apple pan dowdy

the historic apple pie that feeds a crowd-y!

Hello and happy November!

As someone who cooks and creates recipes professionally, living without a kitchen during our renovation has been ….. challenging, and also entertaining, as we introduce a host of new foods to a very curious 11-month-old in the midst of a construction site.

I’ve been traveling to my in-laws’ to work on recipes when I can, and things have been a little quiet on LideyLetter as I focus on the kitchen and a few upcoming recipe projects I’ll be able to share soon. Today, I’m excited to share an autumnal family recipe, or rather, a family-inspired recipe.

Apple pan dowdy is an old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch dessert that goes back to the colonial days of the United States. It was famously a favorite of Abigail Adams. I’ve read that the dessert gets its name from the act of “dowdying” the crust, or breaking it into pieces, just before serving, and also from the the idea that pie looks ‘dowdy’ after the crust is all broken up. The beauty of apple pan dowdy is that the broken pieces of pie crust absorb the juices below, thickening the filling as it cools and becoming soft and tender.

A.P.D. (Apple pan dowdy!) is not a dessert I grew up eating, but one I grew up hearing about from my dad. His mother, my grandmother, used to make it, and it was a dish that had been a tradition in my family for generations. I wanted to bring back that tradition by trying my hand at my own (slightly updated!) version.

Rather than topping apples with one large sheet of pie dough, I decided to cut the pie dough into irregularly sized pieces before arranging them over the filling, forming a patchwork like effect with lots of crispy, buttery edges. The result is a dessert that feels slightly less “dowdy”-looking, (what a word!) though you can still mash up the crust to your heart’s desire when eating.

I serve apple pan dowdy as I would an apple crisp, spooning it into bowls and topping it with scoops of vanilla ice cream. The ice cream begins to melt just as the crust softens in the juicy, spiced apple filling… pure apple pie heaven.

This would be a fun (and shortcut!) alternative to classic apple pie on Thanksgiving, and it feeds a crowd. Because my recipe uses store-bought pie crust, it’s also perfect for beginner bakers. Though, if you’re feeling particularly Abigail Adams, you can make the crust from scratch, using my recipe for homemade pastry crust from my chocolate banana cream pie recipe.)

I hope you’ll decide to give this recipe a try. if you do, let me know what you think in the comments below. As always, an enormous and heartfelt thank-you to my paid subscribers. Your support is what makes everything I share on LideyLetter possible.

xox Lidey

Apple Pan Dowdy