Paper Bag Apple Pie Recipe – Easy Enough for Kids to Make (Using a Paper Bag and a Surprise Ingredient!)
October 7, 2011 in Desserts
Easy and Foolproof: The Ultimate Apple Pie
Where did that “Easy As Apple Pie” saying come from anyway? It must have been started by someone who never actually made an apple pie. I have always found the iconic All-American apple pie to be deceptively difficult to make. Crusts can be tough or bland (please try our foolproof crust recipe and your life will be forever changed!) Filling can be dry or runny, bland or sickeningly sweet. Apples too hard or too mushy. Trust me – I have made all of these mistakes and more, and lots of bad apple pies - until now!
The Perfect Bite of The Perfect Apple Pie
This filling is made by shaking the apples with a flour and sugar mixture and is absolutely idiot-proof. I invited a group of teen girls (ages 12 and 13) over to prove this pie could be made by anyone who had only mastered one cooking technique: microwave re-heating. The pies were perfect! Perfect crust! Perfect apples! Perfect filling!
You can’t possibly go wrong with this filling method, because only a thin coating of the flour mixture sticks to the slices when you shake them in the bag. Just use the coated slices and toss out the bag with the excess flour mixture and you will never have a dry, gummy filling again! I used the basic approach of Cook’s Illustrated – with one exception. The recipe called for lemon juice, but I was out. So, I substituted apple cider vinegar ( Hey! this is an apple pie, after all) and the acidity was perfect!
Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and try this pie. It is now the apple of my eye!
