Put Your Kids to Work: Let Them Make the Pie!

Jeff O’Heir is a writer who works from home and cooks regularly for his three kids, aged 8, 11, and 16. After cooking for 15 people for the last 14 Thanksgivings, Jeff is taking this one off and will eat at his mother’s house in New Hampshire.

Kids making pies for Thanksgiving. Photo: George Crouter/The Denver Post/Getty Images

We all know what children bring to our lives. Around the busy holiday cooking season, though, they bring even more: an extra set of hands and damn cheap labor. There’s no better time to start putting them to work.

The extra supervision needed in the early stages of training your young chef will pay off in the long run. Kids, especially finicky ones, are more willing to try different foods when they have a hand in making it. After mastering a few basic recipes, they’ll be ready to start cooking for themselves and, eventually, the entire family. Happy days ahead.

Working with kids in the kitchen is easier than you probably think. Most young ones are already good at the basics, like kneading, mixing, measuring, pouring, timing, and cutting. They view cooking as a combined arts-and-crafts project and science experiment in which they get to play and learn at the same time.

It’s best to start them off making simple things they already love: pancakes, French toast, brownies, homemade popcorn. Around the holidays, they can graduate to the next level with pies. In our family’s case, that meant apple and pecan.

Word to the wise: If you have more than one kid working with you in the kitchen, it’s best to assign them separate tasks. Be very clear about this. If not, you know what you’ll be hearing: “It’s my turn to measure!” “I thought I was going to cut the apples!” “Who said you could mix the dough?” “Daddy, she just poured the flour on my head!!!” Without a well-defined game plan, too many chefs will definitely spoil the pie.

Have one measure the flour while the other slices the fruit with an apple divider, a safe and fun tool. One mixes, the other kneads. You also can have one read the recipe while the other carries out the steps. Making two pies in one session lets them switch duties.

Giving kids ownership also greatly improves their willingness and cooperation. Let them buy their own aprons, a few basic kitchen gadgets (vegetable peelers, spatulas, measuring cups, and spoons), and a toolbox for storage. They can decorate their boxes however they want. It could add up to happy young chefs, and maybe they’ll teach you how to make new pies next Thanksgiving.

Apple Pie
Makes one 9” pie

Total time: about 3 hours. The kids will take roughly 45 minutes to make and roll the dough. Add 1 hour for chilling the dough and another 30 minutes letting it sit at room temperature. Filling takes about 20 minutes to whip up. Baking time is 45 to 50 minutes for a golden brown crust. 

For our first foray into pies, I chose basic tried-and-true recipes. Apple and pecan turned out to be good choices because they share the same crust and can bake in the oven together, although the pecan takes less time. Both turned out delicious. Better yet, the kids were ready to bake more. 

The Crust

This all-butter crust from baker and author Nicole Rees on Finecooking.com is a solid one. The kids especially liked mushing the cold butter into the flour. For the apple pie, double the recipe to give you enough dough for the top and bottom.

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. granulated sugar
3/8 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¾” pieces
4 Tbsp. ice water

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork or rubber spatula. Smear the butter pieces into the flour to create small flakes of fat. Drizzle about 3 Tbsp. of ice water over the flour mixture. Stir, adding 1 Tbsp. water, until the mixture forms a shaggy dough. Work the dough into a smooth disk. Cut in half and reshape each piece into a disk. Wrap separately in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Let the chilled dough sit about 30 minutes at room temperature. Put one of the disks on a smooth, floured surface and sprinkle flour on the dough. Position the rolling pin in the center of the disk and roll toward 12 o’clock. Repeat rolling around the clock: toward 6 o’clock, then 3, and then 9 o’clock. Always roll away from center, not towards it. That prevents the dough from getting too thin toward the edges. Continue rolling toward different “times” until the dough is about 14” in diameter and 1/8” thick. Add more flour if necessary; keep in mind that excess flour makes the dough tougher and drier. Repeat the process with the other disk.

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate by folding it in half and unfolding it into the plate. Kids can use scissors to trim overhanging dough about 1” off the plate. Roll the overhanging dough into a cylinder that rests on the edge of the plate.

The Filling

Pillsbury has a solid, kid-friendly recipe  (all of the neighborhood moms followed it when I was growing up). Most recipes for this size pie call for about 6 medium-sized apples. I’d add 2 extra to the filling and pile as many in the pan as possible. The slices shrink considerably as they cook; you’ll be glad for the extra. We used a mixture of Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Crispin. The blend of tart, sweet, and sharp flavors was perfect.

6 to 8 medium apples
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425° F

After the kids divide the apples, cut them into smaller slices. Throw all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Transfer the filling to the pie pan.

Cover with the top layer of dough, leaving a ¾-inch overhang. Trim around the rim of the pie plate and tuck the extra dough under the edge of the bottom layer. Crimp the edges.

Mix together a few pinches of sugar and one pinch of cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of the pie and put it in the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Remove and let sit for about 20 minutes before digging in.

Read more from Jeff:
When the Kids Love It, Don’t Change the Recipe
How to Smoke a Turkey

What dishes do your kids like to make? Share the recipe and any tips you might have for young chefs.