mid atlantic

This rustic holiday pie boasts a creamy apple filling. The secret ingredient: vanilla ice cream, right in the filling. This recipe was inspired by Holly Ricciardi, owner of the now-closed Magpie Bakery; read about our visit here. The hallmark of Dutch apple pie is its creamy apple filling, but we didn’t rely on the traditional cream to achieve it. Instead we added melted vanilla ice cream to the apple filling for extra creaminess and a rich vanilla flavor that nicely complements apple pie. We sliced Golden Delicious apples and let them sit in the melted ice cream along with cinnamon, sugar, and lemon juice until they were soft and pliable; this way, they packed easily into the pie plate and created a cohesive interior that baked evenly. Before baking, we sprinkled a mixture of melted butter, flour, brown sugar, and a good dose of salt over the top of the pie for a supremely buttery crumble topping. Letting the pie cool completely before slicing into it allowed it to firm up so that we could produce beautifully clean wedges.

Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie

cup, ice water

sour cream

(6 1/4 ounces 177 grams), all-purpose flour

teaspoons, sugar

teaspoon, salt

tablespoons, unsalted butter,

melted, vanilla ice cream

raisins

sugar

lemon juice

teaspoon, vanilla extract

teaspoon, cinnamon

(5 ounces 142 grams), all-purpose flour

99 grams), light brown sugar

tablespoons, unsalted butter, melted

We prefer Golden Delicious or Gala apples here, but Fuji, Braeburn, or Granny Smith varieties also work well. You may substitute 1/2 cup of heavy cream for the melted ice cream, if desired. This pie is best when baked a day ahead of time and allowed to rest overnight. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

FOR THE CRUST: Combine water and sour cream in bowl. Process flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter butter over top and pulse until butter is size of large peas, about 10 pulses. Add sour cream mixture and pulse until dough forms clumps and no dry flour remains, about 12 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Turn dough onto sheet of plastic wrap and form into 4-inch disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.)

FOR THE FILLING: Toss all ingredients in large bowl until apples are evenly coated. Let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour or up  to 2 hours.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand.

Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond lip of plate. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of plate using your fingers. Wrap dough-lined plate loosely in plastic and refrigerate until dough is firm, at least 30 minutes.

FOR THE TOPPING: Stir all ingredients in bowl until no dry spots remain and mixture forms clumps. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Place dough-lined plate on parchment paper–lined rimmed baking sheet. Working with 1 large handful at a time, distribute apple mixture in plate, pressing into even layer and filling in gaps before adding more. Take care not to mound apple mixture in center of plate. Pour any remaining liquid from bowl into pie. Break topping (it will harden in refrigerator) into pea-size crumbs and distribute evenly over apple mixture. Pat topping lightly to adhere.

Bake pie on sheet until top is golden brown and paring knife inserted in center meets no resistance, about 1 hour 10 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let pie cool on wire rack for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Serve.

Recipe Instructions

Test Kitchen Techniques

The Best Paring Knives

This rustic holiday pie boasts a subtly creamy filling. The key ingredient was hiding in plain sight.

Could we re-create this bodega classic at home? There's nothing like a real bodega chopped cheese sandwich—packed with ground beef and American cheese—straight off a flat-top griddle in East Harlem. But not wanting to travel to New York City every time the craving hit, we developed our own recipe, which was inspired by the version sold at Blue Sky Deli in East Harlem; read about our visit here. We started with 1 pound of 85 percent lean ground beef, enough to pack four soft sub rolls. Cooking the meat in a nonstick skillet and breaking it up with a wooden spoon mimicked the texture of the meat we ate in New York. Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning packed in tons of flavor. Wrapping the warm, assembled sandwiches tightly in parchment paper swaddled the cheese and beef to help the filling meld.

Chopped Cheese Sandwiches

pound, 85 percent lean ground beef

teaspoon, Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning

teaspoon, Lawry's Seasoned Salt

(8-inch), sub rolls, split

mayonnaise

tablespoons, ketchup

yellow, American cheese (8 ounces)

thin, tomato slices (2 tomatoes)

cups, shredded iceberg lettuce

The Goya seasoning can be found in the spice or international section of your grocery store; Lawry's Seasoned Salt is usually stocked with other salt blends in the spice section. You can wrap the sandwiches in butcher paper instead of parchment paper, if desired.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine beef, onion, all-purpose seasoning, and seasoned salt in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, constantly breaking up meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until cooked through and excess moisture is driven off, about 8 minutes.

Arrange sub rolls on baking sheet and spread mayonnaise and ketchup evenly on cut sides of rolls. Divide beef mixture evenly among rolls. Layer 2 slices American cheese over beef on each roll. Bake until bread is warmed through and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Layer tomatoes and lettuce over cheese. Close 1 sandwich, using spatula as needed to keep ingredients contained within roll (sandwich will be very full). Starting from corner of 16 by 12-inch sheet of parchment paper, immediately wrap sandwich tightly. Repeat closing and wrapping with remaining 3 sandwiches. To serve, cut sandwiches in half through parchment paper and unwrap as you eat.

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Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie

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The most viewed mid atlantic recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine