This Cardamom Apple Pie is sweet, bright, delicious, and just a little different from the apple pies you've tried before. The apples don't get cinnamon, and I promise you won't miss it! You'll precook the apples with citrusy cardamom, fresh ginger, and a secret ingredient revealed later in the post. And the results are unbelievable!
The crust is made from gingersnap cookies, and the crumb topping is like a light and crisp cookie. Though this may be a slight departure from traditional apple pie, it will not disappoint! In fact, you may just find a new family favorite.
Read on for all the loving details on how to make Cardamom Apple Pie.
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Featured Ingredients
Read below about a few of the ingredients used to make Cardamom Apple Pie.
Apples - Use green granny smith apples for the best results. If you use a sweeter apple, cut back on the sugar. This recipe calls for the apples to be cooked before going into the pie so they are the perfect texture and don't get the ginger snap crumb crust soggy. I prefer to dice my apples instead of slices because I find them easier to stir while cooking.
Ginger snaps - This crisp and hard cookie creates the perfect crumbs for a gingery crust for this pie. Made like a graham cracker crust, the drier "snap" cookie is easily crushed into crumbs for the base layer of this Cardamom Apple Pie.
Butter - Be sure to use unsalted butter in this recipe. Small amounts of salt will be added to each part of the pie, helping balance the flavors.
Cardamom - This spice is sort of a baker's secret. You’ll often find it in spice blends like garam masala and chai. Cardamom adds a delightful freshness that enhances a wide variety of dishes. Its flavor has hints of citrus and floral, maybe even a little earthy. By itself, cardamom elevates good desserts into "Wow!" desserts.
Fresh ginger - For the best flavor, use ginger minced from the root or grated on a Microplane. You can also buy pre-pasted ginger in a tube in the produce department. See the recipe notes for the correct measurements for each type of ginger.
See recipe card for quantities.
Tools for the job
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Sharp knife (paid link) and cutting board
- Large nonstick skillet
- Mixing bowls (paid link)
- 9" pie plate, preferably metal or ceramic
- Grater, peeler, spatula
- Food processor or chopper (optional)
How to make Cardamom Apple Pie
This pie has three parts that quickly come together to make an unusually delicious result! It works best in a metal or ceramic pie plate. Glass pans heat up slower but retain heat longer, so the outside may cook faster than the inside, resulting in a burnt or overcooked gingersnap crust. I love these aluminum pie pans and use them for much more than just pie. They're great for breading chicken, separating diced veggies, and organizing puzzle pieces. The uses are endless, and they're dishwasher safe.
Gingersnap crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Crush the gingersnap cookies into fine crumbs with a food processor. Alternatively, you can put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a rolling pin or the side of a can. The finer the crumbs, the better the crust!
- Combine the gingersnap crumbs with the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Stir everything together using a fork or spatula until completely coated in butter.
- Add the crumbs to a 9" pie plate (preferably aluminum or ceramic), pressing them evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Bake the pie for 7 minutes on a middle rack. Cool and then refrigerate the crust until the apples are ready.
- When the crust is done baking, turn the oven temperature to 400°F.
Mix together the ingredients for the crust.
Press into a pie pan, bake, cool, and refrigerate.
Apple filling
Secret Ingredient: At the beginning of the post, I mentioned a secret ingredient used instead of cinnamon to spice the apples. It's turmeric! With an earthy and peppery flavor, this mild-flavored relative of the ginger family gives the apple filling a bright and cheery yellow hue.
- Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the fresh ginger and cook for a few minutes. Pour the diced apples into the pan and toss in the butter.
- Add the flour, brown sugar, and seasonings into the pan and stir to coat the apples.
- Cook the apples on low heat for about 8 minutes. Poke the apples with a toothpick to test if they've softened enough. They don't need to be fully cooked; you just want to remove the crunch factor and thicken the sauce around the apples. Cooking the apples ahead of time removes much of the moisture that could make the crust soggy if cooked in the oven.
- If the sauce becomes too thick, you can thin it out with water, a few tablespoons at a time, until the apples are finished cooking. Keep an eye on these because the sugary syrup can burn. Stir more often as it thickens.
- Once they're done cooking, cool the apples to room temperature before adding to the pie crust.
Saute the fresh ginger in butter.
Add the rest of the ingredients for the filling.
Cool and pour into the cooked, cold pie crust.
Crumb topping
- Combine the flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt into a small bowl.
- Grate the cold butter in the large holes of a cheese grater into the bowl and toss in the mixture. Put it in the freezer until you are ready to use it.
- Before adding the crumb topping to the pie, squeeze the frozen butter shreds in your hands to break it into much smaller pieces. This helps to make the crust even across the entire pie.
- Pour the topping onto the pie, spreading it evenly to the edges.
