Apple Pie with Pre-Cooked Filling

Cook apples with butter

Melt butter in a large saute pan set over medium-high heat and add apples to the pan. Stir to coat fruit with butter and cook, stirring occasionally.

Add spices and sugar

Whisk together the allspice, cinnamon, salt and 3/4 cup sugar, and sprinkle this over the pan, stirring to combine. Lower heat and cook until apples have started to soften, just 5 to 7 minutes.

Thicken filling

Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch over the apples and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, another 2 minutes.

Cool filling

Remove pan from heat, add lemon juice or vinegar, stir and scrape fruit mixture into a bowl and allow to cool completely. (The fruit mixture will cool faster if spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.)

Preheat oven

Place a large baking sheet on the middle rack of oven and preheat to 425°F.

Roll bottom crust

Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator and, using a pin, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 12 inches in diameter. Fit this crust into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming it to leave a 1/2-inch overhang. Place this plate, with the dough, in the freezer.

Roll top crust

Roll out the remaining dough on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 10 or 11 inches in diameter.

Fill and seal pie

Remove pie crust from freezer and put the cooled pie filling into it. Cover with remaining dough. Press the edges together, trim the excess, then crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Using a sharp knife, cut three or four steam vents in the top of the crust.

Apply egg wash

Lightly brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Initial bake

Place pie in oven and bake on hot baking sheet for 20 minutes at 425°F.

Finish baking

Reduce temperature to 375°F. Continue to cook until the interior is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes more.

Cool pie

Remove and allow to cool on a windowsill or kitchen rack, about two hours.