Sourdough Apple Pie [with short crust sourdough pastry]

This delicious sourdough apple pie with shortcrust pastry is sure to take pride of place on your table. Whether it's a Thanksgiving celebration or just a Wednesday night, this sourdough apple pie is flaky and buttery and just begging to be eaten with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream! It's a sourdough version of your favorite dessert pie!

You'll need to make the sourdough pie crust in advance (you can make the pastry up to 48 hours before you need it) and then you can fill it with delicious fresh apples (I love using granny smith apples), baking it until it's golden brown.

It's such a great way to use up extra sourdough starter.

While this classic apple pie is very simple to pull together, I've included some recipe variations further down in case you want to get fancy and include some additional ingredients - like cranberry apple pie for example.

If you love sourdough apple pie, you might also like some of these sourdough recipes that use sweet apples like apple and cinnamon sourdough muffins, sourdough apple fritters or sourdough apple cake. And if you're looking for other sourdough comfort food recipes, why not try these sourdough cinnamon rolls, sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough Irish Soda Bread or sourdough banana fritters. Oh and this walnut raisin sourdough bread and sourdough dumplings too!

Preparing Sourdough Short Crust Pastry

This sourdough apple pie uses a very simple sourdough short crust pastry for the top and bottom crust. It will give you a delicious flaky sourdough pie crust with so much flavor!

It's so simple to make and uses just all purpose flour, sourdough discard or sourdough starter, sugar, salt, vinegar and loads of cold butter! The pie crust dough can be prepared up to 48 hours in advance and left in the fridge until you need it. You can use whole wheat flour for the pie crust if you wish (there are full instructions in the sourdough pie crust post).

Refrigerating the pie crust for a longer period gives all the good bacteria in your sourdough starter a chance to work their magic and reduce the phytic acid contained in the sourdough crust recipe. This makes this homemade apple pie not only tasty, but better for you!

Best Apples for Making Apple Pie?

I have used Granny Smith (green) apples in this recipe. Honey Crisp and Golden Delicious work well too - or you can do a mixture of a few different types.

You can use any type of apples you prefer, but ideally you want a sweet, crisp apple. They do need to be fresh apples though, not canned.

800g is the weight of the apple slices only, not the whole apples, however I used 8 medium sized apples.

You can use leftover apples in this sourdough apple cobbler or sourdough apple crisp.

What Size Pie Plate?

I have used a pie dish that is 1.47Q or 1.4L and is 10" (26cm) in diameter.

This left me with some extra pastry to make the little stars I've placed on top of my homemade pie crust.

The pie dish I have used is a La Chasseur brand that is not available on Amazon, however it is exactly like this one in size.

If you want a pie shield to fit this pie dish, this one will fit.

You do not have to grease the pie dish before putting the sourdough pie crust in. You don't have to line the pie dish with parchment paper. There should be enough butter in the pie dough to ensure the bottom crust does not stick.

I've used this pie plate and recipe to make sourdough pumpkin pie and sourdough chicken pot pie.

How To Make Sourdough Apple Pie

Making homemade apple pie might seem daunting at first, but trust me, it's not as complicated as it looks. If you are organised and make the sourdough pie crust the day before, it makes the process much quicker too.

How To Prepare The Apple Pie Filling

1. Peel, core and slice the apples (you don't want them too thin or they'll turn to mush). Add the apple slices to a large mixing bowl.
   
2. Into the bowl with apples, add the brown sugar and white sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon and nutmeg.
   
3. Use a wooden spoon to completely coat the apple slices in the mixture and allow to sit while you prepare the pie crust.

How To Prepare The Pastry

1. For this recipe you'll need to prepare the sourdough pie crust in advance (at least one hour, but up to 48 hours). When you are ready to assemble the apple pie, take the sourdough pie crust out of the fridge.
   
2. Separate the pastry into two portions, one for the top and one for the bottom.
   
3. Using a rolling pin, roll the first half of the dough out until it's large enough to fit your pie dish. For this recipe I used a 1.47Q or 1.4L pie dish. Place the rolled out pastry into the pie dish and gently ease the pastry into the base (don't stretch it). Ensure there is a little overhang so you can join the top crust to the bottom crust and then cut any excess off.
   
