This fantastic recipe comes from my friend Bill Stevens, also known as Mr. Bill. This is a pie he makes often for family and friends. Bill normally makes the pear version, but I made the apple pie. This is by far the best apple pie I have ever made or had in my life! The directions are detailed and I followed them exactly as written. If you do that, you will have the best apple or pear pie you’ve ever tasted.
Mr. Bill’s Apple or Pear Pie Baked in a Brown Paper Bag
(I always use a 9” glass pie dish—glass is the key to a better crust)
(I’ve made this in both Apple and also in Pear and I think the Pear comes out slightly better.)
Ingredients for Crust:
- 1 & 1/4 cups Flour (You can substitute King Arthur Gluten-free Flour.)
- 1/4 teaspoon (heaping) of Salt
- 3 tablespoons of (solid) Vegetable Shortening (Solid Shortening makes pie crust flakier.)
- 1/4 cup of COLD Unsalted Butter, cut into 1/2” pieces/pats (These also help to make your crust flakier)
- 4 to 5 tablespoons Ice Water
Ingredients for Filling:
- 3 & 1/2 to 4 Pounds of (Granny Smith) Apples - you’ll need to peel, then core and slice all of the apples. I use a potato peeler to peel them and then use an apple corer/slicer to do those two things at once. (If you are making Pear Pie —I use about 8 Bartlett Pears and you also have to peel, core, & slice the pears.)
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons of fresh Lemon Juice
- 3 tablespoons of Flour
Ingredients for Streusel Topping:
- 1/2 cup granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 1/2 cup COLD Butter, cut into pats
Directions:
- To make the Crust -Whisk together the Flour & Salt, then work in the (solid) Shortening until everything is well combined.
- Work in the pats of COLD Butter until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, some pieces of butter can be left a bit larger than the others.
- Add the ICE COLD Water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, mixing as you sprinkle the water onto the Flour/Shortening/Butter mixture.
- When the dough is moist enough to hold together when you squeeze it, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough three or four times to bring it together, then pat it into a thick disk. Roll the disk on its edge, like a wheel to smooth out the edges. (This step helps to ensure your dough will roll out evenly, without a lot of cracks and splits.) Wrap the disk of dough in Cling Wrap/Plastic Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, while you make the pie filling.
- To Make the Apple Pie Filling - Put the sliced apples in a large microwave safe bowl and stir in Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Salt, Nutmeg & Fresh Lemon Juice. (If you are making Pear Pie, you have to do all of the same steps, but it does not have to be in a microwave safe bowl. And for Pear Pie, you can now jump to Step 7.)
- Only do this step if you are making Apple Pie (Do Not Nuke your Pears! They are already softer than apples.) Microwave the Apple Pie Filling, uncovered for 5 minutes. This softens the apples and gets their juices flowing.
- Stir in the (3 Tablespoons) of Flour.
- Pre-Heat the oven to 425°F. (Before you turn your oven on, you’ll want to adjust your oven racks - you’ll want one on the very bottom with a large cookie sheet to catch any drippings and one rack just above the bottom where you’ll bake your pie.
- Remove the Crust from the Refrigerator. If it’s been chilling longer than 30 minutes, give it 10 minutes or so to warm up lightly. Roll it out into a 12 & 1/2” to 13” Circle.
- Lightly grease a 9” GLASS pie pan (it should be at least 1 & 1/2” deep), and lay the crust in the pan, setting it into place gently. Don’t tug or stretch it, this will cause it to shrink as it bakes.
- Spoon the Filling into the Crust (if making the apple pie, don’t use the excess juices after you microwave the apples - just the apple slices.)
- To make the Streusel Topping: Combine the Sugar, Flour and Butter, working them together with a wooden spoon or spatula until crumbly. Don’t over-mix them, you don’t want the streusel to turn into a solid mass.
- Spread the Streusel Topping all over the top of the filling.
- Place the Pie in a brown paper grocery bag. Secure the bag with either staples or uncoated/unpainted paper clips. Place the pie in its bag on a baking sheet and place in the oven on the rack that is one up from the bottom rack. Make sure that the brown paper bag is not touching any of the sides or the top of the oven. (If it does touch, then only keep the bottom rack in the oven and place the cookie sheet with the pie in its bag in that bottom rack.)
- Bake the pie for ONE HOUR and TEN Minutes.
- Remove the Pie from the Oven and carefully open the brown paper bag. (it will be brittle) - Caution there will be LOTS of HOT STEAM escaping, so be cautious. If you’d like the top of your pie to be slightly more brown, take it out of its bag and place the pie (this time without the paper bag) on its cookie sheet and pop back into the oven for about 10 minutes.)
As you can see, this is a beautifully well-written recipe. Basically, it is three steps: Crust/Filling/Topping. I made my crust the night before I made the filling and topping, which saved time for the big preparation/cooking day. I read and re-read the recipe several times so I was familiar with what I needed (glass pan, microwave bowl for apple pie, and setting up the racks in the oven). The peeling and coring of the apples took about 2 minutes or so per apple. I took the crust out of the refrigerator a bit more than 10 minutes, only because I left it in overnight. This crust rolled out perfectly. I got it right the first time! I am going to use this crust recipe as my “go-to” for all of my future pies. I will just double it for a 2-crust pie.
The taste of this pie is so incredible! My sister and I were in heaven! All I can say is please make Mr. Bill’s Apple or Pear Pie Baked in a Brown Paper Bag! It is totally worth your time and is a wonderful way to show your love to your family and friends. Thank you so much, Bill, for allowing me share your recipe on my blog!
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