Imagine the most divine apple pie you have ever had. From the perfectly balanced sweet to tangy ratio, with slim chunks of apple slices sticking together and a shiny, caramelized glaze on top. With a consistency that is not too watery; with a thick, pudding-like filling; moderately sweet, with a hint of cinnamon. It has a fresh and bright flavor that is just sweet enough. Now THAT is the perfect apple pie. But how long do you cook it? And for how long? To achieve the perfect apple pie, start at 400°F for 15-20 minutes and continuing at 375°F for an additional 35-40 minutes. The only difficult part is waiting the 4-5 hours it takes for the pie to cool down enough to eat!
What is the Best Temperature to Bake Apple Pie?
Overbaked crusts, mushy bases, watery fillings, still hard apple chunks, and plain old forgettable taste. These are just a few of the common pitfalls that can occur when baking apple pies.
Whether choosing the right type of apple, cooking time, or overall temperatures, these seemingly simple desserts can be tricky to create. I have developed the following protocols to prevent all these blunders from occurring at your next family dinner.
The first thing you must determine is the proper temperature and time to bake your apple pie. The trick is to bake the apple pie on high heat for 10-25 minutes, then reduce to medium heat for the remaining 35-40 minutes. The initial 10-25 minutes is to guarantee a crispy crust, while the lower temperature and longer bake time is to guarantee a well-cooked filling.
Macerating the apple slices before baking prevents runny filling and enhances the flavor. The process of maceration involves soaking the apples in water and sprinkling sugar on top of them. You are marinating the apple slices. The pectin (starch) the naturally occurs in the apples, enhances the thickness of the filling by using this method. The overall cook time is 75-85 minutes which includes preparation and oven baking.
Fruit pies tend to taste much better the next day. This is because the flavors will settle and blend together over the first 24 hours. Always make the filling first, then the crust. This enables the moisture to drain beforehand without making the crust soggy.
Almond Butter Apple Pie at 400 ºF
Ingredients
For the filling
- 5 ½ cups Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples (or mixed) sliced to ¼ inches, peeled and cored (1 medium apple yields 1 1/3 cups)
- 2 Pears (sliced, cored)
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- ½ cup Almond flour
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 2 teaspoon Corn starch
- ½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
- 1 Egg white (large, beaten)
- 1 cup Pear cider
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter, melted
For the crust
- ½ cup Almond flour
- ½ cup All-purpose flour
- 5 tbsp Unsalted butter, cold
- 3 tbsp Almond butter
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt
- 1 Egg yolk, (beaten)
- ½ cup Ice cold water
Instructions
First, make the crust.
- Blend for a minute in a food processor with all the ingredients except for the cold water.
- Gradually add the cold water and yolks until you have a nice dough consistency.
- Divide the dough into two strong balls, 1/3 and 2/3, but do not overwork it with your hands. The heat from your hands could cause the dough to dry out and crumble.
- Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour.
Let's get started on the filling!
- Peel and core the apples and pears.
- Make slices of them.
- For 6-8 minutes on medium heat, macerate the fruits with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, salt, and pear cider.
- Cook them until they start to soften. Remove from the heat and stir in the cornstarch thoroughly.
- Allow it to cool before draining.
- To make the filling, combine all the remaining ingredients.
- Place a baking sheet on a rack in the lower part of the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Roll the dough balls one at a time into 1/8-inch-thick circles on a floured surface.
- Fill a pie plate 9-10 inches wide with the larger two-thirds of the mixture and spread the almond butter around the base of the crust.
- Don't trim the excess dough from the rims. Fill the pie plate with the drained filling. Fold the extra layer around the rim of the filling.
- Cut lines from the remaining rolled-out dough and cover the pie evenly with them. Coat the top dough lines with the beaten egg yolk.
- You can top it with some almond slices for a nice texture boost.
- Place the pie in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or until it begins to brown slightly.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the filling begins to bubble.
- It takes about 4-5 hours for an apple pie to completely chill. It's ideal to let the pie rest for a day before slicing and eating.
- Cover the pie with foil during baking if the top or edges begin to brown too quickly.
What are the best variations of apple for this recipe?
The Granny Smith apple is the most commonly used apple for pies. They are more sour and keep their crispiness longer than most apples. Gala apples are great for a snack because they are sweet. The problem is they lose their shape quickly when baked.
For a decent filling, apples should soften in the oven but not become mushy, remaining al dente. They should not get too watery, or brown too much, and have an overall sweet flavor with sour undertones.
French pastry chefs prefer to use Golden Delicious apples exclusively for their rich, buttery, fruit pies. Golden Delicious apples keep their shape but soften very nicely when baked. Honeycrisp apples also have similar qualities, making them ideal for apple pie.
Tips and tricks to improve this recipe
Apple pie is primarily a seasonal dessert for good reason. The harvesting season is in the fall, and apples purchased in the spring or summer were likely picked the previous fall. When cooked into pies, these months-old apples become mushy and inedible. Bake apple pies in season, preferably in the autumn and early winter.
Professional pastry chefs swear by adding pears to apple pies as well. It is a nice trick for enhancing flavors. Pears are subtle, but they make any apple pie taste better.
Pre-cooking the apple slices keeps them from becoming mushy. This is done by pouring boiling water over the apple slices and letting them sit for 10 minutes.
Adding acidity is essential for a well-balanced flavor profile. It could be as little as a splash of apple cider vinegar, lemon, lime, or orange zest. Surprisingly, balsamic vinegar also goes well with apple pie.
Final words
Baking an apple pie can be difficult and time consuming. The last thing you want to do is spend several hours cooking only to produce a sub-par pie. Good pies need planning, strategy, a good recipe, and straight-forward cooking methods. You need to develop the correct temperature, cook time, apple type, a fine pie crust, and a delicious filling.
Hopefully, the techniques discussed in this article help you to create the best possible pie for you and your family. Keep your kitchen Hot and Salty!
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