Apple Pie Baked in the Apples

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As you all know, I am very much a beginner in the kitchen.  So when my friends assigned both appetizers AND dessert to me for this year’s Thanksgiving, I was in full panic mode as I didn’t want to ruin our entire Thanksgiving dinner.  Dessert, afterall, is the most important part of the meal.  Furthermore, I was instructed that store-bought items were not welcome – because we all know I was already planning a trip to Whole Foods.

After consulting Pinterest for some Apple Pie recipes, I came across this recipe for Apple Pie Baked in the Apple – I thought it was a nice blend of simple instructions and a gourmet look.  I’m always a fan of things that look more impressive than they actually are.

Step 1: Cut off the top of 4 apples off and discard. Remove the inside of each apple with a spoon or melon baller very carefully, as to not puncture the peel.

If you’re a skilled interior apple excavator, salvage as much as you can so you can use it for Step 2.  I, on the other hand, am not skilled so I just had to throw my interior apples away and chop up additional apples for filling.

This recipe will make 4 baked apple pies (in the apple).

Step 2: Remove skin from remaining apple(s) and slice very thinly. These apple pieces will give you the additional filling needed to fill the four apples you are baking.

Mix sliced apples with sugars and cinnamon in a bowl. If you prefer more or less cinnamon make adjustments as desired. Same goes for the sugar.

Scoop sliced apples into hollow apples.

Step 3: Roll out pie crust and slice into 1/4 inch strips.  You can also add a strip of pastry inside the top of the apple almost like a liner to add a little more texture/sweetness to the pie.

Cover the top of the apple in a lattice pattern with pie crust strips.

Step 4: Place apples in an 8×8 pan.  Add just enough water to the cover the bottom of the pan.

Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and sliced apples are soft.

 

How neat does that look? The entire thing is edible and best served with ice cream if you ask me.  Enjoy!

Printer Friendly PDF: Apple Pie Baked in the Apple

You can find the original posting on Pinterest or the Paper Plates and China blogpost: http://paperplatesandchina.blogspot.com/2011/08/pie-la-apple.html

321 thoughts on “Apple Pie Baked in the Apples”

    • The name of the recipe right next to the “Printer Friendly PDF” comment is a hyperlink – just click through on that for the PDF. You can also find it under the Recipes tab – it is just a list of PDFs. Enjoy!

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  14. Looks Yummy. Wondering how hard is to scoop out the inside of an apple without it breaking, but i’ll give it my best shot!!

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    • Hi Melissa! They should be baked at 375 degrees. You’re actually the second person to ask if 350 degrees is the temp to bake at; I was double checking my post and don’t see where that is printed. I assume I have a contradiction somewhere – do you mind telling me where you saw that? Thank you so much!

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      • I tried to make these tonight and they didn’t turn out like your picture..the apples like “melted”…not sure what I did wrong..could you maybe help me figure out what I did wrong?

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        • Hmmm, I am not too sure on what happened but I would guess that the insides were a bit too thin. When the apple softens, that will soften the exterior, so you still need a little apple inside to hold it up. I had also accidentally punctured one, which caused that particular apple to explode/fall apart.

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          • I would guess using an apple that isn’t crisp enough could cause the same issue. I find apples that aren’t super crisp to begin with rarely bake well.

          • I tried making these tonight I made 2 of them out of Granny Smith apple and 2 out of Macintosh. They all came out great the Macintosh were a bit harder to scoop out cause they are alot softer but if you leave just a little bit of apple on the inside and you the other apples to support them all they come out great. Thanks for posting this.

        • I also made them and they fell apart, became like Apple sauce. Because the recipe I had did not have the oven temp I cooked them on a higher heat?????? Will try again.

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          • Oh no – were you using my recipe? I have 375 degrees F listed as the temp….

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  36. These are so cute! Are you able to eat them just with your hands or would you recommend with a fork? Seems like a silly question, I know, I just have a potluck at work and would love to bring these!

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    • I think you would definitely need both a fork and knife – the outside is just tough enough that it would be hard to bite into and get any of the interior.

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  39. Okay, so while these little pies taste absolutely wonderful, they are a horror to try to eat! The outer apple softens so that you can’t cut through it, and the bit of ice cream we put on the side melted all over the place (obviously) and made them even harder to eat. Good in theory, bad in execution!

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    • Where is the authors reply to this post???? This was the same question I had that cutting thru the skin to get to the inards may not be trivial without creating a mess on the dessert plate.

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      • Sorry about the delay – mine were a bit messy, but I served them in a bowl. I did so mostly because of the ice cream so I hadn’t really thought of placing them on a plate. Valid point though – I would recommend a bowl for sure.

