Page 62 - United States of Pie

Dutch Apple Sack Pie

They grow a lot of apples in the Northeast, and therefore they
bake quite a lot of apple pies. Countless cookbooks tout apple pie
recipes that claim to be the most delicious, the most flavorful, or the
most time-tested—but this is the most unusual recipe that I have
come across. It is a single-crusted pie with a streusel topping—both

features of a typical Dutch-style apple pie. Sounds rather
unremarkable, right? But it’s not what goes into this pie that makes it
exceptional—it’s how you bake it. Once you’ve assembled the pie,
you place it in a brown paper bag—a regular old grocery store bag
does the trick—and seal it. The pie steams as it bakes, and the end
result is fruit that is oh-so-tender. If you grew up in a house that was
anything like mine, your parents probably kept a pile of brown paper

grocery bags stacked under the kitchen sink or in a kitchen
cupboard. I only wish that I had known about this pie when I was
younger. Life would have been sweeter.

½ recipe Standard Pie Dough

For the filling
4 large baking apples, such as Granny Smith or Pippin,
peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch slices (approximately 5
cups)

½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Juice of ½ medium lemon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the streusel topping