Brown Butter Bourbon Apple Pie
Decadent spin on a classic dessert.
Category
Dessert
Prep
30 minutes
Cook
60 minutes
Style
American
Technique
Baking
Diet Friendly
Vegetarian
Daily recipe · January 23, 2023
A little about this dish
For National Pie Day, let's give classic apple pie a fancy twist! This recipe features brown butter and a boozy bourbon caramel sauce, making it a decadent dessert perfect for impressing dinner guests. Apples are the key ingredient in this recipe, but the addition of brown butter and bourbon brings out the best flavors in this classic dessert.
Ingredients (for 8)
- Pie crust (homemade or store-bought) — 1
- Granny smith apples — 6-8
- Unsalted butter — 1/2 cup
- Granulated sugar — 3/4 cup
- All-purpose flour — 1/4 cup
- Ground cinnamon — 1 tsp
- Ground nutmeg — 1/4 tsp
- Ground ginger — 1/4 tsp
- Ground allspice — 1/4 tsp
- Salt — 1/4 tsp
- Water — 1/4 cup
- Bourbon — 2 tbsp
- Cornstarch — 1 tbsp
- Vanilla extract — 1 tsp
- Sea salt flakes — — for finishing
Preparation
-
Step 1 — 🌡️🔥👨🍳Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
-
Step 2 — 🍏🔪👨🍳Peel, core, and slice apples into 1/4-inch pieces.
-
Step 3 — 🍯🔥👨🍳In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter turns golden brown and smells nutty.
-
Step 4 — 🥄🍯🧂Remove the saucepan from heat and add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and salt. Stir well to combine.
-
Step 5 — 🍏🧊🥃Add the sliced apples, water, and bourbon to the saucepan and stir well to coat the apple slices.
-
Step 6 — 🍳🔥👨🍳Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring frequently.
-
Step 7 — 🥧🌿👨🍳Roll out the pie crust and lay it into a 9-inch pie dish.
-
Step 8 — 🍏🥧👨🍳Fill the crust with the cooled apple mixture.
-
Step 9 — 🕒🥧👨🍳Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.
-
Step 10 — 🍯🥃👨🍳While the pie is baking, make the bourbon caramel sauce by whisking together cornstarch, bourbon, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, whisk together brown sugar and heavy cream. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat, whisking until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat, whisk in the cornstarch mixture, and return the saucepan to heat. Cook until the mixture thickens into a smooth caramel sauce.
-
Step 11 — 🥄🍯🧂When the pie has finished baking, let it cool for 10-15 minutes, then drizzle the bourbon caramel sauce over the top and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
-
Step 12 — 🍧🥧👨🍳Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, if desired.
A final fox tip
For an extra special presentation, use a decorative pie crust cutter to make a design in the top crust before baking. Kids can help peel and slice the apples, measure ingredients, and mix the apple filling. For a non-alcoholic version, simply omit the bourbon from the recipe.