4. Pour in the apple filling you prepared earlier ensuring its packed in as the filling will sink down as it bakes.
   
5. Now roll out the second portion of pastry and place it over the top of the pie, cutting off any excess pastry.
   
6. Use a fork, or your fingers, to crimp the top and bottom crust together.
   
7. Cut a small vent in the centre of the pie with a sharp knife.
   
8. Mix the egg and water together and generously brush the top of the pie all over with the egg wash using a pastry brush.
   
9. If you haven't already preheated the oven, pop the pie in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 390F (200C).
   
10. When the oven is preheated, place the pie into the oven at 390F (200C) for around 30 minutes. After this time, reduce the temp to 350C (175C) and bake for a further 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and filling is bubbling (you'll be able to see it through the vent you cut in the top).
    
11. See notes for further info on using a pie shield to protect the edges of the pie while baking.
    
12. Once the pie is golden and baked through, take it out of the oven and allow it to sit for around 4 hours before slicing into it. This will ensure the sauce thickens and you don't get a soggy pie.

Step By Step Photos for Making Sourdough Apple Pie

Start by slicing the apples and then adding those to all of the apple filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl. You want to make sure that the apple slices are well coated with the dry ingredients.

Next roll out the bottom pie crust and line your pie plate or dish with the sourdough short crust pastry. Fill the pie with the apple mixture and place the top crust on the pie using a fork to crimp the edges together.

Use a pastry brush to apply egg wash to the whole top of the pie and cut a small vent to allow steam to escape. Use excess pastry to cut out shapes with a cookie cutter if you wish.

Bake the pie until golden, ensuring you give the homemade sourdough apple pie plenty of time to cool once baked.

Tips for Baking a Sourdough Apple Pie

• Lemon Zest - I love a lemony apple pie, if you prefer it less lemony, leave out the zest. The juice is important as it thickens the sauce.

• Using A Pie Shield - If you are concerned with your pie crust burning on the edges, wrap a large piece of aluminum foil around the edge of your pie (it needs to be fairly loose, but should shield the edges). You can use this for the first 30 minutes of the bake and then remove when you turn the temperature down. This can help if you have an oven with hot spots or your temperature is a little off. If you don't want to use aluminum foil, you could purchase a pie shield like this one.

• Cooling Time - It's really important to let the sourdough apple pie cool at room temperature for around 4 hours. If you cut it too soon, the sauce will be too runny and it will give you a soggy bottom crust and a watery pie. It's a bit like waiting for sourdough bread to cool, right?

• Cutting a Vent - Cutting a vent in the pie is really important as it allows the steam to escape, giving you a flaky, golden crust and ensuring that the apples thicken up inside the pie and you don't end up with a runny mess.

• Sprinkling with Sugar - You can sprinkle your sourdough apple pie with coarse sugar once you've brushed with the egg wash if you want to. I prefer it without, but of course, it's up to you.

Recipe Variations for Sourdough Apple Pie

While this recipe is perfect in its simplicity, there are a few things you can do to up level this sourdough apple pie, with the addition of just a few other ingredients:

• Sourdough Cranberry Apple Pie - substitute up to 200g of fresh apples with fresh cranberries for the most perfect cranberry apple pie.
  
• Peach Apple Sourdough Pie - substitute half the fresh apples with fresh peaches. The peaches will need to have stones removed and be sliced the same thickness as the apples you're using.
  
• Maple Cinnamon Sourdough Apple Pie - Leave out the white sugar and use 100g maple syrup in its place. Add all other ingredients as shown in the recipe.

Storing + Freezing Apple Pie

Once baked, this sourdough apple pie can be stored in the fridge, covered in foil for up to 4 days. Once we've eaten a few slices, we generally store the apple pie in the fridge covered in foil and then take it slice by slice from there. I generally just zap what we want to eat in the microwave once it's been in the fridge.

You can freeze the apple pie once it's baked. Allow it to cool, wrap it in foil and place in the freezer for up to 2 months. Allow it to come to room temperature before warming through when you're ready to eat it.

I don't like to freeze the pie unbaked as I find the bottom crust comes out soggy and the apples don't freeze well uncooked. You can however freeze the unbaked pie crust, as long as it's not filled with the apple mixture.

Frequently Asked Questions

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