The Ultimate Homemade Apricot Pie: Mastering the Flaky Crust and Delectable Filling

Embark on a delightful baking journey with this exquisite Apricot Pie recipe. Whether crafted as a grand centerpiece or charming mini hand pies, the result is consistently delectable: a perfect harmony of sweet, tart, and buttery flavors, enveloped in a crust that is truly a marvel. Forget store-bought shortcuts; this recipe not only guides you to a pie of unparalleled taste but also unveils the simple secret to achieving that coveted, perfectly flaky pie crust – it’s far easier than you might imagine!

Crafting Your Apricot Pie: Essential Ingredients

Creating this irresistible Apricot Pie begins with a careful selection of ingredients. While the star of the show is, of course, the vibrant apricot, the foundation of any great pie is its crust. You might be tempted by a store-bought option, but trust me, a homemade pie crust is one of the simplest and most rewarding things to make from scratch. The flavor and texture are leagues above anything you can buy, and with my easy stand mixer method detailed in the full recipe, you’ll wonder why you ever considered pre-made.

Beyond the fundamental crust, the magic happens in the filling. I find that incorporating a thoughtful blend of spices elevates the fruit’s natural sweetness and tartness, adding warmth and complexity. For this apricot pie, I’ve chosen a harmonious trio: fragrant ginger, warming nutmeg, and classic cinnamon. The ginger, in particular, offers a unique, subtle zing that beautifully complements the tartness of the apricots, creating an unexpected depth of flavor that truly sets this pie apart.

One ingredient that often piques curiosity is semolina flour. You won’t find it in the pie crust itself, but rather used in a brilliantly innovative way to tackle a common pie-baking dilemma. This clever trick, a nugget of wisdom I gratefully adopted from the beloved Great British Baking Show, is a game-changer! It’s an effortless step that ensures a crisp, firm bottom crust every time, completely preventing any dreaded sogginess. Keep reading to discover precisely how this secret weapon is deployed.

For precise ingredient measurements and step-by-step instructions, please use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or simply scroll down to the bottom of the page where the full recipe card awaits.

For today’s demonstration, I’m showcasing this delightful Apricot Pie in the form of mini, free-form pies. You can call them hand pies, or perhaps mini galettes – either way, they are perfectly portioned apricot pies, ideal for picking up and savoring without the need for a fork. Their rustic charm makes them a fantastic dessert for gatherings or a sweet treat for yourself.

The Method: From Fruit to Flaky Perfection

The journey to a perfect apricot pie begins with preparing the fruit. First, carefully remove the pits from your fresh apricots and slice them into even pieces. Transfer these vibrant slices into a large mixing bowl. To this, add your carefully selected spices, sugar, and cornstarch. The cornstarch acts as a thickener, ensuring your filling isn’t too runny, while the sugar balances the apricots’ natural tartness and the spices infuse their aromatic warmth. Gently toss all ingredients together, ensuring each apricot slice is evenly coated. This mixture should then be allowed to rest and macerate for a short period while you prepare your pie crust. Maceration is a crucial step where the sugar draws out excess moisture from the fruit, concentrating its flavor and preventing a watery filling, which is key to a perfectly set pie.

Once your pie dough is perfectly chilled and ready, roll it out evenly to a 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using a 5-inch round cutter, or even a small bowl as a guide, cut out your pie crust circles. From one batch of pie dough, I typically yield six perfectly shaped crusts, plus an additional, more rustic-looking crust made from gathering and re-rolling the scraps. This ensures no delicious dough goes to waste!

Now, for the aforementioned semolina secret that tackles the dreaded soggy bottom. Lightly dust the top of each pie crust round with a small amount of semolina flour. This fine flour works wonders by acting as a barrier, absorbing any excess juices that the apricots might release during baking. The beauty of it is that it completely disappears once cooked, leaving no discernible taste or texture, only a beautifully crisp and golden-brown crust beneath your fruit. This simple step is truly a game-changer for any fruit pie.

To assemble your mini pies, arrange a selection of apricot slices neatly onto the center of each semolina-dusted pie crust round. If you’re feeling particularly artistic, try to layer slices of similar sizes for an elegant presentation. Then, gently bring the edges of the pie crust up and around the apricot filling, folding and crimping the dough as needed to create a beautiful, rustic border. For a truly professional finish, brush the exposed pie crust with an egg yolk mixed with a splash of water. This egg wash creates a gorgeous golden sheen as it bakes. Finally, sprinkle a little sanding sugar over the top for an added sparkle and a delightful crunch.

