Skillets are for more than frying: Skillet Apple Pie

One Sunday when I was at my parents’ house during the holidays, my mom made skillet apple pie. She’d seen the recipe in a magazine and decided to try it one day and it had quickly become a family favorite—well, for most of the family. Because I live in Nashville, I hadn’t gotten to try my mom’s take on the skillet apple pie, but I had eaten it in restaurants.

But understand this: homemade (when done right) is so, so, so much better than store-bought or reheated from frozen (which is what a lot of chain restaurants do).

Last week, I bought a bunch of apples, mostly because I ran in to Aldi’s to stock up on some canned goods, the apples were there, it was a good price, and I’d been wanting fried apples. I had a few left over and as I was driving home yesterday decided I’d do something nice for myself and make an apple pie. But were four apples enough?

I decided to call the expert and ask my mom. She said it would probably be OK (though probably a little less than ideal) as long as they weren’t tiny. Then, she reminded me of the cast iron skillet and recipe for skillet apple pie she’d given me (and my sis-in-law) for Christmas.

And the idea was born.

So, I headed to the store to buy pie crust (the recipe calls for pre-made; yes, I know how to make from scratch pie crust!) and made it happen. The result was delicious and a nice way to carve out some peace in a busy week.

With no further ado, let me present the recipe with my adjustments. It’s based off the original Southern Living recipe, which you can find here.

Skillet Apple Pie4-6 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into bite sized pieces (I think the recipe says wedges, but I don’t like huge chunks.) 1 tsp. cinnamon (give or take, I tend not to measure cinnamon) 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 pkg. pie crusts, pre-made Extra sugar and/or egg whites for topping the crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On the stove top, melt the butter in your skillet.

2. Core, peel, and chop the apples. Toss with cinnamon and 3/4 cup sugar and set aside for a bit.

3. Add the packed brown sugar to the skillet and let it melt down into a beautiful brown syrup of deliciousness. I pondered adding just a touch of apple juice to this, but resisted. I still think it would be nice.

4. When the brown sugar has dissolved and the butter is completely melted, remove the skillet from heat. Place one of the pre-made piecrusts on top of the syrup.

5. Pour the apples on top of the bottom crust.

6. Top with the remaining crust and pinch the edges together. Cut 4-5 slits in the top to vent the pie, then brush with egg whites (if so desired) and sprinkle a little sugar over the top crust.

7. Bake in the 350-degree oven for an hour to 1 1/2 hours. The recipe suggested shielding the crust with aluminum foil in the last 10 minutes so that it doesn’t get too brown, but since I didn’t have any, I didn’t do that. My oven only needed right at an hour to get the pie done, so you’ll need to watch the pie and remove it when the top starts getting very brown.

8. Let the pie sit for about 20-30 minutes, if you can. It’s really hot when you first take it out of the oven, especially with that brown sugar syrup, so unless you want to burn the lips off your face, wait a bit. But do enjoy with a little vanilla ice cream! It’s DELICIOUS!!! And EASY!!!!

#applepie #cooking #recipe #skilletapplepie