Salted Apple Pretzel Pie Food

SALTED APPLE PRETZEL PIE

Steps:

• Make the pretzel dough:
• Grease a very large bowl with butter. Add 1/2 cup warm water (100-115°F) to the bowl of a stand mixer or another large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Let yeast bloom until foamy, 5-7 minutes.
• Stir in bread flour, beer, sea salt, and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter with a wooden spoon or spatula. Continue to stir until a shaggy mass forms. Mix with dough hook on medium-low speed until dough forms a smooth ball, about 2 minutes. Dough should be firm and might be a little tacky, but not sticky. If dough is still sticky, add flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time, mixing until smooth. If dough is too dry, add warm water 1 tsp. at a time. Continue to mix on medium-low speed until dough is elastic, 5-7 minutes. (Alternatively, turn out dough onto an unfloured work surface and knead by hand.)
• Transfer dough to prepared bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 275°F. Line a small rimmed baking sheet or pie pan with foil. Sprinkle baking soda, if using, onto sheet and bake 1 hour. Let cool.
• Fill a small stainless steel pot or skillet (not aluminum, copper, or nonstick) with 1 cup water. Add baking soda and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve baking soda. Let cool.
• Make the pie filling:
• Peel, core, and slice apples into 1/4"-thick wedges. Transfer apples to a large pot and add sugar, all-purpose flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, kosher salt, and 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are softened but still have a little bite, 15-20 minutes. If bottom starts to brown, reduce heat to medium-low and add water, 1 Tbsp. at a time. Let cool to room temperature.
• Make the pie:
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter a 10" cast-iron skillet. Punch down dough on an unfloured surface to deflate, then divide in half (an easy way to do this is to use a scale and divide by weight). Return one half to greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap while you work on the other piece.
• Using a rolling pin, roll dough to a 13" circle. Settle into prepared skillet and let dough relax into pan, just coming up and over the edge slightly. If it shrinks, stretch it by hand to create an even rim. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until increased in size by about 50%, 20-30 minutes.
• Divide second piece of dough into 3 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping remaining pieces on a rimmed baking sheet covered with plastic, roll on an unfloured surface to form 1 (36"-long) rope. Arrange rope in a U-shape with ends pointing away from you. Holding an end in each hand, cross ends, then fold them down toward you to create a pretzel shape about 11" wide. Return to rimmed baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Roll remaining 2 pieces to form 2 more (36"-long) ropes. Twist ropes tightly around each other to make a twisted rope about 35" long. Add to baking sheet with pretzel shape and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until increased in size by about 50%, 20-30 minutes.
• If dough has settled into skillet, stretch dough to come back up just to outside rim. Using a fork, evenly prick bottom of dough in pan. Brush dough all over with baking soda mixture, if using. Beat egg yolk with 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl, then brush dough with egg wash. Cover only outer rim of dough with foil. Bake dough in skillet until light golden brown and dry, 12-15 minutes. Let cool slightly, at least 5 minutes.
• Brush just outside rim of crust with egg wash and attach twisted dough rope to create a decorative rim. Fill crust with apple mixture. Center pretzel shape over apple filling, stretching dough until edges of pretzel reach twisted outside rim. Brush twisted dough rope and top of pretzel shape with baking soda mixture, if using, then egg wash. Sprinkle with pretzel salt.
• Bake pie until pretzel is golden brown and firm to the touch, 12-15 minutes. If underside of dough seems underbaked, loosely cover top with foil and continue to bake, checking every 2 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool completely before slicing, at least 2 hours.
• Do Ahead
• Pretzel dough can be made 1 day ahead. Let come to room temperature, then let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. Apple pie filling can be made 2 days ahead. Store in a resealable container and chill. Bring to room temperature before baking. Baking soda solution can be made 3 days ahead. Store in a resealable container at room temperature.