Expert Notes & Baking Tips for Perfect Pie

Baking a truly exceptional fruit pie involves a few key insights that can elevate your results from good to magnificent. The most impactful tip I’ve ever learned, and one I consistently put into practice for all my fruit pies, is the brilliant use of semolina flour on the base of the crust. This technique, which I gratefully picked up from an episode of the Great British Baking Show, is incredibly effective. A light dusting of semolina beneath your fruit filling acts as a natural absorbent, soaking up any excess juices released during baking. This prevents the dreaded “soggy bottom” and ensures your pie crust remains wonderfully crisp and flaky, providing the perfect textural contrast to the soft fruit filling. It’s a simple step with monumental results!

Another vital step, often overlooked, is allowing the sliced apricots to macerate with the sugar and spices for about 10-15 minutes before filling your pie crusts. Maceration is the process where sugar draws out moisture from the fruit. This leaches out excess liquid, concentrating the fruit’s flavor and significantly reducing the risk of a watery filling. When it’s time to add the fruit to your pie crusts, make sure to lift the apricots out of any syrup that has formed in the bowl, rather than simply dumping the entire mixture in. Leaving that excess moisture behind is crucial for a perfectly set and delicious pie.

For an even flakier crust, remember to always use very cold butter and ice water when preparing your dough. The small chunks of cold butter create steam during baking, which separates the layers of dough, resulting in that desirable flaky texture. Avoid overworking the dough, as this develops gluten too much, leading to a tough crust. Handle it minimally and chill it thoroughly before rolling.

Versatile Apricot Pie: Customizing Your Creation

While this recipe is optimized for homemade goodness, flexibility is key in the kitchen. If time is a constraint or you simply prefer convenience, you can absolutely use a high-quality store-bought pie crust. Typically, store-bought packs contain two crusts; you might find yourself needing both to accommodate the generous amount of apricots called for in this recipe, especially if making mini pies. Alternatively, you could use these two crusts to create two larger, traditional apricot pies, filling them as they stand in pie dishes.

The true beauty of this recipe lies in its adaptability when it comes to fruit. While apricots are undeniably delicious, you can easily substitute them with other seasonal stone fruits you adore. Peaches, nectarines, plums, or even cherries would all be fantastic choices, offering their own unique flavor profiles. You could also get creative and combine apricots with another stone fruit for a delightful multi-fruit pie, experimenting with different sweet and tart combinations.

My choice of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for the spice blend creates a wonderfully warm and inviting flavor. However, feel free to adjust these to your preference. You can easily swap one spice for another, use only a single spice, or even omit them entirely if you prefer the pure, unadulterated taste of the apricots. Don’t feel limited by what’s currently in your pantry – use what you have or what you love! Just remember that spices also contribute to the perceived sweetness, so if you leave them out, you might want to slightly increase the sugar content based on your apricots’ natural sweetness. Always taste your fruit mixture before baking and adjust to your liking.

Regarding sweeteners, granulated sugar is my go-to for its clean sweetness, but it’s not the only option. For a deeper, more caramel-like flavor, brown sugar can be an excellent substitute. If you’re looking for alternatives with a lower glycemic index, coconut sugar works beautifully. Even a sugar substitute like stevia can be used, though you’ll need to adjust the quantity according to its specific sweetness ratio. All these options will yield a delicious result.

The addition of lemon juice in fruit pies serves to brighten the flavors and balance sweetness, but it’s entirely optional in this recipe. Before adding, taste your apricots. If they are particularly sweet, a squeeze of lemon juice will provide a welcome tart counterpoint. If, however, your apricots are already quite tart, you might want to omit the lemon juice to prevent the pie from becoming overly sour. Apricot pies naturally have a pleasant tartness, and sometimes the lemon can push it over the edge. Always taste and adjust to achieve your desired balance of sweet and tart, adding a touch more sugar if needed to mellow any excessive tartness.

