Talk about indulgent and over the top delicious! This is one of those shut the front door type of desserts. Showstopper apple pie! Delicious honeycrisp apples baked in a tender buttery and flaky crust with a salted caramel topping. Are you drooling yet? My mouth waters just thinking about this pie.
HOW TO MAKE THE PIE
1) Start by making my favorite Sweet Pastry Crust and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes to relax the gluten and solidify the fat. This will ensure a flaky crust. Then you can roll out, insert in your pie dish, trim and crimp. I like to put it back in the refrigerator while I make the filling. In a pinch you can also use store bought pie dough.
Note: My Sweet Pastry Crust recipe yields two 10-inch pie crusts, but you only need one for this pie. You can refrigerate the other one up to 3 days or freeze up to 6 months. Worth the effort every time.
2) Make the crumb topping. In a mixing bowl combine light brown sugar, all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, kosher salt and ground nutmeg. Add room temperature butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork until you don’t see any flour and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Note: If you like oats, you can add them into the flour mixture before cutting in the butter.
3) Make the apple pie filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine six large honeycrisp apples that have been peel, cored and thinly sliced. Toss to combine with lemon and orange juices to prevent browning. Sprinkle sugar, all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, kosher salt, ground nutmeg and orange zest. Toss everything to combine.
Transfer the apples to the sweet pie crust and make sure they are even and there are no gaps in the pie. Using your hands, grab small amounts of the crumb topping and evenly distribute over the apples, covering the apples. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Tent with foil to prevent burning, reduce the temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes. Pour warm salted caramel sauce over pie just before serving. Trade Joe’s makes a delicious Fleur de Sal Caramel Sauce or you can make my Spiced Rum Sauce.
While salted caramel isn’t my favorite, I do have family members that just love caramel sauce. When I saw Inspire by Charm post a honeycrisp apple pie with salted caramel topping, I knew I had to make my own. It looked too inviting!
Salted Caramel Honeycrisp Apple Pie
A showstopper apple pie! Delicious honeycrisp apples in a buttery and flaky crust, topped with a crumb topping and drizzled with salted caramel. Perfection!
Ingredients
SWEET PASTRY CRUST
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and very cold prefer Plugra or Kerrygold butter
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening, cubed and very cold
- 3 cups all-purpose flour prefer White Lily brand
- 1 ½ Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt prefer Diamond brand
- 6-8 Tablespoons ice cold water
CRUMB TOPPING
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup oats, optional
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
- pinch kosher salt prefer Diamond brand
- ¾ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
HONEYCRISP APPLE PIE FILLING
- 6 large honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon fresh orange juice
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt prefer Diamond brand
- pinch nutmeg
- zest of half navel orange
- Salted Caramel Sauce, store bought like Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375°F and place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Grease a 10-inch pie tin. Set aside.
Optional: Line the bottom of the oven with foil or place a cookie sheet in the lower oven rack to catch any drippings.
MAKING THE SWEET PASTRY CRUST
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Cube butter and shortening and return to the refrigerator until ready to use.
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In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and kosher salt. Pulse a few times to combine well. Add cold butter and shortening and pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is pea size.
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Simultaneously pulse the flour while slowly pouring ice cold water down the feed tube. The dough will come together and form a ball.
Note: You may not need all the water, start with 6 Tablespoons and stop as soon as the dough forms a ball.
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Dump onto a lightly floured bench and evenly divide in two. Shape each section into a flat disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes before using. Yields 2 10-inch crusts.
Note: Dough will keep 3 days in fridge or 6 months in freezer.
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Place disc on a well floured surface. Using a well floured rolling pin, roll from the center toward the edges, making quarter turns until disc is 10 inches in diameter. Transfer to greased pie tin and refrigerate until ready to use.
MAKING THE CRUMB TOPPING
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In a mixing bowl, whisk together light brown sugar, all-purpose flour, oats (optional), ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and kosher salt. Add butter and cut butter into the flour mixture with a fork until you don't see any flour and it resembles coarse crumbs. Fold in chopped nuts (optional) and refrigerate until use.
MAKING THE APPLE FILLING
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Peel, core and thinly slice six honeycrisp apples and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon and orange juices, toss with a spatula to coat to prevent browning.
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Sprinkle granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, kosher salt, nutmeg and orange zest over the apples. Toss with spatula to combine well and ensure all the slices are coated evenly.
ASSEMBLING THE PIE
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Pour apple pie filling into the prepared and refrigerated sweet pastry crust. Arrange apples so they are evenly distributed and fill any gaps.
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Using your hands, grab small handfuls of the coarse crumb mixture and evenly distribute over the pie.
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Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Cover the edges of the pie with foil and loosely tent the top to prevent over browning while the apples cook. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 45 minutes.
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Remove from oven and allow pie to rest for 20-30 minutes before serving.
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Pour warm salted caramel sauce and serve.
Recipe Notes
Can also be served with my Spiced Rum Sauce.
