This is a small apple pie, but it’s so loaded with apples that you’ll have a hard time believing it. The streusel topping gives it a caramel flavor that makes your whole head want to burst with joy.
Don’t skip the baking sheet. Otherwise, this pie will mess up your oven.
Ingredients
- For the Topping
1 oz. (¼ cup) AP flour
1½ oz. (¼ cup) sugar
1½ oz. (¼ cup, packed) brown sugar
2 Tbs old-fashioned oats
⅛ tsp salt
¼ rounded tsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp nutmeg
1½ oz. (6 Tbs) butter, cut into small pieces
1 oz. (¼ cup) walnuts, chopped, or sliced almonds
- For the Pie
A single, 9-inch pie crust, chilled (see notes)
¾-1½ oz. (2-4 Tbs) sugar (see notes)
1½ oz. (¼ cup, packed) brown sugar
1 oz. (3 Tbs + 2 tsp) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp allspice
2 lbs Northern Spy apples (4 medium-large apples, see notes), peeled, cored, and very thinly sliced
Zest from ½ lemon
2½ tsp lemon juice
¼ oz. (2½ tsp) butter, cut into small pieces
Directions
- For the Topping
- Combine flour, sugars, oats, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Add butter and, using your fingers, rub the flour mixture and butter together until all of butter is incorporated into the flour mixture. (Make sure there are no dusty bits at the bottom of the bowl.)
- If there are large clumps, use your fingers to break them into irregularly shaped pieces about the size of kidney beans. Toss in the nuts. Set aside.
- For the Pie
- Pre-heat the oven to 425°F and arrange a rack in the lower third. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to somewhere between 1/8 and 1/16-inch thick. Line a 10″ x 5″ x 1″ tart pan with the dough and trim generously. Crimp.
- Blind-bake the crust: cover the interior with parchment, fill it with pie weights, and bake it for 12 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment; allow to cool on a rack.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil; set aside. Place the sugars, flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl and whisk to combine; set aside. Add the apples to the mixing bowl. Add juice and zest, and toss until the apples are evenly coated.
- Mound the filling into the crust. You’re going to be sure you’ve done something wrong, because this many apples mounded into this small a crust looks absurd. But trust me, it’s correct. Dot the top with the butter pieces. Cover the pie with foil.
- Place the pie on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, remove the foil from the pie, and pat the streusel evenly over the top of the pie. At the same time, gently push down on the apples to compact them somewhat. Place the foil back over the pie.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and return the pie to the oven. Bake until the filling is thick and bubbling, and the apples offer little resistance to a tester, about 20 minutes.
- Remove foil. Bake until the streusel is dark and crisped, 20 minutes.
- Remove pie from oven, and let the pie sit on the baking sheet until it stops bubbling, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and let the filling set before slicing, at least 3 hours. Serve at room temperature, or chilled.
Notes
- It’s easy to find pie crust recipes online. Here are some I find useful: Food 52, Chicago Tribune, Cooking Italian with Joe. However! Trader Joe’s makes a really good ready-to-roll pie crust. Think seriously about that.
- Use the lesser amount of sugar if using Northern Spy apples. Use the greater amount if using a a substitute, such as a Honeycrisp/Granny Smith mix.
- Northern Spy makes a fantastic apple pie, but they can be hard to find. A half-and-half combination of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith is my second favorite choice – and it’s hardly a “second.” It’s a delicious combination. Note that Northern Spy apples will offer a slight bit of resistance even when fully cooked.
- I baked this pie in a Prepd silicone tray. Use whatever shape of pan you like, but make sure that it has a capacity of between three and four cups. Since the Prepd tray is flexible, I found it useful to move it on and off of the baking tray with a very large (5-1/2″ diameter) pancake flipper.
- For presentation, I let the pie sit in the baking dish in the fridge overnight, ran a plastic knife carefully around the edges, covered it with foil, inverted it, carefully removed the baking dish, and reinverted it onto a rectangular serving plate. I had intended to slice it into either four or six slices – and indeed started out that way, as you can see in the photos. But ultimately, I decided that eight small squares made a delicious small serving that didn’t weigh me down.
The Backstory
No one loves a deep dish apple pie more than I do, but my husband and I don’t really need a full-size, deep dish pie just for the two of us. (I said “need,” not “want.”) So, I decided to take my favorite pie recipe (your recipe, Randy), and cut it in half.
I don’t like the look of wedges cut from a 4-inch pie. Cheese should come in those pudgy little triangles, not pie. So I made the pie in a tart pan, sort of. Does that make it a tart? Just the shape of the pan? I don’t know. In any case, I do like the look of the resultant rectangular slices.
Social Learning
If you want to double this recipe to make a full-size pie, you’ll need a pie tin that has a 6-cup capacity. I typically use a 10″ x 1.5″ ceramic gratin. You’ll have to increase (perhaps double) the Step 6 baking time.
What makes this pie worth bloggin about?
