Author Notes: I figured if I was going to pay top dollar for a bag of beautiful local apples at the farmer’s market, I wanted them to be the star of my pie. So, I skipped the (potentially overwhelming) traditional spices and just tossed the apples with sugar and browned butter, not unlike the filling for Nancy Silverton’s apple crumble in her great baking book Pastries from the La Brea Bakery. Next, I turned to Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau’s Once Upon a Tart cookbook to riff on their killer tart crust, adding a handful of grated cheddar cheese and a bit of lard (yep, lard) for good measure. – Midge —Midge
Food52 Review: Midge’s pie is an homage to apples in their purest form. She employs no cinnamon or nutmeg to cloak their sweet perfume; instead she browns some butter, which complements the apples with a faint nuttiness. The crust is tender and flaky, with a muted burst of cheddar breaking through towards the end of each bite. It’s crucial to chill the dough as Midge directs — then you’re sure to end up with a perfect, and perfectly gorgeous, fall apple pie. – A&M —The Editors
Serves: 8 to 10
Prep time: 1 hrs 20 min
Cook time: 1 hrs
Ingredients
filling
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3
pounds apples, preferably a combo of Cortland and Honey Crisp, peeled and roughly chopped
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1/3
cup granulated sugar
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3
tablespoons dark brown sugar
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4
tablespoons unsalted butter
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2
tablespoons cornstarch
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2
tablespoons water
pie crust
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2 1/2
cups AP flour
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3
tablespoons semolina flour
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1
teaspoon salt
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12
tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
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2
tablespoons cold lard [Editors’ note: we swapped in butter with success]
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1/2
cup grated sharp yellow cheddar
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small glass ice water
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1
egg, beaten for egg wash
Directions
- Toss apples and sugars together in large bowl. Set aside for an hour to allow apples to break down.
- Sift flours and salt together by hand or in bowl of food processor.
- Add butter, along with the lard and cheese, to flour mixture. Pulse food processor (or cut into flour quickly by hand) just until fat and flours turn into a pebbly mixture.
- Remove blade from processor and sprinkle about 6 tablespoons of ice water on pebbly mixture. Using your hands, gently combine until the dough starts to hold together. Add more water as needed.
- Cut dough in half and form into disks, one a bit bigger than the other. Wrap with wax paper and chill for about 30 minutes.
- Roll out larger disk of dough on floured surface. Gently fit into pie dish, crimping the edges. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 400.
- Poke dough in pie dish with fork to ventilate. Line with parchment or foil and add pie weights (or beans and/or rice). Bake for 10 minutes. Remove parchment and pie weights and bake for another 5-10 minutes until pie shell starts to look dry-ish on the bottom. Cool.
- Meanwhile, onto the filling: Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over med-high heat. Swirl until the foam subsides and the butter turns a nut brown color. Watch closely – this can burn quickly. Toss with apples.
- Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2 tablespoons of water and toss into apple mixture.
- Roll out second disk of dough on floured surface to fit the top of your pie.
- Fill par-baked pie shell with apple mixture. Gently fit top over the filling, crimping the edges. With a sharp knife, cut slits or poke with fork to vent.
- Beat egg with one tablespoon of water. Brush egg wash on top of pie.
- Bake at 350 for about 50-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly.
![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 2 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/9be0fb93-2883-4a1c-82b4-609e0b723a73-2016-1025_brown-butter-cheddar-apple-pie_mark-weinberg_405.jpg)
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 5 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/4d769299-2c64-47f9-b14a-fcf9e2a4eac3-summer_2010_1105.jpg)
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 6 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/9380ec35-e825-4a95-8c7c-21953bc308a9-092010f52_ME_0233.jpg)
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Cutting the ends off the apples makes them easier to peel.
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And a melon baller converts beautifully to an apple corer!
