Bourbon Apple Pandowdy in an Iron Skillet

This easy all-American dessert must have been created by some frustrated cook that just couldn't get their pie crust right!

Next time try this easy peach cobbler!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 Storage
• 💭 Things to know
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions
• 📚 Related recipes
• You'll Need a Cast Iron Skillet
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• tangy sweet apples.
• no fuss crust.
• mix between a cobbler and a pie.

Apple pan dowdy is like a very casual apple pie.

It's a simple, old fashioned dessert that will have you smiling over every sweet bite.

Pandowdy (pan dowdy) is perfect for those of us that have trouble with pie crust - there's no bottom crust and the top is made up of squares of pastry sprinkled with coarse sugar crystals for a little sweet crunch.

It's a cozy fall dessert your family will love.

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

Step one: crust

1. Add the dry ingredients to a food processor bowl and process until crumbly.
2. Add the water and pulse until the dough forms a ball.
3. Wrap in wax paper.
4. Chill.

Step two: apples

6. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
7. Core, peel, and slice the apples for the apple filling.
8. Add the butter, bourbon, sugar, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, apples, and chipotle to the skillet.
9. Simmer until apples are tender.

Step three: assemble

10. Sprinkle the work surface with all-purpose flour then roll out the dough and cut into large or small squares, whichever is your preference.
11. Drop the squares on the simmering apple mixture.
12. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Step four: bake

13. Bake for 20 minutes.
14. Push the dough down gently into the apples mixture.
15. Bake for 20 minutes more, or until crust is crispy and golden.

🥫 Storage

Cover tightly with plastic wrap or spoon into an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

You can freeze this for longer storage.

💭 Things to know

• Save time by using a purchased crust.
• Use a star, leaf, or other shaped cookie cutter to cut out the upper crust pieces.
• The bourbon adds extra flavor that's warm and cozy but you can leave it out if you wish. Substitute with the same amount of apple cider or juice.
• You can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you'd like. It adds an almost creamy flavor.
• Turbinado sugar or larger sugar crystals can be sprinkled over the top of the pie dough before baking to add extra texture.
• If you'd like to use just white sugar instead of part brown sugar then drop the apple slices in a large bowl filled with water and about ¼ cup lemon juice before cooking them.
• You can substitute pears or peaches for the apples. Delish!
• When you push the pastry down partway through cooking you don't want to push it to the bottom. Just gently submerge until it's covered with the syrup then let it come back up to the top.
• If you don't have an iron skillet you can use a 9-inch cake pan - round or square.
• Adding a little lemon zest will perk up the flavor of apples that aren't as flavorful as you'd like.
• Bourbon apple pandowdy is best served warm (with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream if you're so inclined).

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

It is not a beautiful dessert but it is a comfortable one.

While Anne Shirley would have certainly eaten it Jay Gatsby never would have. Bourbon Apple Pandowdy, served warm with a scoop of ice cream melting into the syrup is comfort food in the strictest sense of the word.

📚 Related recipes

More Apple Recipes You'll Love!

I love a good apple dessert in the fall! Here are some of my favorites here on Restless Chipotle.

• Irish Apple Cake with Whiskey Brown Butter Sauce  is an imagination inspiring addition to your table whether as dessert after dinner or a mid-afternoon pick me up. One bite and you’ll be imagining faded chintz sofas, crackling fires, and steaming cups of good Irish tea.
• Apple Spice Bundt Cake is the best apple cake recipe ever! Chunks of tangy apples are stirred into a spice cake batter along with buttery pecans and a generous amount of whiskey - your house will smell luscious!
• Apple Fritter Bread is full of all of the apple and cinnamon goodness of apple fritters in the form of a quick bread thats a delicious addition to an autumn brunch!
• Candy Apple Pie tastes just like an old-fashioned candy apple! Spicy, sweet, cinnamon syrup bathes tangy Granny Smith apples to create an unforgettable dessert everyone loves.
• Cinnamon Apples are as gorgeous as they are delicious! Tangy apples are simmered in cinnamon syrup until they are infused with crimson color and spicy cinnamon flavor.
• Grandma's Dutch Apple Pie always comes out just right with a lavish layer of crumble over tender autumn spiced apples. This is a classic!

You'll Need a Cast Iron Skillet

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A cast iron skillet is an absolute necessity. Yes, you will see apple pandowdy made in ceramic pie pans and casserole dishes but people do all kinds of crazy things.

I promise you a skillet is the thing to make this in. It gives the filling a different flavor and it just bakes differently. I can't explain it. I just know it's true.

If you must make it in a casserole dish then cook the filling on the stove as directed and then turn it into a casserole dish to put the pastry on... but that is only in emergencies. Trust me. The skillet I used is a 15 inch cast iron skillet by Lodge.

📞 The last word

What is apple pan dowdy you ask?

Well, some would say that it's a dessert born in Colonial America, made of apples and dough but I say it's a godsend for those who can't get a pie crust onto a pie without it falling apart.

There is no bottom crust and the top crust is cut up pie dough or biscuit dough.

For my recipe a thick layer of tender apples is simmered in a bourbon and cinnamon spiked sugar syrup with a little chipotle to kick up the heat.

Then large squares of buttery pastry are dropped on top and the whole thing is baked.

Part way through the baking time you push the pastry down into the apples so that it soaks up all of that sweet and spicy sauce.

Served warm with cinnamon ice cream or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream it is everything you want on a crisp fall day - or on a 90 degree Texas day when you wish it was a crisp fall day!

I like to drizzle a little maple syrup over the top, too. I mean, YOLO, right?

This recipe uses a tweaked pie dough that bakes crisp, buttery, and crumbly.

It's made in an iron skillet where the apples are simmered in a rich, flavorful sauce before the pastry is put on and the whole thing is baked.

When it comes out of the oven the crispy pastry is swathed in the thick, spicy sauce so every bite is crumbly-crispy and tender-sweet. The tiny bit of chipotle I add sort of kicks you at the end of the bite just to let you know it's in there.

You don't have to add it.

I usually put the iron skillet on top of an old baking pan to catch any juices that might overflow.

Don't wait to try this recipe!

It's especially good if you have an orchard nearby where you can go apple picking.

There's something about the fresh, snappy flavors that give this apple dessert a little extra oomph.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

First published May 28, 2015. Last updated July 11, 2021 for readability and updating code.