If you want to take your apple pie up a notch, Martha suggests you make her brown butter apple pie. She uses Granny Smith apples in this recipe, and the addition of browned butter and vanilla bean seeds gives the filling a rich, nutty vanilla flavor that’s a little different and altogether delicious. The crust is her go-to, an all-butter homemade pastry you can prep ahead of time. If you’re making this pie for a special meal, we suggest you bake it the morning of or a day ahead as it needs at least six hours to cool down before serving.
Making Brown Butter Apple Pie Ahead
- Pie dough can be made ahead and frozen for up to three months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- The pie dough can be rolled out up to eight hours ahead.
- Pie can be made one day ahead and stored at room temperature.
Directions
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Make brown butter:
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until butter is golden brown and fragrant, about 8 minutes; let cool.
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Toss apples and lemon juice; combine flour, sugars, and vanilla:
Toss together apples and lemon juice in a large bowl. Combine flour, salt, granulated and brown sugars, and vanilla bean seeds in another bowl, breaking up clumps and combining with a fork or fingers.
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Add brown butter to apples;
Mix browned butter into apples. Stir in flour mixture.
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Roll out dough and fit bottom crust into pie plate:
Roll out 1 disk of dough to just under 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface and fit into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Roll out remaining disk of dough to a 13-inch round.
Rolled-out dough can be refrigerated up to 8 hours. (Be sure to let the 13-inch round sit at room temperature until pliable before topping pie, or it will break.)
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Assemble pie and freeze:
Place apples in pie shell, brush edges with water, and cover pie with top crust. Trim excess, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold top edge over bottom crust to seal, and crimp as desired. Cut steam vents in top crust. Freeze pie 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven, egg wash pie and sprinkle with sugar and bake:
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lowest position. Brush pie with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet on floor of oven to catch any drips. Bake pie on lowest rack 15 minutes.
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Reduce oven temperature and bake:
Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and bake until well browned, about 1 hour.
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Tent with foil and continue baking:
Tent pie with foil and continue to bake until bubbling through vents, about 20 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack, at least 6 hours.
