Skillet Apple Pie

Somewhere around Thanksgiving, I was listening to a story on NPR about unusual Thanksgiving foods when the subject of apple pie came up.

I am an applepieophile, so I listened with rapt attention. What made this apple pie unusual was how it was made, in a skillet. Not only did they discuss the recipe, they actually made it and had a taste.
From the post tasting commentary, it sounded like a good recipe to try ... so I did.
The recipe is at America's Test Kitchen, so I'm not posting it in detail here.

The general procedure starts with peeling and coring some tart apples. These get browned and carmelized in butter.

A mix of cider, maple syrup, cornstarch, cinnamon (optional according to the recipe ... AS IF!), and a little vanilla extract (not in recipe) goes into the skillet after the apples look like hashbrowns.

You stir that around to coat everything well and then take it off the heat.


The recipe for a pie crust was available, but I am male, so that was out of the question. A store bought ready to bake pie crust did just fine. I unwrapped it, unrolled it, and set it atop the deliciously smelling apple filling.
It then received a egg white paintjob and a sprinkle of sugar before scoring.

After that it went into a really hot (in my opinion) 500 degree oven for about 20 minutes.


Applas Shrugged. (too obscure?)

The slices really did stand up when cut, but as you can see, this slice could not handle the weight of my massive ala mode.

Who eats apple pie without real vanilla ice cream?
Heathens ...

So how did it taste?

I loved it.

The tartness of the granny smith apples came through the sweet of the maple syrup for a great blend of flavors.
There is no bottom crust of course, but I didn't miss it at all.

You could tell yourself this is a lower calorie pie since the bottom crust ain't there.

That's up to you.