Happy early Pi Day! At least for those in the US using the month/day format, this happens on 3/14 (March 14th) every year. And what better way than to celebrate by making the best apple pie recipe? Both because it sounds the same and because a pie is round. So we could calculate the areas of our pie with Pi if we really wanted to…

Okay, I may be a bit biased in saying that this is the best apple pie. But it was the go-to family dessert growing up. I don’t think my younger sister was the biggest fan, but the rest of us enjoyed it (sorry, sis). Though dad also really liked strawberry pie. My older sister especially liked the apple pie and would usually help with making the dough. I didn’t actually get too involved in making this dish while growing up. But now am making it from scratch myself.

Though the pie originated in England, it has become a very classic American dessert. As American as apple pie. I don’t know how exactly it became such an American icon, but likely because it is just so tasty. It is a perfect mix of spices, sugar, flaky crust, and a bit of tart.

My favorite way to eat pie is à la mode. Which is just a fancy way of saying with ice cream on top. Preferably vanilla. And specifically vanilla bean. It starts to melt over the hot pie and just marries everything together perfectly. Though beware, because it is a large dose of sugar.

Apples and Spices

Lots of recipes have you cook the apples only in the oven. I switch it up a bit and give them a little precook on the stovetop before baking. In my opinion, this helps it come together and cook perfectly in the oven. The apples can be cooked through without burning the crust. Instead, we get the perfect golden-brown.

You’ve probably noticed in the produce section of the grocery store that there are like 50 million apple varieties (actually around 7,500 exist). So you may be wondering which variety to choose. The classic apple pie variety is Granny Smith. My mom would always use Gala apples. For this pie, I used a mix of Honeycrisp and Gala. In my opinion, you should use the variety of pie that you like the most. Or what is most readily available to you. Though there are some varieties that may get a little too mushy, so you could try cooking them less on the stovetop before filling the pie.

The other big part of this pie is the dough. I’ve already covered making the ultimate pie crust in another post. I highly recommend that crust for this pie, but you can use whatever recipe you are familiar with. Or even use a pre-made dough in a pinch.

For the spices, I use cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. With a distinct focus on cinnamon. It is an aromatic combination that adds flavor and helps to mellow out some of the tartness of the apples. This combo helps make this the best apple pie recipe.

Fun note – my mom would always put in half of the apple mix and then sprinkle in any leftover pie crust in small crumbs into the apple mixture before topping with the rest of the apples.

Helpful Tools for Making the Best Apple Pie

Though it isn’t too difficult to make apple pie, there are a few tools that can help or make it a little faster:

Pastry cutter – A pastry cutter helps when making the dough. One step is cutting the Crisco and butter into the flour mixture. You can use a knife, but a pastry cutter helps make things faster since it is essentially a whole row of knife edges to cut everything together.

Apple corer/peeler/slicer – This helps to peel, core, and spiralize-cut your apples all at once. I have used them before, and it definitely speeds things up when going through a lot of apples at once. However, it isn’t necessary and you can just use a peeler and knife to get the same job done.

Rolling pin – The rolling pin I’ve linked to here helps you get everything to an even thickness. It uses spacers on the end of the rolling pin to lock it to a specific height. Then you can roll away and not worry about making it even. I bought it for my wife who does a lot more baking than I do. But I’ve been stealing it recently for pie-making.

Pastry wheel – I used a pastry wheel for making the lattice top to the pie. The lattice top makes the pie look super fancy, and it seems like a lot of work. but it is not. I found some instructions online on how to make a pie lattice. It was very simple and just involves folding back alternating strips of dough. I will also admit that I didn’t even measure the strips to get them to the same size. Eyeballing it works.

So gather your tools and your favorite pie dish to get started with the best apple pie recipe you’ve ever tried.

