I have been hinting about this recipe all week, and I’m pretty excited to finally be sharing this honeycrisp apple pandowdy with you all today. I’m sure you guys have noticed, but I have definitely switched into full-on fall mode. Don’t hate me, but I am loving creating these cozier recipes and using up all the perfectly sweet September apples. I feel like this is OKAY. I mean, fall officially starts a week from today, so really I am just preparing you guys with all the delicious recipes… You can thank me later when you’re baking up this pandowdy, smelling it’s amazingness as it bakes, and then enjoying every last warm, gooey bite. Yes, this apple pie is that good.
For those of you who don’t know what a pandowdy is, let me tell you. To make this real simple and clear, it’s an apple pie, baked in a skillet with cut up pieces of dough overtop of the apples, instead of one whole pie crust. The idea is that the dough sinks into the apples while baking, and in turn becomes very “doughy”. Think of this as an apple pie, but with a lot more of a “caramel” like sauce and a crust that is beyond perfect. It. Is. Incredible. The recipe starts off by browning the butter…that right there tells you things are going to be good. From there, you’ll toss in plenty of honeycrisp apples, brown sugar, maple, cinnamon, and all the apple pie essential spices. Then pour in some apple cider and top the pie with a layer of buttery, flakey pastry dough. It’s traditional to use regular pie dough, but I am currently having a serious moment with puff pasty. It’s pretty much the best thing ever. Also? The only thing I need to do to prep it is remove it from the freezer and thaw it out. Yup, this is totally my kind of pastry making. The key to a pandowdy though? Cutting the pastry into large pieces instead of leaving it whole. The caramel like sauce slowly seeps up and over some of the pastry, which in turn causes parts of the pastry to caramelize, while other parts remain softer and “doughier”. The final step of this recipe is to spoon cream over top of the pandowdy just before it’s done baking. This creates more of a custard like pie and makes this recipe better than any other pandowdy. I was inspired to do this after seeing this Instagram photo. Once I saw that custard like cream sitting on top, I was sold. The directions might sound kind of odd, and you might even be a little confused, but just follow them (even if you wonder if you’re not doing something right) and all will be good. My only tip? You might need to cover the pandowdy with foil towards the end of baking to prevent the pastry from burning. You want the top of the pandowdy to get pretty dark golden brown, but during the last fifteen minutes I found I needed to cover mine to stop it from turning black all over. Just be sure to keep an eye on it while baking!
When the pandowdy comes out of the oven, the sauce will be bubbling up over the crust and its smell is going to make you want to dig right in…and you should! This pie is meant to be eaten warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream…oh, and be sure to spoon the sauce left in the skillet over top…so good! Honestly, I’m not sure many apple pies can beat this one (okay…except the apple pie I have in the HBH cookbook) and I could not think of a better way to be ending the week than with this recipe.
And speaking of this week!? Man, what an unforgettable week it’s been. I launched my very first cookbook and you all were so incredibly kind. You guys made my year with your support and kind words. I know I’ve said this quite a bit now, but thank you all so very much! Hoping that this pandowdy can serve as the perfect Friday treat! I also hope your weekend plans include apple picking…because this pandowdy needs to be on your baking list for Saturday or Sunday. Again it’s really just an ooey, gooey, custardy apple pie…
Nothing beats this pandowdy, especially on a late September, cozy weekend in!
