Mile High Deep Dish Apple Pie

Our Best Thanksgiving Pies Ever from Simply Recipes

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Mile High Apple Pie

Apple season means apple pie, and my favorite are these mile-high, deep apple pies that are filled with apples that aren’t overly sweet and have a flaky buttery crust. It’s a nice crust to apples ratio for those who prefer apples to crust.

How to make deep dish apple pie

The problem with baking extra thick apple pies is that the apples shrink as they bake! This leaves a gap between the crust and the apples that usually collapses as they cool. What to do?

The trick is to gently cook the apples first so they reduce before going into the pie. I decided on this recipe after trying different approaches to making mile-high apple pies.

Substituting almond flour for some of the flour, the crust comes from an apple pie recipe in Oprah Magazine. I first learned about the method of cooking the apples first for a deep dish apple pie in Cooks Illustrated.

For more information on which apple varieties are best for baking, check out our guide to apples.

Best toppings for apple pie

Like apple pie? Here are more great apple pie recipes

apple slice cake
Classic apple pie
Sour cream apple pie
Apple cranberry currant crumble cake

Looking for more Thanksgiving Pie ideas?

Thanksgiving Pies from Simply Recipes

preparation time
25 minutes

cooking time
90 minutes

make homemade crust
2 hours

total time
3 hrs 55 mins

portions
6
up to 8 servings

Crust:

2 cups all purpose flourplus extra for rolling
1/2 Cup almond flour or finely ground blanched almonds
16 tablespoon (2 sticks) unsalted buttervery cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon Salt
1 heaped teaspoon Brown sugar
3 to 6 tablespoon fat-free milkvery cold
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 big egg yolk

Filling:

1/2 Cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinammon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
5 lb mixed apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Jonagold, Pippin, Braeburn, Cortland, McIntosh), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated Lemon peel
2 tablespoon unsalted butter

food processor

Prepare the cake dough for the base:

In a food processor, combine and pulse the flour, almonds, salt and brown sugar.

Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times until mixture resembles coarse flour.

Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse until mixture starts to clump. Remove the dough from the machine and shape into 2 discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Cook apples:

While the pie crust is cooling, start cooking the apples. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon. Add apples and lemon zest and mix.

Place the apples in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven and cook, covered, over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the apples are just tender when pierced with a fork but still holding their shape — about 15 to 20 minutes (but not until the apples turn into applesauce.

Place apples in a colander over a bowl to drain excess liquid. Drain off as much juice as possible.

Spread out on a baking sheet and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
Preheat oven:

to 425°F using a baking sheet on a rack on the lowest level of the oven.
Roll out the bottom dough:

While the apples are cooling and draining, remove a slice of crust from the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on the disc.

Using a rolling pin, roll out into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface; about 1/8 inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check that the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking. Fold carefully in half.

Place on a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the crease with the center of the pan. Unfold carefully and press down to line the cake tin with the batter.
Add filling:

Pour the apple filling into the batter-lined cake pan. Drizzle with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Spread with butter.
Roll out the top dough, lay it over the apples, cut off the edges and press:

Roll out the second sheet of dough as before. Carefully invert the apples in the pie. Firmly press the top and bottom of the dough rounds together. Cut off excess dough with kitchen scissors, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang.

Fold the dough under itself so that the edge of the fold is flush with the edge of the pan. Roll up the edges with your thumb and forefinger or press down with a fork.
Score the top, brush with egg yolk:

Score the top of the cake with four 2-inch slits to allow steam to escape from the cake. Whisk the egg yolk with the cream and brush the top of the cake with a pastry brush.
Bake:

Place cake on preheated baking sheet (to catch juice that may spill out of cake while baking). Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and cook for another 50 to 60 minutes or more, until the filling is bubbling in the center and the crust is golden brown.
Cool:

Let cool on a wire rack for 1 1/2 hours. Cut into pieces and serve with vanilla ice cream.