You Should Only Bake Apple Crack Pie If You Want All Other Pies To Be Ruined For You

The best part of working at So Yummy is walking past the kitchen. On any given day, you will smell the most delicious treats to the point where you can’t help it — you have to walk in and have a taste of whatever is making the whole office smell like heaven. A few weeks ago, I had one such experience. I walked past the kitchen, smelled the most amazing cinnamon apple mixture, and immediately had to retrace my steps. I ran into the kitchen and found a perfect pie waiting there for me. Though it was around 9 a.m., not one part of me cared. I was having pie for breakfast, gosh darn it!

After the first bite, I knew that this was a recipe that had to be shared. So I reached out to Katie, So Yummy producer/all-around food goddess, for her recipe. I almost cried with tears of joy when she agreed to share it with me.

“This recipe is inspired by Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar classic Crack Pie, which itself is inspired by Chess Pie, which is a kind of Southern/East Coast dessert where you’re able to make it when you have nothing left in your pantry,” Katie told me, adding, “There’s actually a recipe for Chess Pie in Martha Washington’s family cookbook, which suggests the recipe has been around since the 18th century.”

According to Katie, this is the perfect fall pie — but can be enjoyed in the spring and summer, since it’s chilled — especially because of the in-season apples: “My friends and I went apple picking at Stone Soup apple farm in Oak Glen, CA, and they produce a variety of apples called Winesaps, which are really tart and juicy, and have a marbled red and green appearance. They also bake really well, and it’s helped because they have a thicker skin than other apples, which means they stay fresh and juicy longer.”

Fortunately for all you hosts out there, this pie can serve up to 12 people (depending on how generous you are, of course).

When it comes to tips and tricks for making the perfect Apple Crack Pie, Katie has plenty:

🍎 Keep it low and slow; if you mix it too quickly, you’ll incorporate air and then it’ll rise in the oven and overflow.

🍎 Keep in mind the dimensions of your pie tin. We used our So Yummy Red pie dish and it’s pretty deep, so we under-filled it a little so we wouldn’t have to cook it longer.

🍎 If you don’t have time to make the crust, a graham cracker crust works perfectly!

🍎 During baking, the middle will always feel a little jiggly. (Go ahead, jiggle it.) If it feels really loosey goosey, keep it in the oven. If it’s mostly set with a little vibrational action in the middle, you’re good to take it out. Your pie has an overnight chill sesh, so it will firm up completely with time.

🍎 If your apple slices sink into the pie, just slice some more, macerate them (see Step 4 below for more info on this), and put them on top towards the end of baking.

You can find the perfect red pie dish for all your fall bakes right here.

An illustrated list of ingredients:

How to prepare:

1. So, the regular crack pie recipe has an entire to-do about making the cookies. Take whatever cookies you love and think will go good with apple pie — snickerdoodles! Gingerbread! Shortbread! Oatmeal! The world is your oyster — and crumble them up. You can crumble them in a blender, in a food processor, or by hand, depending on how fine you want the crumbs. We went superfine, and to add back some rustic autumnal texture, we added in ¼ cup of oats. This step is optional, but nice because the oats get all toasted during the baking process. Highly recommend. Add in the butter and sugar, and mix until you reach a cookie dough consistency. Set aside.
2. Cream together the sugar, powders, spices, vanilla, and butter until you reach a smooth, creamy consistency. Then, mix in the egg yolks one at a time, followed by the cream. Stick in a spoon, taste it, and add salt as necessary.
3. Now, if you have a standing mixer, let the filling continue mixing on low while you prep the apples. This will allow the sugars to fully dissolve, and will make the filling super gooey and delicious.
4. Slice your apples in half and spoon out the seeds, stem, and that little butt thing at the bottom. Then cut your apples into super thin slices and place them in a bowl. Cover with lemon juice and brown sugar, which will macerate them and make them a little more tender for baking.
5. Assemble the team! Press the pie crust into the baking tin. If you have extra, just save it for later! Thickness is not next to godliness — the pie shouldn’t be more than an inch thick, otherwise it’ll be super hard to cut into later.
6. Pour in the filling. Again, thickness is not next to godliness — give a good inch of breathing space between the filling and the top of the pie tin. Then, once the filling is in, start shingling on the apple slices, starting from the outside of the circle and working your way in.
7. Place the pie on a baking sheet, just in case anything overflows. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 325°F, and once it hits that temperature, bake it for another half hour. Check the pie, if it’s too jiggly still, just turn the oven off and leave it in there. Once the pie has a minimum amount of jiggle, place it uncovered in the refrigerator to chill overnight, or ideally 24 hours.
8. Slice it up, and eat it with ice cream or whipped cream or powdered sugar.