APPLE PIE WITH SALTED PECAN CRUMBLE

Steps:

• To make pie dough: In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Add butter and shortening, tossing gently until all pieces are coated with flour. With a pastry blender, cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, drizzling over flour mixture and tossing with a fork just until dough begins to hold together. Turn dough out onto a smooth surface and gather into a ball. Wrap in plastic; flatten into a disk. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• To make salted pecan crumble: In a food processor, combine flour, sugars, salt, cinnamon, and 1/3 cup pecans; process until pecans are ground. Add butter and pulse until mixture is crumbly. Transfer crumble to a medium bowl; add remaining 1/3 cup pecans and, using your hands, crumble and squeeze mixture to form larger clumps. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• On a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of waxed paper, roll out dough into an 1/8-inch-thick 12-inch round. Fold in half and ease gently into a 9-inch pie pan. Unfold dough, letting pastry overhang edge. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Fold under and flute or crimp edge. Refrigerate shell. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make apple filling: In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, and nutmeg until blended. Add apples and zest; toss until apples are evenly coated. Remove pie shell from refrigerator and spoon apple filling into it, mounding filling in center of pie. Sprinkle crumble evenly over top of pie, gently pressing into place; place pie on a baking sheet.
• Bake 1 1/2 hours, or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Dust top of pie with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Serve with vanilla whipped cream.
• To make vanilla whipped cream: In a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, and the scraped seeds from 1/2 split vanilla bean until soft billowy peaks form.

APPLE PIE STUFFED SOFT PRETZELS WITH STREUSEL

Steps:

• To prepare dough:.
• Proof yeast and the 1 TBS sugar in the 1 cup of warm water and allow to rest for 5 minutes until foamy.
• Mix the flours with 1/2 teaspoons salt and 2 TBS oil in bowl and then add proofed yeast mixture.
• Stir to form a shaggy dough.
• Place onto lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes until a smooth, but slightly sticky dough is formed.
• Place into a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and let sit until doubled (45-60 minutes).
• While waiting for the dough to rise prepare filling and streusel.
• To prepare filling:.
• Peel, core, and thinly (1/4" thick) slice the apples and then cut each slice into 8 pieces (I used my peeler/corer/slicer all in one contraption).
• Saute the apple pieces with 1/2 of the TBS of butter, the 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and the pinch of cloves until the apples are tender, but not mushy.
• Remove from heat and stir in the additional 1/2 TBS of butter.
• To prepare streusel:.
• Mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon together.
• With fork cut in the 4 TBS of butter to a crumb consistency.
• Stir in the chopped pecans.
• When dough has risen, punch down, place on lightly floured board, and cut into 8 equal pieces.
• With hands, roll each piece into a 15" long cylinder.
• Flatten the cylinder down with a rolling pin to measure 3" wide by 17" long.
• Place 1 1/2 TBS of the filling mixture along the length of each piece and fold the long edge over to meet the other side.
• Pinch along the seam to thoroughly enclose the filling.
• Roll the dough with your hands to form an even cylinder and fully encapsulate the filling.
• Take the two ends of each filled cylinder and form into a circle that is overlapped by a couple of inches of dough on either side, twist the ends and lay over the opposite side to form a pretzel shape and press to seal.
• Play with the shape a bit to get the right form and then place each one on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet.
• Repeat for all 8 pieces.
• Allow to rise on cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
• While they are rising, boil 2 cups of water and add 1/3 cup of baking soda.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Beat 1 egg white with 1 TBS water and lay it on a flat plate.
• Lay the streusel topping on a flat plate, too.
• When the pretzels have fully risen, drop one at a time into the boiling water and count to 10.
• Remove with a large slotted spatula/spoon to slightly drain and then drop onto the egg white, turn to coat, then drop into the streusel and turn to coat.
• Lay each completed pretzel back on the lined cookie sheet.
• Repeat this procedure until all pretzels are done.
• Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes (check on them at 12 minutes).
• Immediately remove from cookie sheets and place on racks to cool.
• *Note:I haven't including the rising time in the"Time To Make" category, but there are two rises for this dough.
• The first is 45-60 minutes and the second is 15 minutes.
• The recipe is written to make use of the rising times for preparing the filling and streusel.