Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and last minute my family decides to have dinner at home.
Go figure, right? Well, I just finished throwing together a quick Turkey Day menu.
A few things that are new to the menu this year: an amazing looking butternut squash salad & sausage stuffing from Brown Eyed Baker. Michelle has a vast collection of Thanksgiving related recipes, it’s a great place to go for recipe inspiration!
I also decided on apple dumplings, inspired by one of my classes.
Although these apple pies didn’t make the cut, they are a delicious fall time dessert. The classic apple and caramel combination makes for an extra special treat. Pair with a little vanilla ice cream and you have a masterpiece.
I originally made these pies, along with a bunch of other pies, for a friend of the family.
Of all the pies I made that weekend, the apple pies turned out the best. Granted it took me a few tries….but I finally got it.
I found that pre-baking a mixture of apples, a little sugar and cinnamon for about 20 minutes made them release enough of their juices so that the crust didn’t puff too much.
By the way, thank you to my awesome Twitter followers for helping me solve this problem! I can always count on Twitter for a quick and helpful response.
Next time I made this recipe I plan on adding more caramel. Yes, more caramel.
I kind of made this one up as I went and didn’t think it through very well. I only added a layer of caramel to the top of the apples, when really it needs to be layered in 2 to 3 different parts of the pie.
Caramel Apple Pies
Ingredients:
- 1 Pie crust split up into 6 parts – I used this recipe
- 14 medium sized cortland apples – peeled and cored
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 can dulce de leche (maybe 2, if you decide to add more caramel)
For the Crumble:
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Thinly slice the apples and toss in a large bowl with the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Spread over a cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until reduced by half.
- Remove the apples from the oven, and turn it up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Roll out the pie crust to fit the size pie pan you are using. Gently move the crusts to the pan and cut to fit your pan. Flute the edges of the crust.
- Bake the crust for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- While the crust is baking make the crumble for the top. Mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Using a fork mix the butter into the flour mixture. Continue to mix until it resembles large crumbs.
- Scrape the dulce de leche into a bowl and slightly warm up in the microwave. I warmed it until it was just barely pourable.
- Once the crust is ready, pour the apples and their juices into the crust and top with a layer of caramel. If you want to add more I recommend doing it in 2 or 3 layers throughout the pie.
- Top with the crumble mixture and bake until browned and the caramel is bubbly, or 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of your pie).
About bigfatbaker
I’m making apple pie this week, I’ll try baking the apples like you did here. Love seeing dulce de leche in your recipes, I bet this was scrumptious!
I would devour this whole pie! Not even kidding!!!
Apple pie is my favorite pie. I love it even more than any chocolate pie! Cinnamon and apples form an inseperable bond within the pie crust and magic happens. I am convinced of that! That squash salad has me intrigued!
This pie looks really good. I have so many apples to use from my mum’s tree…this will be a good one to try!
You’re doing miles better than me. I haven’t even started to figure out what I’m going to cook yet!
ah I hit send too soon!!! I was going to say that these little bad boys look amazing.
That crumble just made my stomach rumble with hunger. YUM!! What a great recipe! Thanks for sharing..
Oh I want this…really bad…like right now….take pity on me. Congrats on top 9. These are incredible.
I precook my apples, too…but I saute them instead of baking…learned this trick from Nick Malgieri. I adore apple pie and love the idea of adding caramel…yum!!! CONGRATS on your Top 9 today…and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thank you Liz! The caramel really adds a nice creamy texture to the pie. Thank you for stopping by
Oh my, that looks beyond delicious! I love anything apple and caramel, but in pie form? Genius!
Gorgeous Autumnal flavours. Who could ask for more?
Maybe I’m a little dense, but why does it say to cut the pie crust into 6 parts, but later just says roll it out and put it into the pan? Somebody enlighten me – I’ll be making this bad boy as soon as humanly possible.
Sorry for the confusion!! You can either use 1 crust and make 1 big pie, or make the crust recipe and use that to make smaller pies. Hope that helps!
Made this for thanksgiving today. I used mutsu apples and only needed 6 for an overflowing deep 9″ pie. Maybe my apples were really big or yours were really small
I also sautéed my apples instead of baking them, and it worked very nicely. the pie was a big hit and it turned out very well. Thanks for the recipe!
I am so so honored you made this for your loved ones on such a special occasion! My apples might have been a little small… But I am glad everything worked out and thank you for stopping by to let me know!
Happy Holidays!
Oh my this looks so good! I wish I could have a pieces right now!!