I Tried Making Homemade McDonald’s Apple Pie | Claire Recreates

Summary by Krater

Claire Saffitz goes to a McDonald's drive-thru to buy Apple Pies, analyzes their construction, and recreates an elevated version in her kitchen using shortcrust pastry and a cooked apple filling.

From the video

Answers: How do you make a homemade McDonald's apple pie?

• McDonald's Apple Pie
• recreating fast food at home
• shortcrust pastry
• apple pie filling
• lattice pastry technique

Ingredients

• 390 g all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup ice water
• 2 Honeycrisp apples
• 2 Pink Lady apples
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Angostura bitters
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup apple juice
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• milk

What it concludes

• McDonald's apple pie uses a pastry that is crumbly, pale, and tastes of oil and cinnamon with a thickened, spiced apple filling.
• Making shortcrust pastry with a food processor and cold ingredients yields a buttery pastry with good lamination and structure for hand pies.
• Macerating diced apples with sugar, spices, and bitters before cooking draws out juices for the pie filling.
• Brushing the lattice pastry tops with milk provides an even golden-brown browning and helps hydrate the surface in the oven.
• Homemade apple hand pies taste superior to store-bought versions because of the rich pastry flavor and generous apple filling.