First, the caramelization. That’s a matter of skill. Like any pie, you’re challenged with cooking the filling without burning the crust. But with this pie, you need to let the topping get so dark that it begins to caramelize. That sticky/crunchy texture and caramelly flavor is extraordinary in the context of this pie.
Secondly, it’s the amount of apple. If you follow this recipe, you will think me crazy for asking to you pile that much apple atop your pie. And I am crazy – but for other reasons altogether. That much apple is perfect for this pie; trust me.
Thirdly, there are so many important nuances – like the lemon and the almond – that are there just enough to give interest, but not so much that they make you feel that this is anything other than a fantastic, Dutch apple pie.
Fourth, I’m guessing that I’m not the only guy in the world who wants to eat pie, but realizes that eating pie for eight days straight is possibly unwise. A whole, deep-dish pie is a lot for two people. Sure, I can give some away. Sure, neither of us certainly minds having pie everyday for more than a week! But this pie, although I envision it for four if serving guests, I cut into eighths for the two of us, and each little square was a beautiful nosh over four days’ time. OK, maybe three. Moderation.
A Small Apple Pie That’s Huge on Deliciousness
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thanks, Kesor. Thanks Prosper Circle. Thanks Betty Crocker, The Pursuit of Nice, and Food 52. Thanks Randy!
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We never need a full size dessert either. I will definitely try this. THeHub loves apple pie and I am not fond of cooked fruits so it will not tempt me for more than a bite or two! Perfection.
Thanks, Anne!
That looks SO good I am going to have to try it.
Thanks, Lori!
Oh this apple pie looks seriously delicious – so homey, inviting, and offering you all those fantastic autumn flavours. Loving the addition of streusel, too!
Ben | Havocinthekitchen recently posted…Dulce De Leche Coffee Ice Cream
Thanks, Ben!
I really love that moist, almost gooey filling! Caramelization for sure did the trick 🙂
angiesrecipes recently posted…Haselnusshörnchen Hazelnut Crescents with Spelt and Potato
Thanks, Angie!
When it comes to pie crust I’ve always rolled my own, but good to hear about the Trader Joe one. Love the idea of a smaller pie, but with full size slices. We don’t need a regular pie either, although of course we do want one. 🙂 This looks great — love the looks of it. Thanks!
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Roast White Beans and Eggplant with Tomato
Thank you, John!
Great point. I like a dark crust and think most pies are undercooked in that department. GREG
Thanks, Greg!
Normally I wouldn’t like the combination of “small” and “apple pie” in the same sentence. However, I get it. I used to send extra portions of desserts into my wife’s breakroom at work. However, she’s been working from home for the last year and a half…which means her breakroom is our kitchen. I appreciate you looking out for folks like us with this recipe, Jeff! Also, it sounds like a damn good pie recipe.
David @ Spiced recently posted…Southwest Pork Lettuce Wraps
Thanks, David! It is a good recipe. I love it. I’m not one who believes in not having things, but cutting back on how muchk you have can be a good idea.
Wowza! If it’ll make my head spin, I’m in. This really sounds/looks incredible! There’s so much caramelization happening between the streusel, the apples and the crust, that I can hardly stand it. YUM! My dad is a big fan of apple desserts, and he’ll love this. 🙂 ~Valentina
Valentina recently posted…Upside Down Fresh Fig Coffee Cake
It’s a good one, Valentina! And this is the perfect time of year for it.
I’m all for a small pie- the bigger the pie, the more we eat and eat and eat. Looks really delicious.
Judee recently posted…Baby Spinach and Kale Soup- Oil-Free
My thoughts exactly! Thanks!
I’ve been thinking of and looking for “small batch” versions of my favorite dessert recipes! And Dutch apple pie is totally on that list! The apples this year have been so deicious, I can’t get enough! Love this idea, and I like the idea of using a tart pan. The 8 serving idea is great – makes a “weekday” dessert, in my book, anyway.
Laura recently posted…Honeycrisp Apple Crumble Cake
Hope you like it!
What an incredible looking pie, I just love how you’ve caramelized it and the volume of apples; we totally agree, the more apples the better. I can just imagine how delicious your home smelled as you were baking this beauty.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Plum Cake
It really was a great pie. I should make another one!
Ho un debole per i dolci alle mele, fantastica questa torta!!!
speedy70 recently posted…CORNETTI di BRIOCHE
I have that same weakness!
Buonissima! Mi piacerebbe assaggiarla, complimenti!
Well, I wish I could give you a taste! Maybe one day, computers will let you do that!
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. Love it.
Thanks!
Summer season is over here and our summer apples are so sour ones and never use them for the apple-pie. But autumn season just beginning here and sweet apples are coming. This recipe sounds really good. Happy Autumn!
Ah, yes. We’re kind of in mid-season right now. Happy Autunm to you, too!
Perfect apple pie recipe. Something to bake next weekend. Thanks.
You’re welcome!