Apple Pandowdy (Old New England Pan Dowdy)
Apples with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, molasses and butter baked between two crusts in a square pan at 425°F, then the top crust is slashed and pushed down into the juices in rough chunks, "dowdied", so it turns half crisp, half pudding.
Pandowdy is a pie that gets wrecked on purpose. King Arthur Baking's history of old American fruit desserts quotes the company's own Baking Sheet newsletter of 1991, which called Apple Pan Dowdy a traditional American dish whose heyday was the 1800s and early 1900s. The name, it says, comes from the last step: the hostess takes a fork and "dowdies" the crust, breaking it into pieces that stay crisp even half sunk in the juicy filling. Some, it adds, call it a cousin of British steamed puddings, and the folklorist Emily Hilliard offers other theories for the word: from "dough", or from an old British word, "pandoulde", for custard.
Pandowdy belongs to a whole New England family with odd names. King Arthur's history says grunts and slumps are the same thing, fruit cooked under spoonfuls of biscuit dough, and that Louisa May Alcott reportedly nicknamed her home "Apple Slump". The apple brown betty, layered with buttered crumbs, is a close cousin: Wikipedia says it was first mentioned in print in 1864 and was a favorite White House dessert of Ronald and Nancy Reagan). This recipe is King Arthur's, made here with molasses, one of its three choices of sweetener.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Apples with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, molasses and butter baked between two crusts in a square pan at 425°F, then the top crust is slashed and pushed down into the juices in rough chunks, "dowdied", so it turns half crisp, half pudding.
🇬🇧 The original
England baked apple pies centuries before America: a short pastry crust filled with apples, sugar and spice, the line that settlers carried across the Atlantic. See the English Apple Pie (Cooking Apples Under a Pastry Lid) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Dowdying
Breaking the baked crust into the hot juices lets it soak up the liquid as it cools, so the dish sets into something between a pie and a pudding, as King Arthur describes.
Big pieces
Keeping the chunks about 2 inches leaves crisp edges sticking out of the soaked middle, so every spoonful has both textures.
Watch it in 60 seconds
Step by step
- Step 1
Make the crust: whisk the flour and salt, work in the shortening until evenly crumbly, then work in the butter in 1/2-inch cubes, leaving some larger pieces. Drizzle in 4 tbsp ice water, toss, and add more a little at a time just until the dough holds together when squeezed. Divide it into two disks, one slightly larger, wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Step 2
Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the lowest position and lightly grease a 9-by-9-inch pan. Roll out the larger disk and fit it into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Step 3
Toss the apples with the sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and spoon them into the crust. Stir the water into the molasses, pour it over the apples and dot with the butter.
- Step 4
Roll out the second disk, lay it over the filling and seal the edges to the bottom crust. Brush with the milk and sprinkle with the sugar.
- Step 5
Bake on the lowest rack 45 minutes. Lower the oven to 325°F and bake until the top crust is deeply browned and the juices bubble at the edges, about 10 to 15 minutes more.
- Step 6
Cool on a rack 5 minutes. Cut random slits all the way through the top crust, then, with a fork and a spoon, lift pieces of crust, top and bottom, and push them down into the filling in rough 2-inch chunks. That is "dowdying".
- Step 7
Let it cool until just warm before serving; very hot, it is runny. Refrigerate leftovers, covered, up to 5 days.
Apple Pandowdy (Old New England Pan Dowdy)
Serves 9 · one 9-by-9-inch pan · 1 hr 40 min total
Crust (King Arthur's Classic Double Pie Crust)
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 cup (46 g) vegetable shortening
- 10 tbsp (142 g) very cold unsalted butter
- 6 to 10 tbsp ice water
Filling
- 8 cups (907 g) peeled, cored apples, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 cup (99 g) sugar
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (170 g) molasses (or 1/2 cup boiled cider or maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup (57 g) water
- 3 tbsp (43 g) butter, cut into bits
Topping
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
Method
- Make the crust: whisk the flour and salt, work in the shortening until evenly crumbly, then work in the butter in 1/2-inch cubes, leaving some larger pieces. Drizzle in 4 tbsp ice water, toss, and add more a little at a time just until the dough holds together when squeezed. Divide it into two disks, one slightly larger, wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the lowest position and lightly grease a 9-by-9-inch pan. Roll out the larger disk and fit it into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Toss the apples with the sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and spoon them into the crust. Stir the water into the molasses, pour it over the apples and dot with the butter.
- Roll out the second disk, lay it over the filling and seal the edges to the bottom crust. Brush with the milk and sprinkle with the sugar.
- Bake on the lowest rack 45 minutes. Lower the oven to 325°F and bake until the top crust is deeply browned and the juices bubble at the edges, about 10 to 15 minutes more.
- Cool on a rack 5 minutes. Cut random slits all the way through the top crust, then, with a fork and a spoon, lift pieces of crust, top and bottom, and push them down into the filling in rough 2-inch chunks. That is "dowdying".
- Let it cool until just warm before serving; very hot, it is runny. Refrigerate leftovers, covered, up to 5 days.
