Fresh Take on Thanksgiving Classic: Try this Prize-Winning Apple Pie Recipe From the Farmers Market

Looking for a fresh take on a classic Thanksgiving dessert?

Try this prize-winning apple pie recipe for Thanksgiving, courtesy of Down to Earth Markets.

It won first place at the Piermont Farmers Market, where 15 entries from local residents were judged by a trio of celebrity baking talents: Sylvia Welch, Peter Kelly, and Mark Taster.

Here’s the recipe. Check out the story behind it, too, on the Down to Earth Markets website.

Apple Crumb Pie with Bourbon-Soaked Figs and a Cheddar Crust

by Piermont Farmers Market Shopper Michele Langer Lynn

Pie Crust:

Makes enough dough for one double or two single-crust pies.

Prepare dough, leave enough time to chill for 3 hours or overnight

2 1/2 cups flour

6 oz. Yany’s Fancy’s XXX Sharp Cheddar shredded small & coarsely

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, well chilled

1 cup very cold iced water

Mix together dry ingredients. Chop 2 sticks of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces.

Coat the butter cubes in the flour mix. Blend them in with the pastry blender, scoop and redistribute the mixture until it gets to a crumbly texture, it should like small peas. Add cheddar cheese, mix it up until blended but still looks like the small peas.

Form the dough: Start by drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Add more water a tablespoon at a time. Use a rubber spatula, to mix the dough. Keep adding water bit by bit until you can grab it all together a form a dough ball. You need to grab it lightly so that the butter remains chilled.

Cut the dough in half, wrap each half tightly up in plastic. Chill the balls overnight, or no less the 3 hours. Roll dough out on well floured board into 1 12” diameter circle. Cut the dough circle using a knife and a plate that is about 12” as a stencil. You can roll out the extra dough pieces to make little shapes to decorate your pie using cookie cutters. You can adhere the shapes to the crust with the egg wash. Fill the pie with filling below. Brush the egg wash over the edges of the pie.

Apple and Fig Pie Filling:

5 small & 6 med peeled Cortland Apples and/or Macintosh Apples sliced into ¼ slices.

1/3 cup flour

1 cup Brown sugar

½ cup White sugar

2 squeezes strained lemon juice

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 pinches Salt

2 tsps. Vanilla

Mix all above in a large bowl, set aside

Fig Mixture

Do this the day before (or prepare in enough time chill)

Heat 8 dried figs, chopped small, with 1/3 cup Makers Mark Bourbon & ¼ cup 43 Liquor (you can use a tsp of vanilla as a substitute). Heat this until the figs are soft, then refrigerate until chilled.

Add these to the apple mixture.

Fill the pie crust with the apple fig filling.

Crumb Crust topping:

3/4 cold stick butter

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

2.5 oz Yancy’s Fancy XXX NY State Sharp Cheddar shredded small and coarsely

Mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of brown sugar, 3/4 stick of chilled cubed butter. Use a pastry blade to mix until it resembles a crumb topping. Take the remaining shredded cheddar, about ¾ cup, mix it in gently. Top this over the pie. There may be some extra you can use another day. It should keep well in the freezer.

Cover the edges of the pie with foil to prevent burning. Put pie onto a cookie sheet. Please it in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 365 and continue to cook for 30 min. remove foil and cook for 10-15 more until golden. Serve.