Rosemary Bourbon Apple Pie

I must admit as a food blogger I do not always write my recipes down in a special book or anything. They often get scribbled on a napkin or on the back of a semi-important document and then eventually end up in the compost pile or trash bin never to be seen again. One of my goals for the near future is to create a family cookbook where I can store all of my tried and true recipes once and for all. Which means most of my recipes are saved and documented on this website… and I was surprised to find last month that I had never documented my apple pie recipe! I mean, I use this recipe pretty often, and while I know it by heart I found myself questioning an ingredient the other day. So off I went on my own blog only to find it was not there. That certainly needed to change!

Apple pie is a big staple in our family, especially during autumn apple season. We picked apples in mid September to press cider, and I made sure to have our family set aside the prettiest ones for me to bake with. I am still not positive on all of the varieties we grow, but I think I may have settled a few of them to be Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, and Jonalicious. That’s what I used to make this pie!

Ingredients & Recipe:

• 2 homemade pie crusts

• 1.5 lbs sweet apples (we used a mix of Jonagold, Golden Delicious, and Jonalicious from our trees)

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp dried rosemary, cut and sifted

• 1 tbsp bourbon

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 4 tbsp butter, cubed

• 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk (for brushing the crust)

• coarse sugar for dusting

1. Prepare your pie crusts and chill. For fruit pies, pre-baking the crust is preferred but not totally necessary. I always pre-bake my pie crusts no matter what, and they turn out perfect every time because of this. For more information about making a perfect pie crust, click here.

2. Peel, core, and slice the apples into wedges. I use an apple peeler for this, but you can also do it by hand. Toss lightly with a little lemon juice to prevent browning.

3. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, rosemary, bourbon, and brown sugar until thoroughly coated.

4. Preheat your oven to 350.

5. While this is happening, it is smart to pre-bake your crust. Once pre-baked, brush with a light coat of egg wash. This will create a barrier between your crust and the filling so that it does not become soggy.

6. Fill the pie shell with the apple filling. I do not arrange mine perfectly, but I do smooth it out so there are no lumps under the top crust. Place the cubed 4 tbsp of butter on top of the filling.

7. Cover with your top crust, whether fully, latticed, or something different. Tuck in the edges and pinch closed. Slice into the top a few slits to allow air to escape while baking.

8. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

9. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the filling is bubbling and the crust has turned a beautiful golden brown.

10. Allow to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing and serve warm or chilled with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

This was the pie pictured from my Butter vs. Lard post a few weeks back. I made this one with a butter crust, and it way overruled the lard crust in my opinion. I would highly suggest making a butter crust for your apple pie!

Which apples do you like baking with the most? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo Kayla