The Best Apple Pie Recipe

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

Tart apples, fragrant spices, crispy crust and a bit of sugar come together making this the best apple pie recipe

Ingredients

• Pie dough for the top and bottom of a 9″ pie

• 7 large apples

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup flour

• 2/3 cup brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

• Roll out half of the pie dough to an even thickness, fit it into the bottom and sides of a 9″ pie dish, and place the dish in the fridge to keep cold until filling the pie
• Peel, core, and cut the apples into evenly thick slices
• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Melt the butter in a deep pan on medium heat
• Add the sliced apples and lemon juice then simmer for 10 minutes until the apples start to get a little tender, stirring occasionally
• Mix the sugar, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in with the apples and cook 5 to 10 minutes until the liquid at the bottom begins to thicken
• Remove the pie dish from the fridge, pour the filling into the bottom crust, and spread it into an even layer
• Roll out the remaining pie dough and top the pie with either a solid or lattice top and any other crust decorations
• Bake the pie in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until the crust is evenly golden-brown – cover the edges of the crust with strips of foil if they are cooking faster than the rest of the pie

The post The Best Apple Pie Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Growing up, my mom did almost all of the cooking. If dad stepped in, then it was usually to grill something. But every once in a while he would surprise us all. And one fateful Thanksgiving day he decided to make pumpkin pie. Then he did it the next year. And then it kind of became a tradition for dad to bake some variety of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

My mom’s apple pie with homemade crust was what she typically baked for Thanksgiving dessert. Dad wanted pumpkin pie, so he made it for himself. Mom had too much to do to make two different pies. I also think that she wasn’t the biggest fan of the gourd pie. He started basic and then kept trying different variations every year. My previous encounters with pumpkin pie were with some not-so-impressive grocery store ones that left a lot to be desired. So I wasn’t a huge fan myself.

But I have a really bad sweet tooth, so I was down for having a little (or maybe a little too much…) of both pies. Trying my dad’s pumpkin pie made me see that there was more to the dish than previously thought. And it was a dessert that I could get behind.

Continued Traditions

After getting married and building traditions as a new family, I picked up the torch and decided to try my hand at baking a pumpkin pie. So, I went online to scour the web for the best pumpkin pie recipe. I looked through a lot of recipes not really knowing exactly what I was looking for, and then I found it. The recipe that I would use as a base for my pie.

The Epicurious recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Pie caught my attention and is the inspiration behind the recipe below. However, what really sets the recipe apart is looking through all of the comments. There were so many suggestions on how to improve the originally posted recipe. And a lot of agreement on the specific tweaks necessary. I found it fascinating that various home chefs came together in the comments and so I decided to trust their consensus.

So in the recipe below I have incorporated those changes, as well as a few other steps I find as best practice, to make a delicious traditional pie for Thanksgiving and the rest of fall.

Pumpkin Pie Spice for All

Pumpkin pie is the quintessential fall dessert, though it really is the mix of spices that have taken over fall. Every fall pumpkin spice flavor manages to get into everything. Most famously the pumpkin spice latte. Some of it good, some of it bad, and some of it really weird (they made pumpkin spice Pringles at one point…).

Don’t let the injection of spice into everything make you turn your nose up at the original. And make sure to create your own mix of spices instead of just using a premade pumpkin pie spice mix. Allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. They are all warm, bright spices that are fairly potent. A little goes a long way, as less than 2 teaspoons of spice are used for the whole pie. I love cloves. Maybe a little too much. But I bumped up the proportion of cloves to other spices in my mix.

If you really want to go all from scratch, you can also skip canned pumpkin and cook your own. It is definitely more effort, and I have done it once or twice. But I am not well-versed enough yet to give you a full walkthrough. See this guide if you want to give it a try yourself. Note that you will need to get pumpkins specifically for baking, and they are a lot smaller than the one you picture in your mind when you first think of a pumpkin. Remember – carving pumpkin does not equal baking pumpkin.

Slice to serve and top with a dollop of whipped cream for a tasty traditional take on the pie. Or have it a la mode with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Whatever way you whip it up, make sure to share it with those you love.

