Candy Apple Pie — The Taste of Halloween When You Keep It Simple

Halloween week. Mason's paleontologist costume is assembled: khaki shorts, a vest with pockets, a magnifying glass from the dollar store, and a toy dinosaur bone that he carries like a artifact. He has been in character all week, examining rocks in the backyard and declaring them "potentially Cretaceous" with no evidence whatsoever. I love him.

Lily's horse costume is complete and, if I do say so myself, magnificent. Brown felt body suit, cardboard head with a mane made from brown yarn, a tail attached to the back. She put it on and immediately started galloping around the house, making horse noises that sounded more like a broken lawnmower but which she insisted were "totally accurate." The cats fled. Hank watched with the weary acceptance of a dog who has seen everything. I followed her with my phone, recording, because this is the kind of footage that becomes precious in ten years, when she's fourteen and would rather die than wear a homemade horse costume.

Trick-or-treating on Tuesday night. Just me and the kids this year — no Scott. We walked the Bench neighborhood, Mason with his magnifying glass inspecting every pumpkin on every porch, Lily galloping from door to door and introducing herself as "a horse named Lightning" to every person who opened the door. Some played along. One elderly man said, "That's the best horse I've ever seen," and Lily looked at me with an expression that said, "SEE? I told you this costume was accurate." It was not accurate. It was wonderful.

Mason sorted his candy on the living room floor — the annual ritual — and Lily dumped hers out and immediately ate a Kit Kat without removing the wrapper. She just bit through the foil. I have failed as a parent in this one specific way and I accept it.

I made caramel apples. Not the fancy kind with chocolate and sprinkles and fifteen dollars of toppings — the simple kind, just apple and caramel, the kind Mom used to make with apples from the orchard on the road to Filer. Granny Smiths, tart and crisp, dipped in hot caramel and set on wax paper to cool. Mason ate his slowly, turning it, getting caramel on his nose. Lily ate the caramel and abandoned the apple, which is on-brand.

The caramel apples were gone almost before they cooled — Mason’s eaten with ceremony, Lily’s eaten in the most Lily way possible — and I found myself thinking about how that simple combination of tart apple and warm caramel is really all Halloween needs to taste like itself. So the next day, with a few Granny Smiths still sitting on the counter, I turned that same idea into a Candy Apple Pie: all the flavors of those sticky, wax-paper apples my mom used to make, baked into something the whole table could sit down to together.

Candy Apple Pie

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min | Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 1 double-crust pie dough (homemade or store-bought), chilled
• 6 medium Granny Smith apples (about 3 lbs), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• 1 tablespoon coarse sugar (for topping)
• Caramel Drizzle: 1/2 cup store-bought caramel sauce, warmed, for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and place a foil-lined baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips.
2. Make the filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla until evenly coated. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes so the apples release some of their juice.
3. Roll the bottom crust. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit it into a 9-inch pie plate, letting the edges hang over the rim. Refrigerate while you prep the top crust.
4. Fill the pie. Pour the apple filling into the chilled crust, mounding it slightly in the center. Dot the top of the filling evenly with the small pieces of butter.
5. Add the top crust. Roll the second disc of dough into a 12-inch circle. Drape it over the filling. Trim both crusts to about a 1-inch overhang, then fold the edges under and crimp firmly to seal. Cut 6 small vents in the top crust with a sharp knife.
6. Egg wash and sugar. Brush the top crust evenly with the beaten egg, then sprinkle with coarse sugar for a golden, sparkly finish.
7. Bake. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 30–35 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the crust edges brown too quickly, tent them loosely with foil.
8. Cool and serve. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing — this lets the filling set. Serve warm or at room temperature with a generous drizzle of warm caramel sauce over each slice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 68g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 280mg