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salted caramel apple pie

Dad’s Salted Caramel Apple Pie

This super special pie is my Dad’s recipe, amped up a notch with salted caramel! Salted Caramel Apple Pie is perfectly flavored with a golden, flaky butter crust. A must-have at any Thanksgiving table.

  • Yield: 8 pie, 12 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the all-butter pie crust:

  • 1 cup salted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (I like to use European butter)
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup ice water (ice strained out)
  • 1 egg, whisked
  • 2 tbsp water
  • Demerara sugar for topping (optional)

For the salted caramel:

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp corn syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

For the apple filling:

  • 5 granny smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 macintosh apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup salted caramel (recipe above, or substitute 1/2 cup sugar +3 tbsp butter chunked + pinch salt)

Instructions

  1. Make your pie crust dough. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together AP flour and sugar. Add cubed cold butter, mixing with your hands, until butter pieces are almond-sized and even dispersed in the flour. Add ice water and apple cider vinegar and continue mixing with fingers until loosely incorporated. 
  2. Evenly divide pie dough into 2 portions, shape into balls, and flatten into disks. Cover in plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes, and up to 3 days. I like to let them chill overnight.
  3. Make your salted vanilla bean caramel. Mix together heavy cream and vanilla bean paste in a heatproof bowl, and warm for 30 secs-1 min in the microwave. Set aside.
  4. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Heat on medium-high, whisking for a minute or two until the sugar begins to melt. Once the mixture gets hot and starts to boil, stop mixing immediately. Watch this mixture until it becomes amber in color and smells toasty. As soon as this happens, add your warm heavy cream mixture, whisking vigorously. The caramel will bubble up aggressively so be ready! Remove from heat, add butter and salt, and continue to whisk until smooth. Pour hot caramel into a heatproof container and allow to cool while you assemble your pie.
  5. Turn out one pie dough disk onto a heavily floured work surface and roll it out into a circle roughly 2-3 inches wider than your pie dish. Carefully transfer to the pie dish. Set aside in the fridge.
  6. Make your filling. In a large bowl, toss together sliced apples, cinnamon, lemon juice, cornstarch, flour, and sugar. Arrange apple slices on your bottom crust in the pie dish, making concentric circles and nestled layers. Stack the apples high. 
  7. Drizzle 1 cup of the salted caramel you made overtop of your apples in the pie. They will bake into the filling in the oven.
  8. Roll out your remaining pie crust and cover your apples with it, crimping the edges to create a seal and encourage steaming within the pie. Cut a couple slits in the middle of the top pie crust for venting purposes.
  9. In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg with 2 tbsp water to create an egg wash. Brush this egg wash over the top pie crust, being generous. Sprinkle well with coarse sanding sugar or my favorite, Demerara sugar.
  10. Put your whole pie in the freezer for 30 mins-1 hour. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while the pie chills.
  11. Create a foil collar by folding a loooong strip of foil 2-3 times and wrapping the foil around the edge of the pie. This will allow you to control browning on the edges of the pie.
  12. Bake your pie on the bottom rack of the oven, with a sheet pan below it to catch drippings, at 350 degrees for 1 hour, removing the foil collar after 30 minutes. The pie will be golden brown on top and bubble/ooze caramel apple filling when done. Allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for at least 30 mins-1 hour prior to serving.
  13. Drizzle with the remaining salted caramel and serve a la mode if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Cinnamon can be substituted for other fall spices if you wish. I like to use my chai spice blend from time to time.
  • This pie can be made in conventional pie dish, 10 inch tart pan, or deep dish pie dish.
  • Pie keeps well at room temp or refridgerated for 3-4 days after making.
  • European butter, such as Kerrygold, is preferred for my flaky pie crust as it has a higher fat and lower water content and yields a richer, flakier crust than conventional American butters.
  • Author: Caroline Crockett
  • Category: dessert, pie