Fall Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Total time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Spiced custard that immediately transports you to the fall.

Ingredients

• Pie Filling

• 2/3 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin

• 2 tablespoons dark molasses

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 large eggs at room temperature

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• Pie Crust

• Follow this pie crust recipe, though you only need a half-batch if you don’t plan on

Directions

• Crust
• Make pie crust
• When the crust is almost done resting in the fridge, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Roll out the crust and place it in a 9″ pie dish
• Decorate the edge of the crust however you like
• Place parchment paper over the dough and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice
• Blind bake the crust for 15 minutes
• Remove from the oven and remove parchment paper with weights
• Filling
• Turn the oven down to 325°F (165°C) once the pie crust is done blind baking
• Mix together the dry ingredients (first 9 ingredients) in a 2 quart saucepan
• Whisk in all remaining ingredients until combined – make sure there are no pockets of dry ingredients at the bottom
• Warm in the saucepan on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly
• Pour the mixture into the partially baked crust
• Bake at 325°F (165°C) for 45 to 60 minutes, until it is just baked in the center – the center will be wobbly but not liquidy, poking it with a knife should come out clean, or you can use an instant-read thermometer to check that it is 175°F (80°C)
• Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting into slices

The post Fall Spiced Pumpkin Pie appeared first on Do You Roux?.

For me, a good chicken pot pie is the quintessential comfort food. A perfectly golden-brown crust blankets a medley of vegetables, chicken, and sauce to bind it all together. Mmmm mmmm mmmm. It’s an impeccable balance between the flaky crust and velvety guts.

My family has always referred to the filling of a chicken pot pie as the guts. Enough that it took me a minute to remember that it is typically called pie filling. So when I mention the guts here, I am not trying to be gross or off-putting. It just doesn’t feel right to call it by any other name. No matter what Shakespeare said. Though pie guts by any other name would still taste delightful.

Chicken pot pie is one of my favorites. For years, any time I came to visit my parents I would beg my mom to make it. While still delicious every time mom makes it, I can now have it whenever I want. It’s a dangerous skill to have…

How it Started

Learning to make pot pie began as a hungry young teen when I would sneak into the kitchen because I simply couldn’t wait for the food to bake. That was too long and I needed food. So if I was there when the guts were done but before being covered by dough, I could pilfer some creamy filling. Eventually, this led to me being in the kitchen earlier and earlier in the cooking process.

My mom got smart and had me earn my keep – chopping carrots, peeling potatoes, or shredding chicken. I was in the mix and seeing the whole process from start to finish. And because I love chicken pot pie so much, it ended up being one of the very first recipes that I really learned how to make.

However, I never really focused on making the crust. My dutiful sous chef and wife, Brooke, made crusts for me while I focused on putting the pie guts together. A great opportunity to spend time together in the kitchen. I did try my hand at making crusts eventually as well. And now have a post on how to make the ultimate pie crust.

I tend to make too much food. This holds true when I am making the pie guts for chicken pot pie. But my wife and I soon realized we could use this to our advantage and freeze the extra filling. If you make a double-batch then you can freeze the unbaked mixed together pie guts for up to 6 months. Then when the hankering for pot pie strikes, just take the filling into the fridge for 24-48 hours before you are ready to make the pie.

Customize Your Pot Pie

This recipe is especially good for days when you have leftover chicken, or if you just grab a rotisserie chicken from Costco to use. You can also switch it up to a turkey pot pie by simply swapping turkey for the chicken (great for leftovers of your beautifully cooked Thanksgiving turkey). A lot of the recipe is fairly adaptable to whatever you are in the mood for or have on hand. I’ve used sweet potatoes in place of the potatoes and thrown in asparagus, green beans, or corn depending on how I felt.

It is also fun to decorate your pie. For this pie I rolled out some extra dough and used a snowflake cookie cutter to punch out some decorations and place them on top before baking. Plus, I was able to cover up a couple of spots on the top crust that had ripped a little and didn’t look very pretty. Win, win.

You can also cook the chicken in a variety of ways to use in this recipe. My mom would frequently boil the chicken breast. For making the pie in this post, I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, ground sage, dried thyme, and garlic powder. Then I seared the outside on the stovetop for a few minutes and placed it in the oven at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes until it was done cooking. It helped to use an oven-safe pan when searing the chicken so that I could just put it straight from stovetop to oven.

One of my favorite aspects of making chicken pot pie from scratch is how you can make it your own based on what is available or what you enjoy most. Let me know in the comments your favorite ingredient to throw into the chicken pot pie mix.

From Scratch Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: EntreesDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

40

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

20

minutes

A selection of hearty vegetables, chicken, and sauce baked into a buttery, flaky crust. Comfort food to the max.

Ingredients

• Pie Guts

• 3 large potatoes

• 2 large carrots

• 1 celery rib

• 1/2 cup frozen peas

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 1 large shallot (or about half a cup chopped red onion)

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 6 tablespoons flour

• 3/4 cup chicken stock

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 2 cups cooked and cubed chicken (2 large boneless, skinless breasts)

• Crust

• Follow this pie crust recipe or use any other crust you prefer

Directions

• Crust
• Make ahead or buy a premade crust to use with this recipe – note that my pie crust recipe needs an hour in the fridge after coming together
• Pie Ingredients
• Peel and cube potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces
• Slice carrots into 1/4″ thick rounds
• Thinly slice celery
• Mince the garlic and shallots
• Bring 4 quarts salted water to a boil
• Put potatoes and carrots into the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes until fork tender
• Once potatoes and carrots are ready, turn off the heat and toss in the celery and frozen peas then let sit for 2 minutes
• Drain the vegetables using a colander in the sink
• Roux and Sauce – Can be made while waiting for water to boil for the vegetables
• Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan on medium heat
• Add the garlic and shallots and let them simmer in the butter for 3 to 5 minutes
• Whisk in the flour to make a roux and let it cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly – note that it will be a relatively thick mixture once the flour is incorporated
• Whisk the broth, cream, salt, and pepper into the roux until it is all incorporated, and turn off the heat
• Assembly and Baking
• Take the pie dough out of the fridge to sit for a few minutes at room temperature
• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Mix the vegetables, chicken, and the sauce together to make the guts
• Roll out the bottom crust on a floured surface to about 11″ in diameter and place it in a 9″ pie dish
• Fill the pie dish with your filling
• Roll out the top crust on a floured surface to about 10″ in diameter and cover your pie
• Add any decorations, edging, etc. to the pie and cut off any extra overhanging dough
• Bake your pie in the oven for around 40 minutes until golden brown
• Let it cool, cut into slices, and enjoy

The post From Scratch Chicken Pot Pie appeared first on Do You Roux?.

One of pie’s many virtues is the ability to transform into so many different things. Savory. Sweet. Custard. Fruit. Chicken. Vegetables. Baked. Fried?! (wait, you can fry a pie?) Filled. Top-crust.

Basically, there are infinite options. But a pie needs a crust. And for most pies, a shortcrust pastry is used to make the crust. Let’s dive in to make it the best pie crust it can be.

Shortcrust Pastry

Made mostly out of a mixture of fat and flour, a shortcrust pastry includes no leavening agents. Instead, the method of combining the fat and flour by rubbing or cutting them together helps create pockets of fat in the dough. These pockets of fat will then melt, create steam, and result in the flaky crust that everyone envies.

The type of flour used in the recipe can have an effect on the end result. I use plain old all-purpose flour in the recipe presented below. If you are using a different type of flour then you may need to change the amount of fat and/or water used to mix everything together.