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    • Hmmm – mine were a little cleaner, although I served them in a bowl. You should have been able to cut through the exterior though – that wasn’t working here?

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    • Hmmm – maybe there was a bit too much water? Or (this happened to me), I carved out one apple a bit too thin so it sort of exploded/fell apart. Could either of those scenarios been the case?

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  43. OMG – love this idea! Can’t wait to make it. I’m not sure what this sentence means though – where does this extra piece go? just right under the top?

    “You can also add a strip of pastry inside the top of the apple almost like a liner to add a little more texture/sweetness to the pie.”

    Thanks!
    Teri

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  45. Reblogged this on Rattled and commented:
    This is the most amazing thing! I make my own apple pies a lot but goodness gracious! This is a whole new level of awesome! I have to reblog this!

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  47. I just made these and they are so much fun!!! I love to bake and I’m in college and they weren’t too bad!!! Can’t wait to eat them :)

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  48. I am trying them tonight for dessert. They were not hard to make, but it took a long time to scoop out the apple. I had apple pie filling left over and didn’t need the extra apple. Thanks!

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    • I would definitely think so, but not being super familiar with puff pastry (I’ve only used it once) I would just double check baking times. I have no idea if puff pastry would require more or less time in the oven. I think it is worth a try though – I love the flakier crusts too!

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  50. My daughter and I had SO much fun making these tonight as a surprise for her spoiled daddy!!! Thanks for sharing such a great idea!! BTW.. I used a melon baller to scoop out the apple and it work great! I only had to use one additional apple to fill. :)

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  55. Hello there, simply turned into aware of your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of other folks will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

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  60. I just made these tonight and they were fabulous! Soo delicious with some Tillamook French Vanilla ice cream and very minor variations on the recipe. Thank so much for this recipe!!!

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    • I’m glad to hear that – what were the variations just out of curiosity? I’ve only made these once so I haven’t played around with the recipe at all.

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  62. Hi Sarah
    I have never been an Apple pie enthusiast but reading your post, and all the wonderful comments people have posted, it seems to me that this is definitely the right recipe for me to start.
    Simple and beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

    PS: I also appreciate that you take the time to acknowledge your readers and their comments. Kudos for that!

    Reply ↓

    • Thank you so much! I have to admit that I am in the same boat as you – probably not the biggest Apple Pie fan in general, but these were too cute to not try. :) I hope you like them!

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  63. Tried this and it was delicious! I did it with a crumb instead of pie crust. My first try the apple started to rip on the side but it didnt stop my husband from digging in. Thank you

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    • The same bake time should work – I made 6 and the same timing was fine. As for the water, just put in enough to barely fill the bottom (for moisture) – the size of the pan will cause variance in the amount, not so much the number of apples.

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  72. How would you reheat these? I was thinking of making a few and taking one for lunch at work. How would you reheat it? (without oven and with oven suggestions please)

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    • I haven’t tried this, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would be okay to heat in the microwave at 50% power, covered with a paper towel. I would be afraid that high heat would make it explode. Let me know how it turns out!

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  76. I absolutely love this idea. I do a Ladies Christmas Luncheon every year for about 25 women. This is soooo going to be my dessert this year! I bet if you brushed a little egg wash and sprinkled the coarse sugar on top it would look even cuter! Oh I just thought of a great idea for Christmas – mix red and green apples. What a great presentation that will make!

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  78. Thank you soooooooooooooooooo much for sharing this incredable recipe, this will make the best desert for a spring brunch. Please keep the inspiration coming…

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  79. Made this today and it was awesome! A few things I did:

    I did NOT bother attempting to “neatly” gut the apple, I made the filing with the torn up apple guts no matter the shape they came out. I punctured (very small) a couple of the apples as I was gutting them, they still cooked well, a bit of juice seeped out but none collapsed or were dry.
    I used 3 granny smith and 3 honeycrisp apples and mixed the guts together for the filing, a perfect ratio of tart and tang.
    I substituted powdered sugar for brown sugar (realized too late I didn’t have any). Ratio was to use an amount of powdered sugar at twice what was called for in brown sugar.
    I used a teaspoon of butter in the mix, probably wasn’t needed, mix was pretty “wet” when I put it in the apples but it didn’t hurt anything.
    For a finishing touch I also sprinkled a cinnamon sugar blend on top of the apples but thought that powdered sugar would have been a nice touch too.

