Sweet Things
American farmers are some of the most passionate, creative and hardworking souls in our country. You can almost taste these characteristics in the folks at Stone Hollow Farmstead, a family business that has grown out of a desire to nurture others through their natural love of the land. On their farm they grow, harvest, and produce some of our country's finest fruits and vegetable and have found a way for all that goodness to land on pantry shelves from coast to coast. One of our perennial favorites, the apple pie filling, is also the hardest to come by because it sells out so fast. Last year we made Christmas tree hand pies with it and on the heels of its overwhelming success, we decided to try it in a pie we make each Thanksgiving: an apple pie with all sorts of leaves cut from the top circle of pie dough. The results were so delicious that we decided to share the recipe with you--tough to call a recipe but it was to our chagrin even better than any homemade filling we have ever tried. All our time was spent trying out different leaf shapes and testing pie doughs. We hope you stock up and enjoy this all-American apple pie year round!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (300 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2.5 sticks unsalted European butter (288 grams), cold and cut into 1/4" cubes
- 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
- 2 jars (32 ounces each) Stone Hollow Farmstead Apple Pie Filling
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup sugar
Directions
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together.
- Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms pea-size pieces.
- Slowly add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, through the feeding tube and pulse just until the dough comes together. The dough should not be wet, just moist.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather the dough into a ball. Divide in half and flatten each half of the dough into a disk. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Pour the liquid from the two jars of apple pie filling into a small saucepan. Place over medium heat. Once the filling is warm add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and stir to incorporate making certain there are no lumps. You are looking for a consistency that is slightly thicker than syrup. Add the remaining cornstarch and cook until the liquidis no longer runny, the longer the liquid cooks the thicker and more viscose it will become.
- Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll one pie disc out to 1/4" thick. Use leaf shaped cookie cutters to cut out as many leaves as possible. Transfer the leaves to a parchment lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate.
- Roll the other ball of the pie crust out on a lightly floured surface to fit the pie plate. Transfer to the pie dish. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Toss the apples back into the liquid, stir to incorporate, and pour the apple mixture into the bottom crust until they are about 1" over the top of pie plate all around--the apples will shrink (not a lot) and you may need fewer than two jars of apples depending on the depth of your pie plate. Place the crust leaves all over the top of the apples covering the entire top.
- Make an egg wash by whisking an egg and 1 tablespoon water vigorously. Lightly brush each pie crust leaf with the egg wash and finish by sprinkling sugar over each leaf.
- Place the pie on a half sheet baking tray and put in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F., and bake until the interior is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven to a wire baking rack and let the pie cool before serving.
Kitchen Notes
The pie dough may be refrigerated up to two days or frozen for up to one month. Refrigerate any leftover apple filling and toss over a dutch baby, or pork chops with a bit of rosemary. The better the butter, the better the crust. We use Plugra European or Kerry Gold butter for the flakiest crust.