More Stone Fruit Favorites to Explore

If you love the taste of fresh stone fruit, you’ll adore these other delightful recipes perfect for any season:

Apricot Cobbler

Cherry Shortcake Squares

Skillet Peach Cobbler

Peach Sweet Tea

Did you give this delicious Apricot Pie recipe a try? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please let me know by leaving a review or comment below. And for more delectable recipes and baking inspiration, be sure to sign up for my newsletter, and follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

📖 Recipe

Yield: 7 mini Pie

Apricot Pie

Prep Time:
20 minutes

Cook Time:
35 minutes

Dough Resting:
30 minutes

Total Time:
1 hour 25 minutes

Big or small, however you make this Apricot Pie, know it will be delectable. It is a little bit sweet, tart, and buttery. Everything a pie should be!

Ingredients

for the Pie Crust:

• 1 ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 8 tablespoons cold Unsalted Butter, diced into ½-inch cubes
• ¼ cup Ice-Cold Water

for the Apricot Filling:

• 8 medium Apricots, pitted and sliced
• 2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon Ginger
• ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• Semolina for dusting
• 1 Egg Yolk + a splash of water, whisked together, for glazing
• Sanding Sugar, optional

Instructions

for the Pie Crust:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, salt, and butter.
2. Beat on the first speed until the butter has been worked down into pea sized pieces. 60-90 seconds. The dry mixture should clump together slightly in your hand when pressed together.
3. With the mixer running on the lowest speed, slowly drizzle in the water. Run the mixer for about 30 seconds after all the water is in to bring the dough together.
4. Remove the pie dough from the bowl, wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.

forming the Apricot Pies:

1. Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the prepared apricots, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cornstarch and lemon juice. Toss gently to combine. Allow the mixture to rest for 10-15 minutes so all the flavors can meld and the excess liquid can be released from the fruit.
3. While the fruit is resting, roll out your pie crust to a ¼-inch thickness and cut it into 6, 5-inch circles. Fold the scrap dough together for form a 7th round, leaving it free from. This last dough round will be more freely shaped, but it will eat exactly the same.
4. Top each pie dough circle with a dusting of semolina flour. ½-3/4 teaspoon each. Place some apricot slices on top to fill, then gently stretch the dough and fold around the apricots. Continue until all your dough rounds have been filled and folded.
5. Brush the top of the dough with the egg yolk and water and dust with sanding sugar if using.
6. Bake the pies in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
7. After 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and lower the oven temperature to 350˚F.
8. Bake an additional 20-25 minutes until the filling is boiling and the apricots begin to brown slightly on the top.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
10. Serve warm, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.

Notes

Notes & Tips

The best note I ever learned and put to use for making fruit pies is to use semolina in the base of the crust. I heard it mentioned on the Great British Baking Show. A little semolina in the bottom of the pie soaks up all the extra juices allowing for a crisp, no soggy bottom pie crust. And it works!

Allowing the apricots to macerate for about 10 minutes is a vital part of this recipe. Doing so leaches out the excess moisture from the fruit. Leave that moisture behind when adding the fruit to the pie crust. Lift it out of the syrup that forms, opposed to dumping the fruit in.

Substitutions

If you would like to use a storebought pie crust, you absolutely can. You may need to use the 2 crusts that typically come in a pack at stores to accommodate all the apricots called for in this recipe. Alternatively, you could fill the crusts as they stand and make 2 large apricot pies.

I call for Apricots in this recipe, the real beauty of it is that you could use any stone fruit you love here. Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, or Cherries could also be used in place of or combined with the apricots for a multi-fruit pie.

I chose to use Cinnamon, Ginger, and Nutmeg in my pie. You could easily swap one, or use only one of them. Don’t be limited by what’s in your pantry right this second. You can even leave them out if you prefer. Just be sure to taste the sugar content on the fruit, you might want a little more if you don’t have these flavors added.

The granulated sugar could be swapped for brown sugar for a deeper flavor, coconut sugar for a lower glycemic index, or even stevia. Those would all be great options.

The lemon is optional. Taste your fruit, if it is super sweet, add the lemon. If it is tart, leave the lemon out. The pie will be slightly tart anyway, the lemon may send it over the top. Taste and adjust as needed. You can also add more sugar to balance if needed.

Recommended Products

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• Sanding Sugar (16 oz / 1 LB or 8 LB) (White, 1 LB)

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

7

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 333Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 186mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 2gSugar: 8gProtein: 6g

This is an estimated caloric value, actual numbers may differ based on the ingredients used.

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