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  80. A secret for you. Adding a little cardamom to the apple filler (along with the sugar and cinnamon) makes it uh-may-zing. I had to go to a couple of grocery stores to find it (Wal-Mart did not have it). I learned this secret from my husband, the man that would rather starve than cook for himself, that is, anything but apple pie. Thanks so much for the idea!

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  82. I made this recipe and followed the instructions quite well. I even modified the flavoring to be sweeter. This still turned out to be a bitter mess! It didn’t even look like the “end product” picture. I guess that explains why it was taken from the top. Anyway, great in theory, not so good in the practical. To all those who said it looks yummy, it does and that’s the only yummy part about it.

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  83. I’ve finished assembling these adorable little things and I’m about to bake them. I made nine little apple pies and didn’t need any additional apples. I used a melon baller with two sizes. Using the small size I balled out the core and using the larger size, I took out chunks for the filling. It worked great once I figured it out! So no waste! Thanks so much for the idea. Looking forward to eating these!

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    • Great to hear! I feel like a mellon baller would have been significantly easier than the spoon I stumbled along with. I hope they turned out well!

      Reply ↓

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  89. Hi! LOVE THIS! Will be making these tonight to take to a friend’s house tomorrow night. Given the mushy factor people have mentioned and to try to make it not necessary to use a knife – I’m going to cut the apples in half first through the middle to make thinner pies then scoop them out. More crust in each bite that way I figured? Think this will work? The water in the pan makes me nervous but I’m sure it’s got to be for moisture. Let you know how it comes out!

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  92. Could u just core it and prepare like a regular baked apple but put the crist on it or even all around it? I want to try that, I’m a stickler on Easy, Thanks for the great recipe and pics!

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    • Let me know how it turns out – the only thing I might be afraid of is whether or not the apple would be able to fully soften if it isn’t pre-hollowed. Can’t wait to hear about it though!

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  93. I made these last night for my family. They loved them! I ended up with extra filling, so I put them in an extra pie crust I had. Will have for desert tonight!
    thank you!

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  94. My daughter made these for dessert for my birthday dinner….they looked exactly like the pictures and tasted even better. She cut them in half to serve and added fat free, sugar free vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel…..yummy! Thanks for sharing.

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  96. I made these last night and they were great. I did though have to tweak it, I used red apples instead of green apples and I didn’t put a pie crust on top, I just put the apple top back on it. My 10 yr old thought it was fun when he took the top off. Using a melon baller made it so much easier.

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  102. I made these tonight and they were delicious! Scraping out the apple was definitely harder than I thought it would be, I accidently punctured some of the apple skins but they still came out fine. I also used the thin scrapings from gutting the apple in the filling as well as cut up an extra apple for some big chunks and it worked really well!

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  103. Do you need to put the water in the bottom of the pan? I just made these for pi day and I was surprised with how they came out. Have you tried it without?

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  105. I finally found this recipe (thanks to Pinterest) and I can’t wait to try them! I think I will be making these for Easter with the family, maybe put some peeps on a stick coming out or something..haha. I make this apple pie that is awesome…I mix up sweet and sour apples and also use pear apples ….so yummy! Just thought I would share if you ever wanted to try that. :) I’m wondering how good these would be with caramel candies in them too……mmmmmm…lol. Thanks for the recipe!!!!

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  106. These look so good! Will try this week!
    PS…I think it’s VERY COOL that you reply back to everyone in comments……..:):):)

    PEACE~!

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  107. It was a little work but very worth it!!! Turned out great and tasted delicious! Thank you for posting this!
    IMG_4091.JPG

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  112. Im making these for my grandparents, but i wont be able to make them the day of the dinner we are having. What do you think about making these 2 days in advance? would i just reheat the apples??

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  113. I tried this today and unfortunately something did not come out right, I could only bake them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees because the apples became kinda soggy and inedible. The filling tasted good, however the pie crust did not come out too well. I think its because I cut them too thin, could that have anything to do with it? Anyway any suggestions for both of those mishaps I had? I wanna try again this Saturday, they look so good! Thank you for posting this, xoxo

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    • I think you are right – if they are too thin, they get too soft to stand up. I had one explode on me for that reason….

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  114. i just have to “steal” your dessert.. and translate it to Danish and Spanish.. I´m Danish but live in Spain.. so before you know it your applepie will be known vorld wide :-) as the “Sarah Apple pie”
    thanks for sharing !!! :-)

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  115. The recipes looks delicious and easy to organize. You have recipes that is easy to prepare and look delicious. It is terrific to have such a post that explain everything in details without confusion. Keep up on the good work writing delicious recipes that are easy to follow and organise.

