Baked By Buttercup: Dutch Apple Pie

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones. I’ve been home in San Jose for a week and I’ve had the best Christmas with my family! I’ve got big plans for this little blog, and I don’t just mean in baked goods. :) Stayed tuned for more information to come, but let me just say: 2011 is going to be a big year for Buttercup!

Anyway, onto the pie. For the past 5 years, my brother-in-law Danny has been asking my sister Erin to make a Dutch Apple Pie on Thanksgiving or Christmas, rather than our traditional double-crust pie. Unfortunately for him, he always asks the morning of the holiday, never in advance, so we don’t have time to find a recipe to suit his tastes. Well, this year, the subject came up a few days early, so were able to track down an acceptable recipe and read up on Dutch apple Pie. My brother-in-law loves the Sara Lee version, so that was we were up against. Erin and I graciously accepted the challenge, and got to work after our Christmas morning mimosas. :)

Erin took care of peeling, coring, and slicing the apples since she is so quick with a knife. I rolled out our pie crust (no, I didn’t make the dough) and prepared the crumb topping. It was a joint effort to flavor the apples and photograph the whole baking process. We are a wonderful team in the kitchen.

About 30 minutes into baking the pie, I noticed the edges starting to brown faster than anything else. So, we took the pie out of the oven and covered the crust with foil. This was a lot harder to do than we anticipated because it was really, really hot! If you have a pair of Ove Gloves, you’d probably be far more successful than we were. We put the pie back in for another 30 minutes, until it seemed to be done. With Danny’s help, I decided done meant firm and slightly browned top, since the crust was already golden.

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as Danny did! :)

Dutch Apple Pie

6-8 Granny Smith apples

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Peel, core, and thinly slice apples.

Erin slicing the apples.

In a bowl, toss the apples, lemon juice, sugar, ¼ cup of flour, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg.

Well-dressed apples! :)

On a floured surface, roll out pie dough and fit it into a deep pie plate. Crimp the overhang. Spoon in the apples.

Sometimes you need to place them individually, not just spoon them in.

In a bowl, whisk 1 cup of flour, light brown sugar, baking soda, salt, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Add the 6 tablespoons of softened butter and rub the mixture until sandy.