Cast Iron Skillet Apple Pie

We are now into the fall season and here in Western New York, we have plenty of beautiful colors all over the trees. It's time to fill the house with those wonderful aromas of cinnamon and spice. Baking this cast iron skillet apple pie did just that.

I love cooking with my cast iron skillet. This iron skillet apple pie is so easy to make, and I'm sure it will be a family favorite.

With pie crust made from scratch and, a layer of brown sugar and melted butter on the bottom of the skillet that bakes into the pie crust, makes this one a fall favorite.

Cast Iron Skillet Apple Pie: Crust 

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup Crisco (Cold)

6 to 8 tablespoons of Ice Water

You can make your own pie crust or buy it already made. I made my own by adding the flour, and the Crisco (Cold and cut into small pieces) into my KitchenAid mixing bowl.

Using the flat bar I turned it on low speed and began adding the cold water one tablespoon at a time until the dough was formed.

Then, I divided the dough into two equal pieces. I wrapped them and set them in the refrigerator while I prepared the apples.

Cast Iron Skillet Apple Pie: Filling

4 large Granny Smith Apples (Peeled, cored, and sliced)

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

I mixed all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then, placed it in the refrigerator while I prepared my cast iron skillet and the pie crust.

For the bottom of the cast iron skillet:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

Melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in and spread the brown sugar until it is absorbed and covers the bottom of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Remove it from the heat and roll out your dough. It's best to roll out the pie crust between wax paper or parchment paper.

Place the bottom pie crust over the brown sugar mixture in the skillet. Fill the skillet with the apple mixture. Then place the top crust and form the edges together. 

Cut 4 to 6 slits in the top of the pie crust. I brushed the top with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Then sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon on top. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

The crust was flakey and tender and the filling was sweet, with a nice buttery, brown sugar bottom. If you like your apple pie on the tart side, cut back on the sugar or eliminate the brown sugar in the filling.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it!

You might also like my Muffin Tin Apple Pies

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Muffin Tin Apple Pie

Muffin Tin Apple Pie

The nights are starting to get cooler and perfect for our family campfires. We had our usual fire on Friday night and I had some apple pie filling left over from our Mountain Pies. It wasn't enough to make a whole pie but I didn't want to waste it, so I made these muffin tin apple pies.

I had this idea to make some mini apple pies and decided to use muffin tins. Also, I wanted to use a different pie crust, I follow Connie Murray @Happybellyfoodie.com.

Back in May of this year, Connie posted this recipe, Butter Crust Chicken Pot Pie. Ever since I read this post I've wanted to try her pie crust recipe so here was my opportunity.

When you read Connie's recipe you'll see that she made the crust in a food processor using chilled butter. I used a  KitchenAid stand mixer so I thought it best to have the butter at room temperature.

Other than that I followed her instructions perfectly and what a wonderful crust this makes, you can get this recipe by clicking the above link for her Chicken Pot Pie, and enjoy so many more of her amazing recipes.

Here is how I made these muffin tin apple pies: 

After rolling the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick I used a glass top with a 3 1/2 inch diameter to cut perfect circles.

Norpro Wood Pastry/Pizza Roller

To roll out my dough I use this handy Norpro Pastry/Pizza dough roller. I think this handy tool gives you much more control than using a rolling pin.

I've used one of these for many years and it really makes rolling out your pastry and pizza dough an easy task.

Then I greased a muffin tin and carefully pressed the dough into the bottom and up the sides.

I filled these with my apple mixture, oh and by the way I added 1 tablespoon of sugar and sprinkled some cinnamon into the apples while I made the pie crust. Then I cut tops for these using a 2 1/2 inch glass top and pressed them together. Adding a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon on top, then cut two slices on the top of each one as a vent.

These baked at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until the crust was golden brown. They came out of the muffin tins very easily and cooled on a wire rack.

Connie's pie crust recipe is buttery, flaky and melts in your mouth, Thank You, Connie.

As always Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!

Sam's Apple Pie

Every fall season I get an itch to bake an apple pie, so I decided to go ahead and bake one of my favorites. I call this one Sam's Apple Pie, actually, apple pie is great any time of the year, it just seems fitting when the apples are in season.

I started off by making the pie crust, and since I'm no expert I did this according to my KitchenAid instructions and recipes.

Here is what you need for the pie crust:

2-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, well chilled
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, again well chilled
5 to 6 tablespoons of cold water

I added the flour and salt into my mixing bowl, then attached the flat beater and turned it on low for about 10 seconds.
I cut the shortening and butter into small pieces, added them to the flour, turned on low speed for about one minute until I saw the mixture starting to form little clumps.
Keeping the mixer on low speed I added the cold water one tablespoon at a time until the pie crust formed into a ball.
I cut it into two equal pieces, wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator while I prepared the apples.

My pie crust ready to be cut in half

Now that my pie crust was made it was time to get the apples ready. I used five nice sized Granny Smith apples. I peeled, cored and sliced my apples and placed them in a large bowl. I'm not that particular, I sliced the apples thin but they didn't have to be all the same size. This is enough pie crust for a bottom and top of a 9-inch pie plate.

Once the apples are in the bowl here is what you need:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch (I used flour)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Add all of these on top of the sliced apples and mix well using a large spoon. Now that the apples are mixed place them in the refrigerator while you roll out the pie crust.

Mixed apples in the bowl

Next, I rolled out my pie crust between two pieces of wax paper and carefully lined the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Make sure you press it firmly to the bottom and sides, of the pie plate to work out any air bubbles.

Pie crust in pie plate

Next, I added 4 to 5 cups of the sliced seasoned apples into the pie plate, make sure you get the juice from the bottom of the bowl.

Now I added the top, and cut about a three-inch cross in the center, and one-inch cross at every point and one in between. This allows the steam to release.

I lightly brushed the top with milk and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top. Place the pie on a cookie sheet just in case there are any spills, and mine always does, so it's best to be safe.

Time for baking instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
Cover the top of the pie with tin foil, and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes remove the tin foil, lower the oven to 375 degrees
Continue to bake for another 45-50 minutes

 Just out of the oven

 I could have really got away with three Granny Apples for this pie, as I had some leftover. So enjoy my Apple Crisp that I made with the leftover apples.

Well, it may not be the prettiest pie or win any contests, but it is oh so good. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy.