This bourbon caramel apple pie is the perfect thanksgiving dessert you’ve been looking for this year. I believe October and November are the official pie baking months of the year. This has been one of the favourite recipes in our house and have been on repeat for a long time now. This caramel apple pie is perfect for any occasion to enjoy the warm fall flavours. It’s packed with spices and bourbon which blend so well together. It’s truly the perfect dessert to share with friends and family.
Ingredients you’ll need to make this bourbon caramel apple pie:
- All purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Granulated sugar: You will need only 1 tablespoon to add some sweetness to your pie crust.
- Unsalted Butter: You will need cold cubed butter to make the pie dough. When the pie dough is baked, the butter creates steam and pushes the layers of dough upwards, creating an ultra flaky, buttery crust!
- Cold water: It is very important that you use as chilled and cold water as you can. This helps prevent the butter from melting while kneading the dough and resulting in a flakier buttery crust.
- Vodka: Vodka is added to the pie crust because it hinders gluten development, resulting in a more tender & flaky crust! It is optional, but I highly recommended it. You can use equal quantities of white wine vinegar instead.
- Apples: You will need ripe & thinly sliced apples to make this pie. It is very important to ensure that they are thinly sliced so that they bake up at the same rate as the pie crust.
- Brown Sugar: Dark brown sugar has a higher amount of molasses in them and thus help to add more moisture, softness and flavour to baked goods. It helps to add a caramel butterscotch flavour to the pie which blends very well.
- Ground Cinnamon: Adding some ground cinnamon to the apple pie filling helps to incorporate warm fall flavours, making it the perfect dessert for thanksgiving.
- Ground Nutmeg: Nutmeg helps to enhance the flavours of cinnamon. I do not recommend leaving it out if adding in cinnamon.
- Ground Ginger: You will need ground ginger to add to the pie filling. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for thanksgiving.
- All-spice powder: You will need all-spice to add to the pie filling. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for thanksgiving.
- Lemon Juice: In my experience, homemade lemon juice gives an incredibly better flavor than store bought lemon juice. I highly recommend that you put in those few extra minutes and use homemade lemon juice for a rich, preservatives-free flavor.
- Almond Extract: Almond extract goes very well with this filling. However you can always use equal quantities vanilla instead.
- Bourbon: Adding some bourbon to this apple cinnamon pie filling helps to enhance the warm flavours and blends very well. You can use equal quantities of vanilla or almond extract instead.
- Cornstarch: Traditional caramel apple filling can be thickened with a bit of flour, cornmeal or cornstarch. We use cornstarch in this recipe for the perfect taste and texture.
- Egg wash: You will need 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of water to make the egg wash. Spread it evenly over the galette dough just before baking to get an evenly browned crust.
- Raw cane sugar: Sprinkle raw cane sugar over the pie lattice brushed with egg wash. The egg wash will help the sugar stick. This is optional but will help to get an extra crunch. You can use equal quantitites of turbinado sugar instead.
- Ice Cream: You can top this pie once baked with scoops of vanilla ice cream if desired. However this is optional.
FAQ
It is known to helping your dough stay cold for longer durations and helps avoid the butter from melting. However, as long as you’re not in extremely hot surroundings, you can skip this step by moving as fast as possible. Let the butter chill in the refrigerator while you weigh all your dry ingredients and mix them. Take out the butter only when you need it. I sometimes chill my pastry cutter with my butter depending on the temperature outside.
My three tricks to preventing a soggy pie crust:
1. Bake at a high temperature – 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)
2. Preheat the oven with a metal baking sheet in it
3. Use a metal pie pan and bake the pie directly on the hot baking sheet
Par baking is partially baking a pie crust for a pie with a filling that needs to be baked, like custard and fruit pies. By par baking, you can ensure that the crust bakes all the way through without a soggy a bottom! In order to par bake your pie crust, you need to first dock your crust. Docking is poking holes all throughout the pie dough in your pie plate before par baking. Docking the pie dough is very important for the dough to be able to bake evenly – don’t skip it!
