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Gingerbread Spice Apple Pie
This is the BEST classic Apple Pie with an elevated flavor from fresh ginger, spices and a touch of molasses for a festive gingerbread taste. Just a simple rolled edge crust makes a beautiful pie, but you can crimp or fork the edges as well. When you see how perfectly sweet and set the filling is, you will believe that this is the best apple pie you've ever had.
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 2 ⅔ cups (380g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoon (45g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground clove
- 1 cup (227g) very cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- ½ cup (120ml) ice cold water
Apple Filling:
- 2 ½ lbs mixed tart and sweet apples about 7-8 apples, such as Granny Smith and Gala/Braeburn/Ida Red/Honey Crisp, peeled and cored (equals 950g peeled and cored sliced apples)
- ½ cup (110g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
- 1 tablespoon (9g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoon (12g) corn starch
- 2 teaspoon (10ml) dark cooking molasses
- 2 teaspoon (10ml) freshly grated ginger
For topping:
- 1 large egg
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Make the pastry. Combine flour, brown sugar, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoon (28g) of butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until it is evenly dispersed and the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs (you can also blend on medium-low speed in a stand mixer for 2 minutes). Add remaining cold butter and rub it in, pressing and smearing it between your thumbs and fingertips to flatten pieces of butter for an instant laminated effect (you can also use the mixer here, but finish with your hands to squeeze and flatten any large pieces of butter). Continue to rub in the fat until it resembles coarse crumbs with some larger oat flake-sized pieces remaining. There should be no dusty flour in the bowl.
- Gradually sprinkle in cold water, one tablespoon at a time, while gently tossing with a fork until the dough is moistened and it clings together in clumps. The dough will hold together when squeezed or pressed when it is ready and it will hold the impressions of your fingers, but it should not form a ball. If you are making this on a humid day, you may not need all of the water, and if you make it on a very dry day, you may need to add another tablespoon of water. Do this part by hand and don’t use the mixer once you add the water since it tends to over-mix in parts.
- Chill the dough. Turn the shaggy mixture out onto a clean surface and bring it together with cupped hands, pressing in loose bits until it is cohesive. Divide it in two, flatten each portion into a disk, wrap well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Make the filling. Slice the peeled apples to ⅛-inch thickness and place them into a large bowl. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, flour and corn starch in a small bowl and stir it together to blend evenly. Add it to the bowl with the apples and toss everything together with a wide spatula until the apples are nicely coated. Stir in grated ginger and molasses.
- Roll the pastry. Dust a work surface lightly with flour and roll one portion of dough out into a circle with ⅛-inch thickness. Rotate the dough and add more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Transfer dough to a deep 8x2-inch round glass baking dish (NOTE: this is not enough crust for a 9-inch pan, so be sure to use a deep 8-inch dish) and fit it into the base and up the sides, letting excess hang over the edges. Refrigerate it while rolling the top crust. Roll the other half into a 12 to 13-inch circle and slice it into 1½-inch strips to make a wide lattice. If you don’t want to make a lattice, simply roll it out into a circle the same way you did for the bottom crust.
- Fill the pie. Spoon the apple mixture into chilled pie crust base, tucking them in gently to fill all the spaces and gaps so the apples lay nice and snug in the crust (this will prevent your pie from shrinking too much as it cools). Weave the strips over the filling, letting the ends hang over the edge and press them down to seal against the edge pastry from the bottom crust. Trim excess dough and then roll it up over the edge to create a thick border crust. Place the pie in the freezer for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bake the pie. Beat egg well with salt until blended in a small bowl and lightly brush the top and edges of the chilled pie with this egg wash. Sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 45-55 minutes longer until the pastry is nicely browned and juices have been bubbling for at least 5 minutes. If your top pie crust becomes heavily browned after 30 minutes, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over top to cover it and prevent it from getting too dark.
- Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool almost completely for at least 2 hours before slicing. Enjoy as is, or with vanilla ice cream!
