found that it cracks less when I'm rolling it out. And I also like that I can skip the rolling part if I want and just use my hands to press it into the pie dish.

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (14)

Easiest All Butter Pie Crust

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  • Dessert Casserole Recipe: Delicious Smores Casserole Ideas

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Which apples make the best apple pie? ›

The best apples for making apple pie
  • Braeburn. This apple is a descendant of Granny Smith, but slightly sweeter. ...
  • Cortland. ...
  • Crispin (Mutsu). ...
  • Golden Delicious. ...
  • Granny Smith. ...
  • Honeycrisp. ...
  • Jonagold or Jonathan. ...
  • Northern Spy.
Oct 8, 2021

Do Paula Red apples make good pie? ›

Its firm flesh makes Paula Red a good fresh eating and cooking apple, especially good for a delicious, naturally pink applesauce and for pie making. It is an early season apple ripening in late August, and like most early apples, Paula Red does not keep for too long.

Why use Granny Smith apples in apple pie? ›

Granny Smith

Granny Smiths have all the same qualities as Honeycrisps: juicy, crisp and great for baking. The only difference is that Granny Smiths are as tart as a Honeycrisps are sweet. You may need a bit more sugar in the mix when making a filling with Granny Smith apples.

Who makes the best apple pie in the United States? ›

Home of the award-winning Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag, The Elegant Farmer is noted by Gourmet Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Food Network and Milwaukee Magazine as having “the best pie in America.” The award-winning Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag has been the farmer's signature item for decades, baking over a ...

What is the sweetest apple? ›

While there is an extremely wide variety of apples, all with varying flavors, the sweetest-tasting apple is fuji, followed by gala, honeycrisp, and Red Delicious apples. These apples are great for snacking and eating as is. Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Pink Lady fall on the tart end of the spectrum.

What is the apple pie rule? ›

Here's a look at one of the most unusual laws on the books in the Badger State. In Wisconsin, it is illegal to serve apple pie in public restaurants without a slice of cheese on top. Yes, you read that right: cheese is required on top of any apple pie that is served in a public restaurant in Wisconsin.

What is the best thickener for apple pie? ›

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed.

What is one thing you should not do when making pie crust? ›

The Most Common Pie Crust Mistakes (And Ways To Avoid Them)
  1. The ingredients are too warm. ...
  2. The pie dough is overworked from excessive mixing or rolling. ...
  3. The pie dough isn't given enough time to relax and chill. ...
  4. The pie dough is shrinking down the sides of the pan.
Oct 18, 2022

Are Pink Lady good pie apples? ›

Pink Lady® apples are a perfect accompaniment for pies as they hold their shape and don't disintegrate when baked, creating beautiful layers within your pie. Slightly el dente and naturally sweet when baked make them the perfect pie partner.

How to make a fruit pie without a soggy bottom? ›

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

What kind of apples make the best apple pie? ›

Granny Smith apples are considered by many to be the "pie apples." They are known for their snappy tartness and ability to maintain their shape and texture when cooked.

Which apples are best for baking? ›

Which apples bake best? For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

Should I peel Granny Smith apples? ›

While the debate on whether or not to peel your apples seems never-ending, it really comes down to a matter of personal choice. Unpeeled apples will add a bit of color and texture to your pie, but they may prevent the apples from melding together when baked.

What are the top 5 apples for baking? ›

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

Which is better, gala or Honeycrisp? ›

Gala apples have a sweet flavor, a good crunch and has been the top apple at Kauffman's Fruit Farm for a few years. Yet Clair Kauffman, orchard manager, can see other apples soon rising to the top. Take the Honeycrisp, which has a more complex flavor than a Gala, he says.

Is a Honeycrisp apple good for baking? ›

Honeycrisp. One of the sweetest apples around, this Midwestern favorite is good for anything—including baking. It boasts a distinctive juicy crispness and is firm enough that it won't cook down much. It complements just about any other apple variety to make a stellar pie.

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