Easy Apple Pie (with puff pastry!)

Sometimes you want dessert, and not only do you want dessert you want it to be easy. After using up most of the large pack of puff pastry for my homemade sausage rolls, I had a sheet and a half left and knew I wanted to do something with it. My favourite are the Borgs brand ones from Coles. My co-op box had some beautiful pears and apples from Stanthorpe so I figured it would be nice to whip up an apple pie. So I did. And it was glorious.

I made this pie with apple and pear so I could cut down on the amount of sugar but you can opt to use all apple or all pear. Be mindful if using sour apples like Granny Smith as you will need the full amount of sugar as recommended.

I didn’t precook the apples before adding them to the crust.

This simple recipe guarantees perfectly cooked apples surrounded with a thick gently spiced sauce. There’s no need for precooking the sauce or apples and the steps to make this pie are simple, you just need a little time.

Instead, I tossed peeled and sliced apples and pears with sugar, salt, and spices in a large bowl. When the apples are well coated, we set the bowl aside and let the apples sit for about an hour.

For the best apple flavor, try adding more than one variety of apple to your pie.

I especially love these varieties of apples for baked desserts and pie:

• Granny Smith — Your standard, never-fails baking apple. Tart, crisp, and they keep their structure after time in the oven.
• Pink Lady — A good balance of sweet and tart. Will also hold its shape when baked.
• Golden Delicious — Sweet and flavorful apple that’s very versatile. Will hold up in pie, but will become softer than some of the varieties mentioned above.
• Jazz — Sweet and crisp flavor. Will hold up nicely in pie

Easy Apple Pie

Recipe by Life on Milo's FarmCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Sometimes you want dessert, and not only do you want dessert you want it to be easy. If you have puff pastry and some over ripe fruit, then this recipe is for you! It is incredibly quick to put together and has ingredients you will have in the pantry! It is also incredibly versatile! Have some extra rhubarb, or pumpkin or lemon curd? The opportunities for this easy pie are endless!

Ingredients

• 8 Small apples OR 2 large pears/2 large apples

• 1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar (use lower amount if using sweet/riper fruit and higher amount if using granny smiths)

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 pinch salt

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1.5-2 sheets puff pastry

• 1 egg (egg wash)

Directions

• Heat oven to 22oc
• Peel, core and slice the apples and pears, keeping the thickness of slices even.
• Mix fruit, sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and toss so every piece is coated evenly.
• I used a flan pan with removable base for this pie, so lined the base with parchment paper and oiled the sides well.
• When this is done, line the base of your pie pan with one sheet, making sure not to stretch it but to ensure it covers all spaces.
• Cut off/trim excess and bits hanging over the side or turn back over into pie base.
• Pour the fruit mixture into the pastry-lined pie pan and dot with butter.
• To make a cover, you can opt to use an entire sheet and cover the pie. I had half a sheet left and cut strips in this adhoc cross over pattern.
• Prior to placing into the oven, apply an egg wash over the top
• Cook for 40-50 minutes until juice bubbles through slits.
• When the pie is fully cooked to your level of goldenness, remove and let sit for 15 minutes to cool slightly.
• Serve with custard, whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream if you’re wanting to be extra indulgent!

Notes & more baking tips

• Use a trusted pie crust recipe. If in doubt, whip out your puff pastry!
• Prepare the apple pie filling first and set it aside for 1 hour, allowing the apples to release their juices then mix the apples and the juices with a thickener like cornstarch or tapioca starch.
• Bake lower for longer. The long bake time makes sure the filling thickens inside the pie.
• If your crust starts to brown too quickly or looks to be turning too dark, mold a large piece of foil over a bowl that’s been placed upside down to make a foil dome. Place the foil dome over the pie for the remaining bake time. This will slow the browning.
• Let the apple pie cool before cutting into it. For the best results, the filling should be room temperature or cold before slicing. Cooling the pie gives the liquid inside a chance to thicken even more, which means it won’t spill out into a pool when you cut into the pie.