Our Favorite Apple Pie Recipe

Everyone is rolling out their favorite apple pie recipe this time of year. But, if you’ve ever tasted ours, you know it’s something special. The buttery crust holds its flakiness under miles of tart Granny Smith apples and blissfully sweet brown sugar. The combination is irresistible.

We’re sharing our apple pie recipe for those wishing to try their hand at it at home, but you can also order our apple pie in whole or mini size at any of our cafés through the holidays.

Apple Brown Sugar Pie
Click here to print this recipe!

Ingredients

8 medium Granny Smith apples (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored and sliced in to 1/2-inch wedges

1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup plus 1 heaping tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 recipe Double-Crusted Flaky Pie Dough

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water for egg wash

Lightly sweetened creme fraiche or whipped cream, for serving

Preparation
Makes one 9-inch pie

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Put the apples in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of flour. Pour mixture over the apples and toss thoroughly – the wedges should be completely coated. Spread the apples evenly on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the apples are just tender. Halfway through baking, redistribute the apples for even baking. Cool them on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes. Carefully pour the excess juices into a bowl and reserve. Cool the apples completely at room temperature or refrigerate to speed up the process.

3. Using a fork, mash the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and the remaining heaping tablespoon of flour in a medium bowl until well mixed. Dot the brown sugar-butter mixture randomly onto the apples and toss thoroughly. You don’t want to have concentrations of butter – it should be dotted throughout the apples.

4. Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften slightly. On a floured work surface, roll out the larger disk into a circle roughly 15 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. This is your bottom crust. As you’re rolling, check frequently to make sure the dough isn’t sticking; add flour to the dough and work surface as needed. Fold the dough in half and transfer it to a 9-inch pie pan. Place the dough in half of the pan and then unfold, draping it evenly over the entire pan. This is the easiest way to move the dough without breaking it. Gently fit the dough into the pan and trim excess (clean scissors work well for this), leaving a 1-inch overhang.

5. Roll out the smaller disk into a circle roughly 10 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Invert another 9-inch pie pan on top of the dough and use a small, sharp knife to cut a circle slightly larger than the pan. This is your top crust. Cut six 2-inch slots (or any pattern you choose) in the middle to vent steam from the pie as it bakes. Using a pastry brush, paint egg wash around the outer 1/2-inch of the bottom crust.

6. Spoon the filling into the shell, lightly packing the apples and leveling the top. Invert the top crust over the filling and press down lightly on the egg-washed edge. If the dough extends farther than the pan, cut away the excess. Bulky pie edges can break during the baking process or remain under-baked when the rest of the pie is finished.

7. Brush the top crust with the egg wash. Fold the bottom crust over-hang up and over about 1/2 inch of the top crust, pressing the layers of dough together. With a fork or your fingers, crimp the edge decoratively, then brush with a little more egg wash. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar evenly over the top of the pie.

8. Chill the pie in the freezer for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to skip this step! The freezer will firm up the pie dough, which, by this time, will have become fairly soft from handling. Re-chilling the butter will prevent the crust from shrinking, make the dough less apt to fall, and create a flakier finished product.

9. Increase oven temperature to 375°F. Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake until the top is deep brown and the filling is bubbling, about 1 hour. Cool the pie for about 1 hour before serving to let it set up.

10. To serve, spoon some of the reserved apple juice to pool on each plate and top with a slice of pie and a dollop of lightly sweetened crème fraîche or whipped cream.

Pie Dough Recipe: Make a Supremely Flaky Double-Crust

Pie Dough

Pie dough doesn’t have to be problematic – or store-bought. We have a foolproof pie dough recipe using simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and we’ve included instructions for mixing by hand.

Keep all of your ingredients as cold as possible and avoid overworking the dough to ensure your crust comes out super flaky every time. Of course, if your pie doesn’t turn out how you hoped (it happens to the best of us), you can pick up one our favorites at any of our cafés. Let’s get baking!

Double-Crusted Flaky Pie Dough
Click here to print this recipe!

Ingredients

2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
14 tbsp (1 ¾ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
½ cup chilled palm or other trans-fat-free shortening, cut into pea-size pieces
½ cup ice water

Instructions
Makes enough for one 9-inch double-crusted pie

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt. Add half of the butter pieces and quickly turn the mixer on and off a few times at low speed. (This is a way of gradually cutting the butter into the flour without sending the flour skyward.) Add the remaining butter and continue mixing on low speed until the mixture is coarse and crumbly, about two minutes. Add the shortening pieces to the dough. Continue mixing on low speed until it is crumbly again, about one minute. Add the ice water all at once and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, just until it is incorporated. The dough will now look almost like cookie dough, with no dry parts at the bottom of the bowl.

2. If you are making the dough by hand, follow the same procedure using a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter and shortening and a rubber spatula to mix in the water. Mix just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

3. Dust your hands with flour and transfer the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two balls: one should be about two-thirds of the dough and the other about a third. Pat each ball of dough into a disk about 3/4-inch thick.

4. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about one hour.

5. If you aren’t using the pie dough right away, store it well-wrapped in the freezer for up to one month.

This dough works with all of the pies in Leslie Mackie’s latest cookbook, More from Macrina. It can also be adapted for tarts, galettes and mini pies.

Ravishing Radish: Where Epic Parties & Amazing Food Meet

Ravishing Radish Catering Team

Photo courtesy of Ravishing Radish Catering

Wedding season might be over, but you won’t find the team at Ravishing Radish Catering resting on their laurels.

“We stay busy in the fall getting ready for holiday events, auctions and some weddings,” says Lisbet Larsen Mielke, founder of the down-to-earth catering company.

Lisbet caught the entertaining bug early in life, growing up with parents who loved to throw a good backyard bash. After graduating from culinary school, she set her sights on opening a business that combined her favorite things: amazing food and legendary parties.

“I’ve always worked in restaurants and kitchens and enjoyed it. I love troubleshooting on the fly and seeing everything come together.” And ultimately, she adds, she loves seeing people happy.

She launched Ravishing Radish in 1993, the same year that we opened our first little bakery in Belltown. In fact, Lisbet says, we were just down the street from her. She and her staff frequented our café for breakfast and lunch, and it wasn’t long before she tapped Leslie Mackie to make cakes for catered wedding receptions.

“We loved the food and bread at Macrina so much, we knew we wanted to use Macrina products on the menu,” says Lisbet, who enlisted JoAnna Cruz, a former Macrina employee, as her “chef extraordinaire.”

Our handmade breads paired with mouthwatering delights like rosemary butter or sour cherry compote and goat cheese weave through Ravishing Radish’s fall dinner menu. Sourcing ingredients from local businesses is a cornerstone of the company. Depending on the season, you’ll find Carlton Farms pork, Foraged & Found mushrooms, fresh catches from Wild Salmon Seafood Market, even choice edibles from the company’s 2,000-square-foot rooftop garden.

As if overseeing the fine details of lavish events weren’t enough, Lisbet has since opened Ravish, a bar and bistro that upholds the same steadfast commitment to community and sustainability.