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    • I am in the same boat – not a huge fan of cooking in general. They take a bit of time, but are definitely easy and make an impression. :)

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  118. Found you on pinterest.
    Made these for a big family dinner. Was nervous about trying to make 14 of then but they turned out great!! We used Granny Smith apples for the outer and used Galas for the inner. I did a light egg wash on the crust. I had to leave mine in longer that your recomended cooking time…the crust on the side of the apple wasnt thoroughly cooked yet. We reheated them at 375 for 10minutes prior to serving and topped with icecream!! Delicious!!! This is def a keeper!! Thank you!!

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  121. Love this idea. My 13 year old son Jacob loves to bake and I think that this is something that he can do. And then he will get to eat it as well. I have already pinned it and will share it on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  125. Made them yesterday. They came out perfect! Looked awesome, tasted great… everybody loved them!. Thank you for the great recipe!!!! So glad we found it in Pinterest!

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  126. I accidentally skipped a very important step….placing them in water before baking. The bottoms completely gave out. Luckily it was a test run just for me and hubby…and they were still very….very…yummy.

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  127. How many calories is in one baked apple in an apple? Less carbs/calories than a regular apple pie (one slice)? Any links to calories information?

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    • Sorry – I don’t have that. But it is definitely less calories than regular apple pie because there is far less pie crust. Plus, you can control the sugar – you could easily eliminate sugar without losing taste (or replace with Splenda or something).

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  129. I usually use stevia for natural sweetening instead of sugar. I’ll try this but add a little pat of butter to each one.

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  130. Can you substitute sweetner like Equal or something for the sugar? This would be a great dessert for us who have Diabetes!

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    • I think it could have been one of two things – too much water and/or the apple was hollowed out a bit too thin. Hopefully that helps?

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  132. I bet you could put other fruit in the apple, cover it with the crust and have a different, but delicious, taste.

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  134. So cute! I want to make these for Easter… but I’m soooo not co-ordinated, so, do you have any tips for scooping out the “meat” and the cores without destroying the rest of the apple? (I don’t have a melon baller, but I can try a spoon… just not sure how well that will work for the core…)

    Thanks! :D

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    • Sorry – I am late in responding. A lot of people on here have used grapefruit spoons to hollow them out – I think that sounds like the easiest way for sure!

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  135. I made these the way you did at first.. we love them !! wonderful idea. Then I decided that I think these would be wonderful with smoked bacon cut up and some cheese on top. Gotta say these were delicious! So now we have savory style as well. Going to make these for Easter dessert and see how the kids like these ones. Also going to try the savoury way at our local farmers markettable this weekend.. I am always lookin for new inventive ways to showcase our organic meats, this one sure fits the bill. wonderful site and we will be back. Do you mind if I blog this on my site.. giving you credit of course!!

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  136. I make it today and omg they are so good but same time omg im tired from cut and spoon the apple out from inside but it worth my time and everyone love it and thank u for the idea :D

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  137. I am so excited! I just put mine in the oven to take to my boyfriend’s parents for Easter dinner! They were easy to make and they looked just like your picture! As soon as they are finished we are heading over there! I’m so excited to try them. :)

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  139. I just made these for our Easter dessert and they’re a hit! Oh, and a grapefruit spoon works wonders to clean out the apples.

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  141. This is a fantastic idea! My 3 sons and hubby do not like cake but love fruit! I’m planning to surprise them tonight with this fabulous work of art!! Thanks!! I know they will devour!!

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  146. I made these for a party I had this weekend and they were a HUGE hit. Everyone loved them (one friend even got upset that there wasn’t more, too bad!). I made the lattice tops and sprinkled the top with sugar (something my mom always did). I will be making them again for Bunco. Thanks for the great post!

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  149. i made these today and they completely fell apart, I don’t know if I did something wrong or what. I am a pretty good cook, and I was looking forward to these.

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    • I just sliced pre-made pie crust and created the basket weave on the kitchen counter. Once I had a decent sized square, I just lifted it up with the fat end of my chefs knife. Worked like a charm!

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  152. Must try these would be great with nutmeg and raisins depending on how tart the granny smith are need to go look for my grandmas recipe and make this for a baby shower.. I might just make them for this weekend there pretty healthy vs apple pie yumm

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  154. I was going to make these today but decided to go…..Apple, Bacon, Jalapeno pie. I’m going to make these the next time company comes over.

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  160. So I made these last night. Doing the lattice didn’t work because it was just too small of a crust. All you need is one crust and to cut out circles to place on top of the apple. I hollowed out the center of the apples with an ice cream scoop and filled with canned apple pie filling to make it easier. I probably baked them 10 min longer than it called for. They were really good!

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