A classic all American apple pie bubbling with brown sugar and gooey, cinnamon apples.
Who says this yummy dessert can only be enjoyed in the fall months? It’s perfect for celebrating America’s Independence in July, it’s the perfect end to a Thanksgiving meal, and well, it’s a delicious dessert staple year round! Apple pie has been and will likely always be in my top 5 favorite desserts. It’s my husband’s #1 dessert and I know he wishes I would make it on a regular basis.
This apple pie was made by a friend of mine and I was absolutely amazed at her creativity. She gave me permission to use her pie decorating idea and I’ll be sharing my favorite apple pie recipe at the end. She took a simple cookie cutter to make this wonderful snowflake design. It’s lovely just like that but she doesn’t stop there.
She told me how she took a little extra rolled out pie dough and made a pie dough rose out of it. If you’re unsure how to do this you can take a look at my Rolled Fondant Rose Tutorial to get an idea.
Here’s the pie covered in an egg wash and ready for the oven.
Ta-da! I love this decorative twist on a traditional pie! Don’t forget to serve warm with ice cream because there’s always room for a good vanilla bean ice cream, right?
Now without further delay, here’s my favorite apple pie recipe…
- [b]For the dough:[/b]
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. granulated sugar
- 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 3 to 4 Tbs. ice water
- [b]For the filling:[/b]
- 2 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch
- thick
- 2 lb. Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. water
- To make the dough, in a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, and granulated sugar together until combined, about 5 pulses. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Add 3 Tbs. of the ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 tsp. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap the disks separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half of the dough into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough in half and then into quarters and transfer it to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish. Unfold and gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- On a large sheet of lightly floured parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough disk into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter of your choice make your design in the dough. Reroll the dough scraps to make your rolled dough rose. Refrigerate the pie crust and rose for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the filling: In a large Dutch oven, stir together the apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cornstarch. Set over medium heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid has thickened and become glossy, 5 to 7 minutes more. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Position a rack in the lower third of an oven, place a baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Let the pie shell, decorated top and rolled rose stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Transfer the apple filling to the pie shell, scatter the butter pieces on top, and gently invert the decorative top over the pie. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish and press the top and bottom crusts together to seal. Brush the underside of the rolled rose with egg wash and gently press into the middle of the pie crust. Gently brush the entire top crust with egg wash.
- Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 1 hour, covering the edges with aluminum foil if they become too dark. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours before serving.
Wow, that is not only the most prettiest pie I have ever laid eyes on, it also sounds delish!!!!
That is definitely the prettiest pie I’ve ever seen! I’m in awe! It’s so picture-perfect – I can’t believe how flawless the crust looks. Love it!!
I LOVE how the crust turned out, that is so pretty!! Apple pie is my favorite fruit pie!
That is the most beautiful pie that I have ever seen!! You make it look so easy too the way that you laid out the photos. I want to give it a try.
That is the prettiest apple pie I think I have ever seen. Very creative. Love the flower in the middle.
I love this, the crust is perfect. My daughter would like trying this out too! Thanks for sharing it.
I’ll admit that I don’t like apple pie, but you did such a beautiful job! So pretty.
Wow, that is the prettiest crust I’ve ever seen on a pie!
That is the most beautiful pie crust I have ever seen!
That pie is so ridiculously pretty I wouldn’t have wanted to cut it.
How gorgeous is that pie?! Love the idea of the cookie cutter!
This is the most beautiful pie I have ever seen. I have been wanting apple pie so badly lately. II have not had apple pie in such a long time. Don’t know if I could get this fancy making it though.
That is a BEAUTIFUL pie! I never would have thought to use a cookie cutter.
Your apple pie is beautiful. I love homemade apple pie.
That is such a fancy pie crust!
Holy cow that is GORGEOUS. Too pretty to eat? Nah… 🙂
WOW that is the prettiest pie I have ever seen!!!
There’s no way I could make mine that pretty but I would love to try! It sounds delicious.
OMGosh forget the pie – I LOVE the crust!! SO pretty!! I would have never thought to use a cookie cutter!
This is the prettiest apple pie I’ve ever seen! I’d almost be hesitant to cut into it, almost!
Oh this is beautiful! I have never made a pie, but if I could make them like this…I would do it every day. Amazing.
Gorgeous pie crust! WOW! I would not want to eat it just look at how pretty it is.
That pie almost looks too pretty to eat… Almost!
Fancy! I love it!! My grandma could make beautiful pies too, they were always a huge treat.
What a cool idea to use cookie cutters! Your apple pie looks amazing
That’s the most beautiful pie I ever saw!
Are you KIDDING?! That is the most beautiful pie I’ve ever seen! Ashley, I HOPE someday I can do that! WOW!
That is a beautiful pie! I only wish mine looked that gorgeous!