it’s skillet apple pie, y’all!

This is a wonderful recipe to bring to Thanksgiving.  It’s great because it will stay warm for an hour after you remove it from the oven!  Apple Pandowdy, what a silly name, eh?  I had to look up what the hell a pandowdy was, and frankly I think this old timey dessert was definitely before my time and also out of my region.  Wiki states pandowdy hails from the New England states and our Canadian neighbors to the North.  Pandowdy supposedly gets it’s name from the noise the dough makes while it’s baking.  I didn’t hear any dough noises, but I sure did grunt a lot while lifting this heavy cast iron pan in and out of the oven!  This recipe is from Saveur and it seems the trend is still all old things are new again, so pandowdy it is!

note the melty ice cream rivers…

People, if someone makes this recipe for you, it means they really, really LOVE you.  I mean, peeling, coring and chopping 12 apples made my hands cramp!  My preggo swollen feet were pretty tired when all was said and done.  However, it’s totally worth it, especially because I made it in celebration for my own veteran today, my special guy, my smarty pants, my cooking inspiration, the love of my life; my hubs.  He said it was @#&*!@! amazing and especially liked that the apples were soft yet solid and not sour.  He also noted: the crust squares were buttery, flaky and are melt-in-your-mouth-delicious!  I served it to him warm with vanilla ice cream, then watched as the vanilla melted little tributaries of cream into the apple juices.  YUM.

mmmmm pandowdy!

If you know a vet, I’ll bet he or she would greatly appreciate this recipe; not just on this Tuesday, Veteran’s Day, but any day of the week!  Ok, enough patriotic sentiment.  Let’s get the dough going and into the fridge so it can chill.  In a food processor (or you can do like the early settlers and cavemen did and use your hands with a pastry cutter), pulse flour, 12 tablespoons butter (reserving 3 for later), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt until you have peas-sized crumbles.  Add the 3 tablespoons of water and let the processor wiz up the ingredients until dough forms.  Place dough onto a piece of plastic wrap in the form of a disc and set in fridge for at least a half hour to chill.  I’ve always said the hardest part about making dough is washing the stupid food processor afterwards.  Dough takes 3 minutes to make!  Food processor?  20 minutes to clean.  Sigh.  After you’ve finished complaining about food processor maintenance and washed the food processor, no doubt almost 30 minutes have passed.  Start rolling out the dough.  Roll it into as much of a square as you can.  The goal is to get nine 3″ squares out of the dough.

the snowflake is a tester 🙂

You want the dough a little thick, like right between 1/4 of an inch and 1/2 of an inch.  I had to regroup and re-roll two times to get all nine squares.  Place the dough squares onto a baking sheet and put them back into the fridge to get nice and cold again.

get ready for some hand cramps!

Let’s start the apple prep because trust me, it’s going to take a while to peel all these apples!  Preheat the oven to 375.  Wash and dry your apples, peel them and remove the core.  To slice, cut the apple into quarters, and then each quarter into thirds.  If that math is hard (trust me, with preggo brain sometimes it is – we found the tv remote in the fridge a few days ago); one apple should yield twelve slices.  In a large 12″ cast iron skillet over medium heat, carefully stir together the apple slices, remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup of apple cider, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, 1 1/2 tablespoons of molasses, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.  Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Arrange the cold dough squares over the apples and brush with cream.

pandowdy-riffic!

Bake pandowdy at 375 for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, using the back of a large wooden spoon, press the buttery squares back into the simmering apples so they can soak up the juices.  Place the skillet back into the 375 degree oven for another 18-24 minutes.  Keep an eye on it and remove the skillet from the oven once the squares have browned.  Let cool for 20 minutes or so then serve with really good vanilla ice cream.

nicely browned and piping hot!

From the cover of Saveur’s December 2014 issue.

Apple Pandowdy

Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 10 minutes minutes
Bake time: 38-44 minutes
Serves: 6-8 people

Print This Recipe!

Method:

1. In a food processor pulse flour, 12 tablespoons of butter (reserving 3 for later), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt until peas-sized crumbles have formed.  Add 3 tablespoons of water and let the processor wiz up the ingredients until dough comes together.  Place dough onto a piece of plastic wrap in the form of a disc and set in fridge for at least a half hour to chill.
2. After 30 minutes have passed begin to roll out the dough.  Roll it into a square; the goal is to get nine 3″ squares out of the dough 1/6″ thick.
3. Place the dough squares onto a baking sheet and put them back into the fridge to get nice and cold again.
4. Preheat the oven to 375.
5. Wash and dry your apples, peel them and remove the core.  To slice, cut the apple into quarters, and then each quarter into thirds.
6. In a large 12″ cast iron skillet over medium heat, carefully stir together the apple slices, remaining 3 tablespoons butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup apple cider, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.  Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Arrange the cold dough squares over the apples and brush with cream.
7. Bake pandowdy at 375 for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, using the back of a large wooden spoon, press the buttery squares back into the simmering apples so they can soak up the juices.  Place the skillet back into the 375 degree oven for another 18-24 minutes, or until the crust is well browned.
8. Serve with good vanilla ice cream.