This version of the all-American favorite tastes so delectable that we may need to change the saying to, “as American as Smoked, Salted Caramel Apple Pie.” We smoked the cream to make the salted caramel, giving it an added level of richness that compliments the touch of savory from the coarse salt. Layering the apple pie filling with gooey caramel makes it thick and bubbly when roasted over fragrant hardwood. If you’ve never tried baking an apple pie over apple wood on your Traeger, you’re in for a treat.
SMOKED, SALTED CARAMEL APPLE PIE
DIFFICULTY: 3/5
PREP TIME:2 hours
COOK TIME: 45 minutes
RECOMMENDED PELLETS: Apple, Hickory
SERVES: 5-6
INGREDIENTS
Pie crust:
Your Favorite Pie Crust Recipe, or Premade Pie Crust
Salted Caramel:
2 cups Sugar
1 ¼ cup Light Corn Syrup
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
Apple Filling:
5 to 6 large Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 Lemons
1/3 cup Sugar
2 Tbsp. Corn Starch
¼ tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Allspice
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
1 egg
¼ cup milk
Raw Sugar (for sprinkling on top)
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
METHOD
- When ready to cook, start your Traeger on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes).
- Fill a large pan with ice and water. Pour the cream into a smaller, shallow pan. Place the pan with the cream in the ice bath and place them both on the Traeger to smoke for one hour.
- To make the caramel, combine the sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it coats the back of your spoon, then stir in ½ cup of the smoked cream. Keep stirring until it is starts to turn a copper color, and then add the remaining cream, vanilla, and salt.
- To prepare the filling, in a large bowl, stir together the apple slices and the juice of 2 lemons. Next, add the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. To assemble the pie, gather the pie crust, salted caramel and apple filling. Place one of the pie crusts into the pie plate. Spoon 1/3 of the filling into the bottom of the crust, pour 1/3 of the caramel over the apples, repeating this 3 times (reserve some of the caramel to drizzle over the finished pie). Lay the top crust over the filling, then crimp the top and bottom crusts together. Whisk together the egg and the milk. Make slits in the top crust to release the steam and finish by brushing with the egg and milk mixture. Sprinkle with the raw sugar and sea salt.
- When ready to cook, start the Traeger on smoke until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Set the temperature to 375°F and pre heat, lid closed (10 to 15 minutes).
- Place the pie on the grill and cook it for 20 minutes @ 375 degrees, after 20 minutes reduce the heat to 325 and cook for 25 more minutes. When ready, the crust should be golden brown and the filling, bubbly. Remove the pie from the grill and let cool. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the cooled pie. Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
PRINTABLE RECIPE: