Vegan Apple Pie — The Recipe That Holds the Table Together When You’re Living Two Lives at Once

The book is a month old and the world has not stopped spinning, which is both a relief and a disappointment, because a small part of me expected the publication of "The Chain Doesn't Break" to alter the axis of the earth, or at least the axis of the Long Island food scene, and instead what happened was: the book was published, the reviews were kind, the readers wrote letters, and the brisket continued to braise at the same temperature for the same six hours, which is exactly as it should be, because the book is about the brisket and not the other way around.

I have done four readings now — Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Oceanside library, and the Jewish Community Center in Great Neck — and each reading is the same and different: the same chapter (the brisket chapter, always the brisket chapter, because the brisket chapter is the one that makes people cry and crying is what readings are for), different audiences, different questions, different women who come up afterward and say, "You wrote about my mother." I say, "I wrote about my mother." They say, "She's the same mother." And she is. Every Jewish mother is the same mother, standing at the same stove, making the same soup, saying the same thing: eat. You look thin. Eat.

I visited Marvin every day this week. The visits are the ground. The book is the sky. The ground and the sky are both necessary, and the woman who lives between them — the woman who reads at bookstores at night and feeds her husband by hand at two in the afternoon — that woman is me, and the being-both is the life, and the life is the chain.

There is no brisket recipe I can give you — the brisket belongs to the book, to my mother, to the six hours of braising that no written recipe could fully carry — but there is this pie, which I have been making on the nights I come home from readings, because the oven is warm and the apartment is quiet and Marvin is sleeping and I need something that asks only that I peel and slice and wait. Apples are the oldest Jewish comfort I know after soup, and this version, which asks nothing of butter or eggs, is the one I make when I want to feel like I am still feeding someone even when the feeding is just feeding myself. It keeps for days, which is something I have come to value more than I once did.

Vegan Apple Pie

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• For the crust:
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold vegan butter (such as Earth Balance), cut into small cubes
• 6–8 tablespoons ice water
• For the filling:
• 6 cups peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples (about 6 medium apples; a mix of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp works well)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• For finishing:
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened plant-based milk (for brushing)
• 1 tablespoon coarse sugar (optional, for topping)

Instructions

1. Make the crust. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold vegan butter and use a pastry cutter or your fingertips to work it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition, until the dough just comes together and holds when pressed. Do not overwork it. Divide into two equal disks, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Prepare the filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until evenly coated. Set aside to macerate while you roll the crust.
3. Preheat and roll. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough into a 12-inch circle. Carefully transfer it to a 9-inch pie dish, letting the excess hang over the edges. Pour the apple filling in evenly, mounding it slightly in the center.
4. Top the pie. Roll out the second disk of dough into a 12-inch circle. Lay it over the filling, or cut it into strips for a lattice top. Trim any excess dough to about 1 inch beyond the rim, then fold and crimp the edges together to seal. If using a solid top crust, cut several small slits to allow steam to escape.
5. Brush and bake. Brush the top crust with plant-based milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Place the pie on a baking sheet (to catch any drips) and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and continue baking for an additional 35 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents.
6. Cool before slicing. Remove from the oven and let the pie cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing. This allows the filling to set so it doesn’t run when cut. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 410 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 60g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 310mg