A Splash Of Coffee Creamer Is Your Ticket To Better Apple Pie

Coffee creamer is one of those items that has a propensity for getting shoved into the back of the fridge and forgotten about. But believe it or not, it's actually a rather versatile ingredient that has many uses in the kitchen besides just being added to coffee. Since coffee creamer is made of simple ingredients like water, sugar, oil, and flavoring, it's easy to see how it can be incorporated into sweet and baked recipes — including apple pie.

The secret to making the best apple pie is to add a creamy ingredient to the filling to give it a more unique mouthfeel. As it stands, apple pie filling is heavy on the sugar and spice, but the everything nice you need to round it out is the coffee creamer. It will transform ho-hum apple pie into a creamy, unctuous dessert. Plus, you can easily customize with whatever flavored coffee creamer you have in your fridge.

When adding this ingredient to your pie filling, avoid drenching the entire thing in creamer. If you add too much liquid to the pie filling, you may run into the issue of a soggy crust. Instead, toss your apples with just a splash of creamer and then craft your pie filling from there. You should also add a bit more thickener, like cornstarch or tapioca starch, to help counteract the additional liquid.

Once you have the basic recipe down using a standard creamer, like a sweet cream or plain vanilla, you can play with the array of different coffee creamer brands and flavors on the market. For one, you can try a caramel creamer and add more caramel flavors to your pie to complement it. A drizzle of caramel sauce, or a topping of salted caramel ice cream will elevate this recipe to a new level and really bring out the toasty notes of the creamer. Or, you can try a hazelnut coffee creamer if you plan on incorporating some nutty elements into your recipe, like pecans or walnuts.

Regardless of the creamer you select, remember to consider the amount of sweetener in it and how that will work with the granulated sugar already in your pie filling. If you're using a particularly saccharine creamer, dial down the added sugar in your pie filling and instead use ingredients like cinnamon and nutmeg to bring the warmth without pushing the flavor into cloying territory. You an also add savory herbs to your pie crust, like thyme or rosemary, to balance out the sweetness.