Caramel Apple Pie

This caramel apple pie recipe makes a delightfully spiced pie. When the weather gets cooler, it’s time for apple pie. There’s nothing quite as comforting as a slice of pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This classic apple pie is made even better with the addition of caramel sauce. It’s in the apple pie filling and drizzled over the top of the pie at the end too.

The apple filling

The fillings for the pie are like a traditional apple pie, but with caramel sauce to bring sweetness and caramel flavor to the apples. I add it to this caramel apple crisp too!

The best apples to use in a pie like this are tart apples that can hold their shape well when they are baked. Apple pie is baked for a really long time to ensure that the crust is properly cooked and the filling is set. Therefore you need an apple that doesn’t turn to mush when baked for a long time.

Some of the best varieties of apples for apple pie are

• Granny smith – This green-skinned apple is tart and crisp. I like to use half granny smith apples then mix in a couple of sweeter apple types too.
• Braeburn – Crisp and sweet, this apple holds its shape well when baked.
• Golden Delicious – This apple variety is very flavorful in a pie.

The spices

You’ll find the traditional apple pie spices in this recipe, but with the addition of a little ground cardamom too. Cardamom’s citrus flavors bring the perfect balance of flavor with the apples and the rest of the spices. The spices used are:

• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Ginger
• Cloves
• Cardamom

The caramel sauce

Caramel sauce makes this pie extra special, especially if it’s a buttery homemade caramel sauce. You can use salted caramel sauce too. Homemade caramel sauce is easy to make, and you only need 4 ingredients: granulated sugar, butter, heavy cream, and salt.

If you don’t feel like making your own, storebought caramel sauce can be used too. The sauce is drizzled on the top of the apples of the unbaked pie, and also over the pie when it’s time to serve.

You could also make a spiced version! Check out this spiced caramel sauce.

The flaky pie crust

The buttery pie crust recipe for this apple pie is this all-butter homemade pie crust. It makes the perfect pie crust, enough for a 9-inch double crust pie, which is what this apple recipe needs. It’s super easy to make but has an extra step of laminating the dough to bring it together.

All this means is that the dough is rolled into a rectangle, folded like a pamphlet, and rolled again. This gives the dough layers and it makes an extra flaky crust. It’s well worth that extra little step.

Always keep the dough cool when using it so the butter doesn’t melt. A flaky crust relies on the butter pieces in the butter pie crust dough to stay cold until they hit the hot oven. In the oven, the heat causes the water to evaporate quickly in the butter, creating little air pockets in the crust.

The pie dough can be made well in advance and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months before you need it.

The method

The pastry

Begin by chopping cold butter into small cubes.

To a large mixing bowl or bowl of a food processor, add the flour, white sugar, and salt and mix them together with a fork or spatula. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour. 

Pulse the food processor, or use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into small pieces into the flour. The end result should be like coarse bread crumbs with a few pea-sized butter pieces in the mix. If the butter is melting at any point, place the bowl in the refrigerator.

Pour the lemon juice or vinegar over the dough and some of the ice water. Drizzle it in slowly, about a tablespoon worth at a time.

Pulse the food processor or use your hands to combine the dough and add in as much chilled water as needed. Add any extra water in slowly, a tablespoon at a time. It should hold together easily when pressed but not be sticky. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water.

On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rough 6x10inch/15x25cm rectangle. Fold the bottom ⅓ of the dough up to the middle, then fold the top ⅓ of the dough over top to make a pamphlet shape. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat this process once more.

Once finished rolling, cut the pastry dough into two equal pieces. Use your cupped hands to gently shape the pastry into two flat discs. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and let it chill for at least 2 hours.

The filling

Peel and core the apples. Use a sharp knife to slice the apples into equal 1/4 – 1/8 inch slices. Add the apple slices to a bowl and squeeze over lemon juice, spices, sugar, and all-purpose flour.

Assembling the pie

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one of the dough discs into a 12-inch circle and drape it over a 9-inch pie pan, leaving an overhang. 

Add the apples to the prepared pie dish. You can mound them up a bit in the middle of the pie to make them fit.

Drizzle the top of the apples with the caramel sauce.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the second disc of pastry into a 12-inch circle. You can simply drape this second layer of the pie, or create a lattice pie crust. If you’re not making a lattice top, add 2-3 slits in the top of the pastry to allow steam to escape when baking.

Lattice crust

Cut dough into 10-12 strips of dough, depending on how wide strips you prefer. Lay 5-6 strips vertically on top of the pie. The longest strips will go in the middle of the pie, and the shorter strips can go on the ends.

Fold back every second strip halfway. Lay one of the unused strips horizontally in the middle of the pie. Lay it over top of the strips that haven’t been folded back. Unfold the folded strips so they cover the horizontal strip.

Repeat this now but with the other vertical strips. Fold them back and add a horizontal strip, to create a weaved pattern. Continue with the remaining strips until the whole pie is covered.

Cut off the uneven excess dough overhang. Leave enough overhang so you can roll and pinch together the top crust and bottom crust of the pie. Flute the edges of the pastry with your fingers.

Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Baking

Bake the pie at 425°F/220°C for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375°F/190°C and continue baking for a further 50-60 minutes until the apples are soft and the filling is bubbling.

If the pie crust is browning too much at the end, loosely cover with aluminum foil.