Pie Crust: 1 hours 20 minutes
Apple Prep: 45 minutes
Bake Time: 50-60 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Ok, I love apple pie. I love all things baked apple. I also know that due to my self-diagnosed perfectionism, pies take me a long time to make. And that’s why I love this Country Apple Tart. It’s all the goodness of the apple pie in a more “rustic” form. I use my all-butter pie crust with a filling of wonderful apples, sugar and cinnamon. And if you have extra pie dough you can cute out shapes to decorate the top! Try stars for 4th of July, maple leaves for the Fall, or snowflakes for winter. Remember – apple pie is a 4 season dessert!
Ingredients
- Half recipe of my all-butter pie crust
- 4 apples
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
- Juice from 1 lemon wedge
- 1 egg for egg wash
- 3 teaspoons of cane sugar
- All purpose flour for dusting
Directions
- Skin, core and cut 4 baking apples into ⅛” wedges
- Combine apples with granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, melted butter, salt and lemon juice. Set aside.
- Roll pie dough into a ⅛” thickness circle on a floured surface.
- Place the dough onto a parchment paper that will fit on your baking sheet.
- Spoon applies into the middle of the dough leaving about 2” of open dough around the edge of the circle
- Close your tart by folding the sides up and on top of the apples, leaving a circle of apple exposed.
- Transfer parchment and tart onto a baking sheet.
- Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes (longer never hurts)
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Remove your tart from the refrigerator and use the egg wash generously on top. Then sprinkle with cane sugar.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Enjoy warm, cold or room temperature. Enjoy plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.
- 2-½ cups of all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (very cold butter)
- ¼-½ cup of ice cold water
- 1 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar
A couple key points about making pie crust at home – besides that it is so much more delicious than store bought, even though there are some great options out there when you’re in a rush! Your butter and water need to be COLD. You do not want your butter to melt as you’re working with it. The chunks of butter that you will see in your dough is how you end up with a flakey pie crust. The addition of vinegar helps tenderize the dough and make it softer and I find easier to work with. If you’re missing vinegar in the house – you can definitely make this recipe without and still be successful. Lastly, I usually use a pastry cutter, but a food processor would also work well and quickly.
- Add flour, sugar and salt to a large bowl.
- Add 1 cup of cubed and very cold butter.
- Cut the butter and dry ingredients together with a pastry cutter or food processor until you obtain the consistency of peas
- Add vinegar to your ice water and combine.
- Add water/vinegar mixture to the dough 2 tablespoons at a time. You do not want very wet dough. You want just enough water to bring the dough together.
- Once you achieve this, transfer the dough to a flat surface to work it into a rectangle. Depending on the recipes I have in the pipeline, I usually separate the dough into 2 or 3 flat discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using. Remember – this dough should go into the oven cold!
- Lastly, you this dough freezes quite well, just thaw in the refrigerator before using.
