Sour Cream Is Your New Secret Ingredient For Elevated Apple Pie Filling

There are few desserts as comforting and cozy on a cold fall or winter day as apple pie. This dessert typically contains a filling made of sliced apples, some butter and sugar, a bit of flour, and your chosen spices. Then, everything is packed into a buttery crust to make it whole.

While that's the standard pie filling, there is one way that you can actually elevate the popular dessert and take its flavor to the next level — adding sour cream. Sour cream gives the pie filling a smoother, richer texture and adds a slight tart taste, which can complement some of the traditional sweetness of the dessert.

To add sour cream to your apple pie filling, there are a couple of things you'll need to be aware of, such as the kind of dairy product you use, the measurements, and the specific method to adding it into the mix. 

When adding sour cream into your apple pie filling, the type of sour cream you use matters. A full fat option is ideal to help you to get that rich, creamy flavor whereas reduced fat sour cream will yield a different texture and consistency. On top of that, the latter may contain fillers that could potentially change the flavor of your dish.

Besides getting the right type squared away, the measurements are also important. You'll want to add about a ⅓-cup to your filling. You can adjust the amount of sour cream to suit your liking, adding a bit more or less, but keep in mind that if you go overboard, you may need to adapt the amount of thickener you use in the recipe as well. 

Finally, the method also matters. One way to incorporate sour cream into your dessert is to just mix it in with the apples, spices, and sugar before popping it all in your pie crust. Or, if you're working with a pre-cooked filling, you can just stir this ingredient in once the filling has cooled but before adding it to the crust.

Besides sour cream, there are other ingredients to kick your apple pie up a notch. For one thing, you can try throwing in additional types of fruit. Cranberry and pear are both options that can enhance the apple flavor, with cranberries adding a bit of tartness just like the sour cream and pear helping to play up the fruit's soft sweeter notes instead.

Apart from fruit, another way to enhance your pie is to use some apple cider in the filling. You can cook the fruit in it to help soften the pieces before adding them to your filling or boil it down to a thick syrup. Or, play around with other ways to add cider to your pie. Either way, it helps turn up the flavor of your dessert.

Another option for transforming a standard apple pie is to make it with brown butter. You can even add other spices such as vanilla or star anise to it to give additional tasting notes to your dessert. Whichever of these tricks you employ, there are plenty of ways to improve your apple pie next time you make one!