Apple Pie with Modern Bird Bakery

Modern Bird Bakery is a husband and wife team out of Traverse City, MI. They produce a variety of delicious scones, breads, morning buns, and of course, pies! We joined with The Four to give some tips for holiday baking (Here’s the clip). Don’t forget to pre-order your Thanksgiving pie from them at modernbirdbakery.com!

Cream Cheese Pie Dough 

• 1.25C All Purpose flour
• 8 TB butter
• 8 TB cream cheese
• 1 tsp granulated sugar 
• 1/2tsp salt 

Use a mixer to cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth. 
Add remaining ingredients and mix just until combined — be careful not to over mix.
Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and divide into two pieces. Flatten into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
Flour surface and rolling pin, working with one disk at a time roll gently from the center of the dough to the top and bottom. Rotate the disk and roll to the top and bottom edges again. Re-flour the surface and rolling pin as needed and continue to roll and rotate until the dough is about 12 inches in diameter. 

Apple Pie Filling

• 2C apple cider
• 1/3C brown sugar
• 3TB cornstarch 
• 2TB lemon juice
• 1TB vanilla
• 1/4tsp cinnamon
• 1/8tsp nutmeg
• 4-5 apples (Northern Spy, Honeycrisp & Mutsu)

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• 1TB water
• 1TB milk 

Heat apple cider over medium heat in a small pot and cook until it begins to thicken and is reduced to 1 cup. Let cool.
Peel apples and slice, add remaining ingredients to apple slices and toss together to incorporate everything. 

To assemble:

Place bottom crust into pie pan. Brush crust with an egg wash and add apple filling.

Finish with lattice top:

Use a knife to slice top crust into even strips, about 2 inches. Take one strip and place across the widest point of the pie pan. Place other strips parallel to it, about a 1/2 inch apart. Fold back halfway every other strip, then place a strip perpendicular to them. Fold down strips and fold up the others to nestle in other horizontal strips. Continue until top crust is complete. Trim excess dough and crimp. Brush top with egg wash and raw sugar, if desired.

Bake 375 for 15 minutes, 350 for 15 minutes and then 325 for 10 minutes or until apple filling is bubbling up through the crust. 

Tips for Lattice 

  1. Work with cold dough, the colder the dough the easier it is to manipulate.
  2. Roll and cut thicker pieces of lattice, 2-3 inches in width. This will make it much easier to use and more forgiving when layering your pieces.
  3. Egg wash and sprinkle raw sugar on top before baking, gives it a nice golden color and wonderful texture. 

Emily Stewart is the co-owner of Modern Bird Bakery. Learn more at www.modernbirdbakery.com

Interested in our other features with the Four? See them here:
Four Foodie Things
Benefits of Buying Local
• The Best Northern Michigan Cheeses