Bacon Weave Apple Pie is a mouthwatering dessert that combines the crisp sweetness of apples with the saltiness of bacon and the smokiness of bourbon. It’s a perfect pie for any occasion.

What Are The Best Apples For Apple Pie?

There are so many varieties of apples you can choose from, so how do you know what apple makes the best pies? To start with you need an apple that will hold its shape while baking.

Honeycrisp. After years of making apple pies and testing different apples, Honeycrisp has become our favourite apple for pies. They hold their shape well when baked and have a lot of sweetness so we need less sugar in our pies.

Spartan. These apples are locally grown in Ontario and like Honeycrisp, they are great for holding up to the heat in the oven.

Cortland. When we can’t get Honeycrisp, our choice is Cortlands. They are crisp and sweet and perfect for pies.

Granny Smith. These apples are firm but not as sweet as other varieties. Using Granny Smith apples means you may have to adjust the amount of sugar.

Are There Any Apples That Don’t Go Good In Apple Pie?

Yes! There are definitely apples that you don’t want to use in any kind of baking, especially apple pie.

MacIntosh. These apples are better in apple sauce than a pie. This variety tends to be soft and breaks down when cooked. Using this variety in a pie will result in a mushy filling.

Gala, Fuji, and Red Delicious Apples will give the same results as Macintosh apples. Stick with firm, crisp apples for best results when making apple pies.

Ingredients for Bacon Weave Apple Pie

Apples. Sweet, crisp apples are your best bet.
Sugar. Both white and brown sugars are used in this pie to create a bit of a caramel taste.
Bourbon. This adds a bit of smokiness to the pie and helps with the caramelization of the sugars. We use whatever bourbon we have on hand. Just remember that the flavour will be in the finished product. So like cooking with any alcohol, if you don’t like the product or flavour, you probably won’t like it in your food. We tend to stick with a bourbon we enjoy on its own.
Butter.
Flour. A little addition of flour helps thicken up any liquid in your pie filling so that it results in a thicker filling rather than a runny filling that will make your crust soggy.
Cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bottom pie crust. This can be homemade or store-bought. You only need the bottom crust because the top will be only bacon.
Bacon. This will be your top crust.

How To Make a Bacon Weave

Making a bacon weave is pretty simple. The first time you try this, it may not look perfect, but that’s ok. Practice will make it better.

Start with 6 strips of bacon. Lay them parallel to each other on a cutting board or piece of parchment paper, leaving a little space between each piece. Fold back every other strip halfway.
Place a bacon strip across the 6 slices at the point of the folded strips. Unfold the strips over the horizontal strips.
Now fold back the strips that were not folded and place another strip of bacon across.
Repeat this process until all strips of bacon have been used.

Special Instructions For Bacon Weave

The bacon weave will need to be partially cooked before adding it to the pie as a top crust. This ensures that both sides of the bacon weave cook and become crispy.

To do this we cook one side of the bacon and place that side down on top of the pie. Then the other side cooks as the pie bakes.

Substitutions and Variations

If you do not want to use bourbon in this pie, it can be replaced with apple cider or apple juice. Use an equal amount of juice in place of the bourbon.

The pie can be made with a mix of different apples. A mix of Honeycrisp apples and Granny Smith apples make a good combination of sweet and tart.

Can Bacon Weave Apple Pie Be Baked On The BBQ?

This is the best part. The BBQ is our favourite way to bake this pie. We bake this pie on the BBQ almost every time we make it.

The recipe below is the instructions for cooking it in the oven but the BBQ is similar. Since a BBQ can hold the temperature the same as an oven, it can be used to bake as well.

When using the BBQ to bake this pie, we like to add a few chunks of wood to the charcoal to create a smoky flavour. Maple or pecan are great flavour profiles that add to the pie.

How To Serve Bacon Weave Apple Pie

Slice this pie just as you would a regular apple pie. And serve it as a dessert at your next BBQ.

It is best served warm, so if you have made it in advance, place it back on the BBQ for a few minutes before serving to warm it up. We like to shut off the BBQ when we are done cooking our meal and allow the residual heat to warm the pie while we eat the main course.

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for pie a la mode. A drizzle of caramel over the ice cream makes it even more decadent.

Storing Left Over Apple Pie

Any leftover Apple Pie can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two or three days depending on how fresh the apples are. When we picked apples fresh from the orchards, our apple pies tended to last up to 5 or 6 days after baking, if kept in the fridge.