An egg wash can be brushed over the crust to help give it a shine and enhance the golden-brown color we want. Just thoroughly mix a single egg with about a tablespoon or so of water and then brush it over your top crust. It doesn’t really affect flavor or texture, it is mostly about the looks and tends to feel a bit more polished. So do it if you are feeling a bit extra.

Steps to Get the Ultimate Pie Crust

1. Keep everything as cold as possible – Cold butter, ice-cold water, cold shortening. You can even pre-measure the flour and put it in the fridge to chill before making it. A step in the recipe also calls for chilling the dough in the fridge before baking. This all helps make sure that the fat in the mixture stays cold until baking – which will lead to a flakier final product.
2. Butter for flavor, shortening for texture – There are a lot of varying opinions on this one out there, but I think a mix of two types of fat helps produce the best end result. Get the best of both worlds. Or ignore me and do whatever you feel like – the fats can basically be substituted for each other 1 to 1. Butter has more flavor but is a bit more temperamental to work with because of its low melting point.
3. Use a dough cutter to mix fat and flour – A fork may be substituted, but a real good dough cutter makes life a lot easier. It helps mix everything together faster so things have less time to warm up.
4. Mix only long enough to just combine the dough – We aren’t trying to knead the dough and work it to help develop the gluten. Once it is no longer crumbling to bits and you have something that you can roll out, move on to the next steps. With enough water, it will start to look like the photo below, and squeezing it with your hand it will make it hold together.
5. Blind bake with wet fillings – As we’ve learned from the Great British Baking Show, nobody likes a soggy bottom. So if the filling you are using is very wet, try pre-baking your dough for around 15 minutes before adding the filling. You can also use an egg wash between your filling and the crust to make a barrier instead.

Rolling and Finishing

After the step of letting the dough chill, take it out of the fridge and let it warm up for 5 to 10 minutes. This will make it easier to roll out the dough. When the dough has come together and when you have rolled it out, you should be able to see streaks of shortening and butter.

When rolling out your ultimate pie crust, go for 11 to 12 inches in diameter. This will give it enough to cover the sides of the dish and give a little overhang for decorating the edges.

Once you’ve rolled out the crust, place it into the pie dish. To get it to fit properly you may have to cut off pieces that drape over the side. You can leave the edge unfinished for a kind of rustic look, or you can use a simple pinching method to make a classic wavy pattern. And if you are feeling fun, use some cookie cutters or specialty pie stamps to decorate. You can also follow some other instructions to make some more interesting edges.

Try making one of the following with this ultimate pie crust:

• Chicken Pot Pie
• Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Quiche Lorraine

How to Make the Ultimate Pie Crust

Recipe by Marc PetersonDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

This recipe makes enough for a top and bottom crust in a 9″ pie dish

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1/2 cup cold shortening

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed

• 1/2 cup water in a bowl with ice cubes to keep cold

Directions

• Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl
• Add butter and shortening to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the ingredients together until most of it is in pea-sized pieces
• Spoon 1 tablespoon of the ice water one at a time to the pea-sized pieces and gently mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until it starts to come together and form larger clumps – note that the full 1/2 cup of water may not be needed
• Split the dough into two equal portions, wrap each separately with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days – keep the dough chilled until you are ready to roll it out
• When ready to cook your crust, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Use a rolling pin to roll out one piece of dough to the size of your pie dish
• Place it in the bottom of your dish
• If blind baking, cut some parchment paper, put it on top of the dough, place some pie weights, dry beans, or rice on top of the parchment paper to weigh it down, and place it into the oven to cook for about 15 minutes
• Place your filling into the crust
• If you are putting a top on your pie, roll out the other piece of dough to size and cover
• Bake until your filling is done cooking and the crust is golden-brown – cover the exposed top crust if it is baking too quickly and the filling is not yet cooked

Notes

• If you are having an issue with burnt or browned bottoms, consider changing the pie dish you use for future bakes or moving the rack up to a higher position in your oven

The post How to Make the Ultimate Pie Crust appeared first on Do You Roux?.