7/8cup14 tablespoons/198g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1/2cup3.5 oz./100g fine granulated sugar
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
1eggslightly beaten
Apple pie filling
1/2cup100g granulated sugar
1/2cup106g brown sugar, packed
3tablespoonsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonground cinnamon
1/4teaspoonground ginger
1/4teaspoonground nutmeg
5largetart, firm apples, thinly sliced (tested with Granny Smith)
1tablespoonlemon juice
Assemble the pies
Egg wash1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Coarse crystal sugar
Instructions
Crust
Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the cubed butter on top of the flour and pulse repeatedly in short bursts until the mixture looks crumbly. Add the vanilla and egg and pulse until the mixture forms a ball to one side of the bowl. Remove the dough and flatten into a circle. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes before use.
Filling
In a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat.
Bake and Assemble
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface using a floured rolling pin. Cut 7-inch rounds from the dough and fit inside the pie pans. Fill each pie with the apple filling until heaping. Gather the dough and re-roll to 1/4-inch thickness.
Cut more pastry rounds to fit the top of each pie. Cut a vent in the center of each pie using a small cookie cutter (or cut 3 slits in the top of the pie using a paring knife). Top the pie with the crust and press edges of the crusts together and flute. Brush pies with egg wash then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake the pies for 15-17 minutes, or until the pastry turns golden brown.
Allow pies cool before serving, or serve warm with scoops of vanilla ice cream on top.
Notes
For 8 pies, make two batches of pastry crust, or you can halve the pie filling recipe and make just one batch of pate sucrée to yield just 4 pies.
Keyword french sweet dough, granny smith apples, pastry crust