Paula's Apple Pie Filling

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, 2008

Show: Paula's PartyEpisode: Gotta See TV Party

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (43)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(43)

Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
8 servings

Times:

Prep: 40 min
Inactive Prep: 20 min
Cook: 45 min
Total:: 1 hr 45 min

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Ingredients

3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
7 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions

Paula's Perfect Pie Crust, recipe follows

3 tablespoons butter, diced
Egg wash, for brushing
Sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.

Set aside. Roll out chilled dough into 2 circles and use 1 round to line a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the other round.

Mound the apple and sugar mixture into the pie pan lined with dough. Dot with the cubed butter.

Using a pastry cutter, cut an even number of strips from the remaining rolled out dough. Transfer every other strip to the pie top and weave in the lattice by folding every other strip back onto itself and laying another strip perpendicularly. Fold the strips back across and repeat until completed.

Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Trim the overhanging dough and crimp edges.

Bake pie for 45 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

Paula's Perfect Pie Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold
12 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and break it up with your hands as you start to coat it all up with the flour. Add the cold butter cubes and work it into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter. Work it quickly, so the butter doesn't get too soft, until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together forming a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball.

When it comes together stop working it otherwise the dough will get over-worked and tough. Divide the dough in half and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. On a floured surface roll each disk out into a 10 to 11-inch circle to make a 9-inch pie.

Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Paula's Apple Pie Filling
Liz Spring, TX 11-25-2009
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I am Thankful for Paula Dean
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Thank you so much Paula I have made your apple pie every holiday for the last 3 or 4 years and I have NEVER had a bad pie. I... love to bake and love trying all your sweets. My mom and I love you. You are a blessing.. Thank you !!!Read more
recipe Paula's Apple Pie Filling
Krysten Watertown, MA 11-25-2009
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Great recipe- don't pay attention to negative comments!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

this pie is awesome when basic baking common sense is used. i thought everyone knew that if something starts to look like... its getting a little dark on the top to put foil over it... whether its pie, a casserole, anything baking in the oven. 450 is a little high, but again, if you keep foil on the top/edges up until the last 10-20 mins, it should be fine. i baked mine around 400-425. i do end up putting foil on the top because of where my racks are the bottom doesnt get cooked as fast. next time i will be shifting them further down, closer to the floor, to make sure it is cooked more. i dont mind a softer crust on the bottom, but for thanksgiving where other people will be eating it, i will make sure its cooked more. mcintosh or mcoun apples are great! they are the only apples i bake with and the only ones my mother baked with. they do not turn to mush unless you over bake the pie or your slices are too thin. i try to make it so each apple slice is a good bite by itself. i feel like they have the best taste for a pie. i also dont bake it for more than an hour and a half (since the temp is lower than 450 i do keep it in for more than 45 mins), after an hour the apples are quaranteed to be cooked so at that point its just making sure the crust is cooked. as for the lemon goes, i would toss the apple slices in only enough to just coat them as i peeled and sliced them and put into a bowl to slow down the discoloring. i did not add any zest, its not necessary unless you like more of a lemon taste. it really just depends on personal taste. i used 1/2c flour instead of 1/4c to be on the safe side as far as consistency goes. i dont want a soupy pie and if my apples happen to be more on the juicy side, id rather be safe than sorry. people need to cut paula some slack. not everyone can bake, this recipe is excellent, again, if you follow some basic baking common sense/knowledge regarding foil, this pie will come out great everytime. Read more
recipe Paula's Apple Pie Filling
Brandy Clever, MO 11-23-2009
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Just a thought.
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I am just wondering if the people who commented on the bad lemon taste know how to properly zest a lemon? I also think the... 450 degree temperature is a typo. Read more
recipe Paula's Apple Pie Filling
Sandy Seguin, TX 11-10-2009
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Oven Temperature All Wrong - Way Too Hot
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

I cooked my apple pie at the 450 degrees as per the recipe. My pie was completely burned after 20 minutes. I think someone... may a typing error, maybe should have been 350 degrees. RUINED MY PIE.Read more
recipe Paula's Apple Pie Filling
Hedy Orland Park, IL 10-24-2009
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Too high of heat - No description of apples
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I usually bake my pies at 400 F for about an hour. I keep checking after the first half hour. 450 F would be a killer in my... oven that has a stable temperature. Paula, because you have many new cooks trying your recipes, you should definitely give choices of proper apples to use. I personally do not like flour as a thickener; minute tapioca (about 1/3 cup) is much better. Also, I use lemon juice and some zest in blueberry pies but in apple pies, it is silly. Use some tart apples if you want a tangy filling and sweet apples if you don't. I always like to use a few different kinds of baking apples to add some interest to the filling. Apple pie should not taste like lemon, ever.Read more
recipe Paula's Apple Pie Filling
Jamie Houston, TX 10-13-2009
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Temp is way too high
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

I really wish I had read the reviews first. The 450 degree oven was way too hot and my crust burned 15 mins in The only thing... I can do is let it cool and make a new crust. I'm so very irritated since this is the first time I have ever made apple pie. Hopefully I can save the filling and put it in a new crustRead more