- Bake the pie on the middle or upper rack in a 400°F oven for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350°F and continue to cook it for about 40 minutes, or until the top has risen and browned.
- If your oven cooks hot like mine, check it at 30-35 minutes to make sure the edges aren't browning too quickly.
Grate the cold butter and mix with the crumb topping ingredients. Freeze.
Break up the frozen butter shreds with your hands, then pour onto the pie.
Put the pie on the upper rack of a preheated oven.
Hot Tip!
Grated Butter - This is one of my favorite tricks for cooking and baking. Need to soften butter quickly? Grate it onto a plate and leave it out. You'll have softened butter in no time.
In this recipe, it's used to make the crumb topping. When you grate the butter, each piece is similar in size, giving you an even crumb topping. I freeze the topping before using it to break down the butter shreds just a little more, which yields the best results.
You can make the crumb topping several days in advance and freeze it until you're ready to use it.
Substitutions and Variations
- Crust - You can substitute another dry cookie or graham crackers for this crust or buy a premade graham cracker crust. You can also use a traditional pie crust if you par bake it.
- Apples - Tart Granny Smith apples are the best choice for this pie, but I've also tried it with Honey Crisp, which was yummy, too. I cut the sugar in half for that version.
Leftovers
- Wrap leftovers tightly. As long as the pie is wrapped or sealed well, it can sit at room temperature for 2 days. After that, refrigerate for up to 2 more days.
- Freeze a well wrapped apple pie for up to 4 months.
FAQ
You can make the whole pie in advance, freezing it before you add the crumb topping. You can freeze the crumb topping on the side. Defrost the pie in the refrigerator 8 hours before baking. Continue with the baking instructions in the recipe, adding the crumb topping while it's still frozen.
You can make the par-baked pie crust and the topping alone and freeze them for several days ahead of use. Wrap the pie crust tightly and store the crumb topping in a ziptop bag. There is no need to defrost either of them before baking with the apple filling.
Food Safety
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
More sweet recipes
Cardamom Apple Pie
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices
Description
Experience the warm and comforting flavors of Cardamom Apple Pie, a delicious fall treat with a gingersnap crust and aromatic spices. Using precooked apples, this recipe will give you an apple pie unlike any you've ever tried!
Ingredients
Cookie Crumb Crust
- 2 cups gingersnap crumbs
- 5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Apple Pie Filling
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (SEE NOTE)
- 6 cups of peeled and diced granny smith apples, approx. 4 large
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Crumb Topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Gingersnap crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Crush the gingersnaps into crumbs with a food processor or in a bag using a rolling pin or heavy can.
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl. Stir and toss until coated in butter.
- Pour the crumbs into a 9" pie plate, pressing it evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Bake the crust for 7 minutes, then cool it and refrigerate until the apple filling is ready.
- Turn the oven up to 400°F.
Apple filling
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet.
- Saute the fresh ginger in the butter for a few minutes, then add the diced apples.
- Toss the apples in the butter and then add the flour, brown sugar, cardamom, turmeric, and salt.
- Cook the apples for 7 minutes or until they start to soften, stirring more often as it thickens. (The apples do not need to be completely soft, as they will continue to cook in the pie when it's baked.)
- If the sauce thickens too much, add water, a few tablespoons at a time, to keep it from burning.
- Cool the apples to room temperature before adding them to the refrigerated crust.
Topping
- While the apple filling cools, combine the flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl.
- Grate the cold butter using the large holes of a cheese grater. Add the grated butter to the bowl and toss in the flour mixture. Set the bowl in the freezer until you're ready to use it.
- Before adding the topping to the pie, break the grated butter into smaller pieces by squeezing with your hands.
- Pour the topping onto the pie, spreading it evenly to the edges.
- Bake the pie in a 400°F oven for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350°F and continue to cook it for about 40 minutes, or until the top has risen and browned.
Notes
Ginger: If you're mincing the ginger you can use a full teaspoon. If you are grating the ginger into a paste, reduce the amount to ½ teaspoon. If you use ginger from a tube, it's not as strong as the fresh kind so use a full teaspoon of that as well.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: dessert
- Method: Stove-top, oven
- Cuisine: American
Phaedra says
My family made this pie and it was spectacular!! I know pie is traditionally a dessert, but we paired it with lamb sausage and had it for supper… and it was incredible. We also ate it for breakfast with bacon. This pie is so good it makes any meal absolutely delightful.
Marianne says
When I made this pie I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but it is fantastic! Follow the recipe exactly as the top crust is made a little differently than most toppings for pies. The top crust actually bakes into a great big cookie! The flavor is out-of-this-world good. Granny Smith apples are perfect for this pie. The secret ingredient will surprise you but the flavor is beyond good. Enjoy!!!