Adapted from King Arthur Baking, "Apple Pan Dowdy" by Julia Zampine (updated August 16, 2023), one 9-by-9-inch pan, 9 servings. We follow it as written: 1 recipe of King Arthur's Classic Double Pie Crust, chilled at least 1 hour, the larger piece lining the pan; 8 cups (907 g) apples sliced 1/4 inch thick, tossed with 1/2 cup (99 g) sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg; 1/2 cup boiled cider, molasses (170 g) or maple syrup stirred with 1/4 cup (57 g) water and poured over; 3 tbsp (43 g) butter in bits; the top crust sealed, brushed with 2 tbsp milk and sprinkled with 1 tbsp sugar; 45 minutes at 425°F on the lowest rack, then 325°F until well browned; 5 minutes cooling, then random slits cut through the top and the crust pushed into the filling in roughly 2-inch pieces with a fork and spoon; served warm, refrigerated up to 5 days. The crust follows King Arthur Baking, "Classic Double Pie Crust": (2 1/2 cups or 300 g flour, 1 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup or 46 g shortening, 10 tbsp or 142 g very cold butter, 6 to 10 tbsp ice water, chilled at least 30 minutes). King Arthur gives no time for the 325°F stage; our 10 to 15 minutes is an estimate. History from King Arthur Baking's blog, "Apple grunts, apple slumps, and even more ways to think beyond pie" (Rossi Anastopoulo, October 11, 2021): and Wikipedia, "Brown Betty (dessert)":). King Arthur Baking. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- King Arthur: boiled cider and maple syrup give the richest flavor; molasses gives a deeper, more robust one.
- Expect plenty of juice before dowdying; the crust absorbs it as it cools.
- Serve it warm, straight from the pan (King Arthur), with cream or vanilla ice cream (our suggestion).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The name comes from "dowdying" the crust. Disputed: King Arthur's 1991 Baking Sheet says so; the folklorist Emily Hilliard, quoted by King Arthur, suggests "dough" or the British "pandoulde", a custard.
- Pandowdy is a colonial dessert. Disputed: King Arthur's 1991 Baking Sheet puts its heyday in the 1800s and early 1900s; a first-in-print date of 1805 attributed to John Mariani reached us only secondhand.
- Grunts and slumps are the same dessert. Documented as King Arthur's account: the names are interchangeable.
- Louisa May Alcott called her house "Apple Slump". Folklore: King Arthur says she "reportedly" did.
- The apple brown betty is colonial. Disputed: Wikipedia says it was first mentioned in print in 1864, and Mrs Beeton printed a similar English pudding in 1861.
Every other apple pie
English Apple Pie (Cooking Apples Under a Pastry Lid)
Chunks of tart cooking apples with honey, cinnamon and mixed spice piled into a deep pie dish under a single lid of butter shortcrust, glazed with egg and baked hot at 400°F until golden and bubbling.
Wiener Apfelstrudel (Viennese Apple Strudel)
A soft egg and oil dough stretched over a floured tablecloth until it's paper thin, brushed with butter, layered with hazelnut breadcrumbs fried in butter, sliced apples, rum-soaked raisins, cinnamon and cloves, rolled up and baked at 350°F until golden.
Tarte Tatin (French Upside-Down Apple Tart)
Apple quarters packed in a skillet and softened in butter, covered with a light amber caramel cooked to 355°F, topped with a chilled disk of butter pastry, baked at 350°F until the edges bubble thick and syrupy, then flipped onto a platter.
Appeltaart (Dutch Apple Pie)
A tall springform pie with a cookie-like brown sugar crust pressed in by hand, packed with precooked Golden Delicious apples, golden raisins and speculaas-style spices, topped with a crisscross of dough strips and baked at 375°F for about 75 minutes. Served "met slagroom", with whipped cream.
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Sharlotka (Russian Apple Sponge Cake)
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Classic American Apple Pie (Double Crust)
Eight cups of thin-sliced apples tossed with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, thickened with flour and cornstarch and dotted with butter, sealed between two flaky butter and shortening crusts, baked at 425°F and then 375°F until the filling bubbles hard through the vents.
Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie (Crumb Top)
One flaky shortening crust filled with 2 pounds of apples tossed with sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, covered with a lumpy brown sugar and butter streusel instead of a top crust, baked at 425°F and then 350°F.
Vermont Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust
A butter crust with grated sharp Vermont cheddar folded in, filled with sliced apples, sugar, maple syrup and apple pie spice, layered with thin slices of more cheddar under the top crust and baked at 375°F until browned. Vermont's 1999 state pie law names cheddar as one way to serve it.
Southern Fried Apple Pies (Dried-Apple Hand Pies)
Dried apples simmered soft and mashed with sugar and cinnamon, spooned onto 5-inch rounds of lard pastry, folded into half-moons, crimped with a fork and fried in lard at 350°F until blistered and lightly browned.
Skillet Apple Crisp (One-Pan, About an Hour)
Apple wedges sautéed in butter in one ovensafe skillet and coated with reduced cider, covered with a pecan, oat and brown sugar crumble made with melted butter, and baked hot at 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes until the fruit is tender and the top deep golden.
Fried Apple Hand Pies (Inspired by McDonald's, Not Official)
A copycat of the original fried fast food apple pie, inspired by McDonald's, not official: diced apples sautéed in browned butter with brown sugar and cinnamon, sealed in rectangles of pie dough and deep-fried at 375°F until golden and shatteringly crisp.
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