Elevate Your Holiday Apple Pie With A Brown Paper Bag

Apple pie is synonymous with American food traditions like the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, but perfecting this delicacy requires well-honed culinary finesse and baking expertise, according to Serious Eats. Successfully marrying a golden, buttery crust with melt-in-your-mouth apple filling can intimidate even the most seasoned kitchen veterans.

From selecting the optimal variety of apples for your pie to determining whether you'll use butter, shortening, or both in your crust, there are multiple steps in this process that can make or break your final result, per Taste of Home. For example, if you don't chill your dough long enough, it will come out tough and won't have that coveted flakey quality. And if you decide to pre-cook your apples to achieve a desirable filling, you must be sure to remove them from the heat as soon as they're just cooked through. Otherwise, the center of your apple pie will have the texture of applesauce.

One Wisconsin company has developed an apple pie-baking technique of its own, the Food Network reported, and its secret weapon is a grocery store staple.

If you're looking to change up your apple pie game for Thanksgiving this year, take notes from The Elegant Farmer, a Wisconsin company that's perfected this confection with a unique strategy that dates back to an Amish cookbook called "The ABCs of Paper Bag Cookery," per Taste of Home. The Elegant Farmer ships pies nationwide, according to Goldbelly, but you can replicate the company's technique in your own kitchen.

There's only one special tool that you will need. If you opt to prepare an Elegant Farmer-style apple pie, you'll be baking your creation inside a paper bag. Don't use a bag that has inks or dyes on it because those could seep out in the oven. The paper bag functions as both a pie shield for the crust and a steamer for the apples. That means you can cook the apples to the perfect tenderness without burning your crust. Once you have your pie assembled, simply slip it into the bag being careful to avoid touching the edges of the pie, and seal the opening by folding it. Then, when your pie is done, cut open the bag to reveal the final product.