I love using a mixture of apples to bring more flavour to your pie. You can use apples like Granny Smith, Honey Crisps, Braeburns, and Gala apples.
To make this caramel filling –
1. Peel and thinly slice the apples and add spices and lemon juice to them. Mix until evenly coated.
2. Allow the filling to sit for 30-45 minutes so all the flavours seep in.
3. Transfer the filling to a saucepan over medium heat and cook until all the sugar melts.
4. Allow the mixture to simmer covered for 5-8 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add in the almond extract, bourbon and cornstarch. Mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Transfer to a baking pan and allow to cool completely before adding to the pie.
Keep your pie in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to 5 days. Warm up in the microwave or oven and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
You can substitute the following ingredients with equal amounts of their substitutions listed below.
1. Vodka – White wine vinegar
2. Bourbon – Any alcohol, vanilla extract, almond extract
3. Cornstarch – All purpose flour or cornmeal
4. Raw Cane Sugar – Turbinado Sugar
5. Pie weights – Kidney beans or dry rice
Some tips to make the best bourbon apple pie:
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Don’t skip the vodka. Okay, it may seem a little out there to use vodka in pie dough, but it’s a game changer. The alcohol in the vodka adds moisture to the dough without activating more gluten formation. It’s brilliant!
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Chill the pie crust before baking. To prevent your crust from shrinking in the pie pan, chill the crust after you have crimped the edges for 15 minutes. Put the crust straight into a preheated oven.
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Don’t forget the pie weights! To prevent your crust from puffing up and sliding down the sides of the pan, line the dough with parchment paper and then fill with pie weights. You can use actual ceramic pie weights or kidney beans and rice work just as well in a pinch. Once the crust is par-baked, use the parchment paper to carefully life the pie weights up and out of the pie tin.
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Bake the pie on a metal sheet. Once you are ready to fill the pie with the caramel apple filling, place the pie tin on a metal baking sheet so you can transfer it easily to the oven without spilling any of the filling over the edge of your pretty golden brown pie crust. Metal baking pans help to conduct heat better and result in an evenly browned pie.
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Prep the crust in advance. If you are making this pie for the holidays, I highly recommend making the pie crust ahead of time. You can make the crust up to three days in advance and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake your pie. And the dough freezes beautifully so double the batch and stock your freezer for a rainy day.
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Use a pie guard or foil to cover the crust. Because we pre-bake the pie crust (no soggy bottoms here!), the edges of the pie will already be a buttery, golden brown when you add the filling to the pie. I like to bake the pie for about 10 minutes with the filling and once the crust is the perfect color I’ll cover it with a pie guard. If you don’t have a pie guard handy, use strips of aluminum foil to cover the edges of the pie.
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Bake ahead and chill the pie overnight. This bourbon apple pie recipe makes the perfect make ahead holiday dessert. I love a dessert that you can make the day before and serve straight from the fridge. It makes holiday entertaining a breeze!
HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS FROM THIS RECIPE?
All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.
- In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
- Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!
If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back!
I hope this Bourbon Apple Cinnamon Pie makes it’s way to your thanksgiving table this year. These pretty & delicious lattice pie would make the perfect delight to share with your friends & family!
Happy Baking! x
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Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 9-inch pie 1x
Description
This bourbon caramel apple pie is the perfect thanksgiving dessert you’ve been looking for this year. I believe October and November are the official pie baking months of the year. This has been one of the favourite recipes in our house and have been on repeat for a long time now. This caramel apple pie is perfect for any occasion to enjoy the warm fall flavours.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
This recipe makes 2 pie crusts (one for the bottom and one for the lattice)
- 313g (2½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 230g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons vodka or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chilling ice cold water
Caramel Apple Filling
- 1kg (around 10 apples or 2lb) apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- 100g (½ cup) dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon all spice powder
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Assembly
- egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water)
- raw cane sugar or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Pie Crust
- You can use a store-bought pie crust or you can make your own. Skip to step 6 directly if you’re using a store bought pie crust.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, butter, salt and sugar. Mix well. Add cubed butter on top.
- Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter into the dry ingredientssuch that all pieces are completely coated by the flour. The pieces of butter should be about the size of a pea or a little larger.
- Start adding 2 tablespoons of ice cold water at a time and knead the pie dough with your hands or stir using a spoon. Make sure not to knead too much as the butter will start melting. Repeat this process until the dough starts coming together and forming large clumps. It will feel sticky but not overly wet. Do not add more water than you need to.
- Once the dough comes together, shape and flatten the dough into two discs of about 1-inch radius. Cover the dough with a plastic film or wrap and let them chill in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours or upto 3 days before using it in a pie.
- Once chilled, take one of them out from the refrigerator and let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and start rolling it outwards using a rolling pin. We want to form a 12-inches diameter. Roll more on the edges as compared to the center. If the butter starts melting, chill the rolled dough again for about 10-15 minutes and continue rolling.
- Carefully place the dough on the greased pie dish. Tuck the edges in with your fingers, making sure it is completely smooth. Form a curved pattern using your knuckles.
- Dock the pie dough with the help of a fork. Docking is poking holes in your pie using a fork throughout the crust placed in the pie plate. This is very important while par baking. Docking the pie dough is very important for the dough to be able to bake evenly – don’t skip it!
- Chill the pie in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. While the crust is chilling, preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and line it with a parchment paper. Fill the parchment paper with pie weights. This is important to avoid the pie crust from shrinking.
- Bake the pie crust for 14-15 minutes or until edges start to brown a little. Take out the pie from the oven and remove the pie weights. Also poke holes in the bottom of the pie crust using a fork to avoid it from rising.
Caramel Apple Pie Filling
- In a medium pot, combine the diced apples, spices, lemon juice and dark brown sugar. Toss it and let it sit for 30-45 minutes
- Cook the filling until the sugar melts and allow to simmer covered for 5-8 minutes over medium heat. Take it off the heat and add the almond extract, bourbon and cornstarch.
- Let it cool completely. To speed this up, pour it into a tray.
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) with a metal baking pan. Add the apple pie filling to your pie along with the juices if any.
- Roll out your second dough, making it a bit thicker than your other dough. and cut into pieces to make a lattice. Weave them together on top of your pie. Trim the lattice edges so they aren’t sticking out over the sides. Tuck the excess sides under and press it gently together to make your edges. Crimp the edges as you wish. Brush it with your egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar.
- Bake pie for 45-50 minutes. If your pie edges are getting too browned, you can cover them with strips of aluminium foil. Cool the pie for at least an hour before cutting.
- Store pie at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days.
Notes
- The most important thing with making pie crust is to always keep the dough cold at all steps. So use ice cold water and cold butter, and any time you touch the dough you should put it back in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
- Docking the pie dough is very important for the dough to be able to bake evenly – don’t skip it!
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: apple pie, thanksgiving
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: butterscotch cinnamon pie, caramel apple pie, bourbon apple pie, bourbon cinnamon pie, cinnamon pie
Hi,
I would love to bake this pie this Christmas for my family and me. I’ve noticed that you used a 9inch pie plate, but how deep is the pie plate. Because you’ve used quite a big amount of apples. The pie plate also looks kind of deep.
Greetings
Kel
Hi Kel
I’m so glad you want to bake this. I use a 9-inch pie plate from USA Pan. It is around 2 inches deep. Here’s the amazon link for it: https://www.amazon.com/USA-Pan-Bakeware-Aluminized-9-Inch/dp/B002UNMZNU
The amount of apples reduce as you cook them and they soften and perfectly fit the pie pan after!
Best
Shambhavi