Grandma’s Famous Cast Iron Skillet Apple Pie Recipe

I made an apple pie yesterday. It was probably the biggest and best apple pie I ever made. My intention was to simply use up some apples, but when it came time to choose a recipe, I went for the gold. I really did. This apple pie is like none other I’ve ever made and I’m going to share my experience with you below.

The Recipe

I’m going to start off by telling you that you’ll need a large cast iron skillet for this recipe. This apple pie is constructed in layers and it doesn’t have an edge. I used my Lodge 12 inch cast iron skillet for this one. It worked out perfectly.

The best part about this entire recipe is the bottom layer of butter and brown sugar. As the pie cooks in the oven, these ingredients caramelize and harden to create a crunch directly underneath the bottom crust. That, combined with three layers of crust, 10 apples and a sugar and cinnamon combination makes the result out of this world. It’s an extremely tasty dessert and it’s remarkably simple to put together. This is one recipe to try.

Ingredients

Makes: 1 Apple Pie

1/2 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Butter, Divided
1 Cup Brown Sugar
10 Large Apples, Peeled, Cored and Quartered
3 Pre-Made 9-Inch Crusts, Thawed
1 1/4 Cups White Sugar
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’d like to thank AllRecipes for this recipe. Even though I changed things up a bit to make them flow better, this is one of the best apple pie recipes out there.

Prep the Apples & Sugar

This is the most difficult part of the entire recipe. Go ahead and peel all the apples, core them and cut them up in pieces.

Then, measure out the brown sugar and put it in a bowl.

Finally, combine the white sugar and the cinnamon in another bowl.

Pre-Heat Oven

Arrange one of your oven racks so it sits in the center position. Then, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the Butter & Cook Sugar

Warm the skillet over medium heat on your stove top. Then, add the 1/2 stick of butter and let it melt.

Once the butter is melted, add the brown sugar to the skillet and swirl it around a bit. Do this for about three minutes until it begins to dissolve.

Assemble the Pie

Next, place one pre-made pie crust over the brown sugar, as the bottom layer of the pie.

Add half of the apples as the next layer. On top of them, sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Then, place the next crust on top of these apples as an additional layer. And on top of that, spread the remaining apples out. After that, sprinkle another 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Finally, place the last crust on top of the last apple layer and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over it. You’ll need to make four slices in the crust to allow for the release of steam. I made these slices while the crust was on my counter top, which made things easier. Then, dice the tablespoon of butter and spread those dices over the crust and sugar. Your pie should look like the photo below.

Bake the Pie

Place the skillet on the center rack in your oven and bake for 45 minutes. The sugar on top should melt somewhat and the crust should begin to brown. Once that’s finished, remove the skillet from the oven and let it cool.

Slice & Serve

I’ll admit, the first piece of this pie is a little tough to get out of the pan. After that though, with a good metal spatula, you’ll have no issues with peeling each additional piece up. And with that, you’ll enjoy the nice crunchy bottom layer of caramelized brown sugar. There’s really no other way to make this pie.

The Final Apple Pie

Here’s what it looked like when I pulled it from the oven. It looked great and smelled great too. I had a piece last night and I have to say, it was awesome. This is the recipe for me, from now on. If you give this recipe a try, please leave a comment below letting me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading!