Apple Pie Baked In Apples

This is one of the first recipes I saw on Pinterest and thought "awesome idea"!  So it ended up being one of the first dishes I made during my "must create stuff from Pinterest" phase I went through last month (and, ahem, am still going through).

I did cheat a bit though. This also fulfilled my Operation Pantry Project as my Mom's niece had sent us some wonderful jarred homemade apple pie filling. To say it went perfectly in this dish was an understatement. The filling was so flavorful and it made putting this creation together quick and easy.

I did have a bit of trouble with the pie dough staying at the top of the apple while cooking (you can see how some of it slide down the side to the bottom). I think next time I need to make the dough strips smaller?

This was a fun dish to make and also made quite a nice impression for dessert. And I'd suggest showing folks your "before" cooking apple as that really does look impressive!

Not sure where the original idea came from as there seem to be pins from many different sources.

APPLE PIE BAKED IN APPLES

4 Baking Apples
Apple Pie Filling (your own or premade)
Pie Crust (Homemade or Pre-Made)

Pre-heat over to 375 degrees.

Cut off the top of the apples and discard. Cut slivers off the bottom of the apple (be careful not to cut too much) so that the apple sits squarely. Carefully remove the inside of each of the four apples with a spoon or melon baller so that you don't puncture the peel (you want to make a bowl for the filling to reside in).

Spoon your apple pie filling into the apple bowls.

Roll out pie crust and cut into strips. Cover top of the apple in a lattice pattern with the pie crust strips.

Place apples in an 8x8 pan. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.

Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the apples are soft. Serves 4

Note: I used granny smith apples. I set them on the counter at the grocery store to make sure that they were almost flat. People gave me looks. They were just a "bit" tough, so I may experiment with other types of apples or longer cooking times.

Note: Some of the recipes talk about using the innards from the apples you've scooped out and cutting up additional apples to make your own pie filling. Since I already had pie filling, I didn't use the inards of the apples. I threw that away. I know, wasteful. You are a better person than I if you can use it.

Note: I actually had a bit of leftover pie filling after filling the two apples so I took the leftover dough, pieced it together and made a free form tart. I'm thinking you could do the reverse...make these if you find you've made too much pie filling for your apple pie.

Note: I used pre-made pie dough. I bought a "natural" brand instead of my regular Pillsbury brand. It was dry and immediately cracked when I unrolled it. Next time I'll  either make my own dough or use Pillsbury.

Note: I made the lattice a bit thick and the ones on the end actually slide down the side of the apple. On one of the apples, I had used a bit of the sticky apple pie filling, smeared it around the top of the apple thinking this would hold the pie dough in place but no deal. Not sure what I can do to keep the dough from sliding down?

Note: Though I saw longer cooking times for the recipe, my pie crust was done way before these longer times. I think the apple would have benefited from a longer cooking time but I also didn't want the apple to be mush.

We really enjoy these and I suspect a good deal of that was the awesome apple pie filling from my Mom's niece. I need to make these again. Which mean someone needs to send me some more pie filling (hint hint :)

 

 

Comments

[Chris]

Friggin' awesome! We did something similar but the apples were sliced into rings, sprinkled layers with cinnamon sugar, and put back together. Then we wrapped it all in a pie shell before baking. good stuff!

[Mrs. L]

Chris - They really did look pretty cool being served. I love the idea of slicing them into rings and wrapping in dough...I'll have to go check out a recipe!

[Mom]

Oh this was so good. I wanted more when I was done eating.

[Carolyn Jung]

I LOVE this! So clever. I once made creme brulee in hollowed-out apples (an LA Times recipe). They were fabulous. But boy, it took me like half an hour to hollow out 12 apples for that Thanksgiving dessert. ;)

[Melissa]

They look delicious! I have been wanting to make these...maybe when the hubs comes home :)