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 9 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/7e3e49d9-82d9-4ffe-8a00-8c0f3dc79887-092010f52_ME_0203.jpg)
Amanda starts on the dough, adding semolina flour to regular flour. We love food processor doughs.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 10 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/f7279e41-2b66-4eb6-a32f-1212df6414f3-092010f52_ME_0213.jpg)
There are three delicious fats in here: butter, lard and cheddar cheese, all as cold as can be.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 11 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/fb2b5101-9c36-4599-9879-4b0fdd6c1e79-092010f52_ME_0215.jpg)
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 12 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/643d7c86-978b-45b2-ac62-d319b145e9b1-092010f52_ME_0217.jpg)
When the mixture looked pebbly, we added the ice water, just a little bit at a time.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 13 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/561329b8-3830-4525-a92c-2e3d8bec0197-092010f52_ME_0228.jpg)
The finished dough was smooth and beautifully, with little chunks of butter running through it. Once the dough is made, it needs to go in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 14 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/566a22c2-d5e1-4e64-9065-d16c08e2015a-092010f52_ME_0225.jpg)
We used a mix of Cortland and Honey Crisp apples — both at their peak.
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A little brown sugar and white sugar, and then the apples sit and "juice" for an hour.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 16 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/83993a0c-833d-4eec-bbac-2b36d5d27f80-092010f52_ME_0138.jpg)
Merrill used Amanda's technique to roll out the chilled dough for the bottom crust of the pie: put it between two sheets of floured plastic wrap. No sticking!
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 17 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/1e0f8dc3-ca3a-4b39-9225-47402002b12c-092010f52_ME_0139.jpg)
A heart-stopping moment.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 18 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/7c9c5153-36e5-4be7-9542-5eb7489eab13-092010f52_ME_0142.jpg)
Whew!
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After pressing the dough gently into the pie pan (we used a deep dish because of all the apples), you crimp it around the edges and put it back in the fridge for another half hour.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 20 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/e75f56c5-cd8c-4bd0-b31e-8c33d4ab8536-092010f52_ME_0183.jpg)
Pricking it with a fork keeps the base from puffing up as you blind-bake the crust.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 21 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ee1c65fc-1f9d-41cf-bf37-41df94844a08-092010f52_ME_0185.jpg)
And pie weights provide extra insurance.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 22 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/779399bb-45ce-42f5-89a7-80e350dadaf4-092010f52_ME_0251.jpg)
Blind baking ensures that you don't have an apple pie with a soggy bottom!
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 23 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/771dd70a-93fb-489b-9889-0734d720a176-092010f52_ME_0254.jpg)
Next, we made the brown butter, which gives the apples a nutty, rich flavor.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 24 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/df74ea90-52cc-426c-b610-1f52aed5c556-092010f52_ME_0256.jpg)
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A cornstarch a water "slurry" will help to thicken the juices as they bake without making them taste floury.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 26 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6fce9e41-0488-45c1-a094-654958fced40-092010f52_ME_0267.jpg)
Sticking out one's tongue is crucial when rolling dough.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 27 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/99c62611-6fa5-4d5b-9712-dc942733eeff-092010f52_ME_0269.jpg)
In Amanda's absence (she had a meeting), Kristen helps Merrill get all those apples into the pan!
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 28 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/29044208-d2f6-411e-ac5b-85b8b6fbd6a9-092010f52_ME_0274.jpg)
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And she provides moral support during the trimming of the top crust.
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 30 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/4ab6bcfa-3669-493a-a910-67ecf1553d3f-092010f52_ME_0283.jpg)
(Those are also Kristen's fingers on the right, helping Merrill crimp the top crust.)
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A few vents, so the crust doesn't steam from the inside.
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And a quick egg wash, and the pie goes back into the oven until it's brown and bubbly!
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![Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie 33 Brown Butter and Cheddar Apple Pie](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/b37c314e-de72-4f45-9879-46afd9a11457-092010f52_ME_0312.jpg)
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