My, Oh My...That Pie!

Easy Skillet Apple Pie

You've seen this recipe here before but it's worth another appearance. My friend Missy pointed me toward this Southern Living recipe a couple of years ago. If Missy says it's good, it's good. I made it right after she told me about it. Since then I've made it a few more times. My son-in-law made it twice over the holidays. It's that good. And it's that easy.

It also looks impressive. I had my book club friends here for lunch this week. Carol brought soup and corn muffins. Sarah brought cheese, fruit and crackers to nibble on as the girls arrived. And my job was to provide dessert. The seven of us take turns with the food. When they walked in my front door, our house smelled divine. All that cinnamon! 

This is ridiculously easy to make considering the showy result. The hardest part is peeling and slicing four pounds of apple. My mix of apples was what I had in the refrigerator—Macintosh, Red Delicious, a couple of Galas and one lone Granny Smith. That was fine.

I had a friend watching as I made it. She looked at the big bowl of sliced apples, shook her head and told me, "They're never going to fit into that pan." Although I didn't tell her, I wasn't sure they were going to fit either. But I kept piling them up high, tucking them in along the sides. I wish I had made a "before" photo. But they cook down into a normal size pie.

You might need to scoop it out. One time I actually got slices. Either way, it's delicious.

EASY SKILLET APPLE PIE

4 lbs apples, half Granny Smith & half Braeburn or Macintosh

good squeeze of lemon juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 box refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts per box)

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350º. Peel and slice apples into 1/2 inch slices. Squeeze lemon juice over apples and toss.  Then toss apples with cinnamon, 3/4 cup sugar and pinch of salt.

Melt butter in 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and place one pie crust on top of butter mixture. Spoon apples over pie crust. Top with remaining pie crust. (I didn't try to crimp the edges because the pan is hot. Just tuck in anything that hangs over.) 

Whisk egg white until foamy and brush over crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut slits in the top crust so the steam can escape. 

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. If the crust is browning too quickly, shield with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Cool for 30 minutes before serving. And y'all...it begged for a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

PS...I slid a pizza pan onto the rack under the pie as it baked. Only one tiny drip. But better than it landed on the pan.