Brown Butter Apple Pie
An all-butter crust and an apple filling tossed in nutty brown butter. The pie that shows up at every holiday.
My grandmother never measured anything for her pie crust, which made learning it a little tricky. This is my best attempt at writing down what her hands knew.
The brown butter is my addition. She would have approved, I think.
Sweets · Some practice
Brown Butter Apple Pie
An all-butter crust and an apple filling tossed in nutty brown butter. The pie that shows up at every holiday.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 10 min
- Rest
- 4 hr
- Total
- 5 hr 55 min
- Makes
- 8 slices
Scaled from the original 8 slices. Pan sizes and bake times may need a little nudge.
Ingredients
For the crust
For the filling
Method
Whisk the flour, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter until the pieces are pea-sized, then drizzle in ice water until the dough just holds together.
Split it into two discs, wrap, and chill at least an hour.
Brown the butter for the filling in a skillet until it smells nutty and the bits turn toasty. Let it cool a bit.
Toss the apples with the brown butter, brown sugar, flour, spices and lemon juice.
Heat the oven to 400°F. Roll one disc into the pie plate, pile in the apples, and top with the second crust. Crimp, cut vents, and brush with egg.
Bake 20 minutes, then drop to 350°F and bake 45 to 50 minutes more, until the juices bubble through the vents.
Cool at least 3 hours so the filling sets.
Tip: tap a number to tick off a step. Timers keep running while you scroll.
Notes, tips & swaps
- Use a mix of apples. I like half Honeycrisp, half Granny Smith.
- Make the crust up to 3 days ahead, or freeze the discs for a month.
Tools I used
10-inch cast iron skilletCornbread, roast chicken, biscuits. It only gets better the more you use it.Shop at Amazon (opens in a new tab)Bench scraperThe cheapest tool in my kitchen and the one I'd miss most. Shapes dough, cleans the counter.Shop at Amazon (opens in a new tab)
Big maple cutting boardBig enough to carve a chicken or roll out pie crust. Oil it once a month.Shop at Etsy (opens in a new tab)Some of these are affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only share things I actually use. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. More about this
