Ash Baber

McDonald’s Apple Pie with Custard

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I’ve always loved McDonald’s apple pie…the fried ones, not the baked ones.

I mean I’ve never tried the baked ones but I’m just going to assume that the fried ones taste better. Anyway, I felt like they would taste even better if they had some custard inside, with the apple filling. So here we are.

Wait but also….yes, they taste so much better with custard inside.

Close up of 4 of the McDonald's apple pies

Video Tutorial

Breakdown of the process

There are a few different parts to making these pies, here’s a quick breakdown of the process:

  • Make the apple filling: you want to make this first so that it has time to cool down.
  • Make the custard: we’re making this second, this also needs time to cool down. 
  • Cut your puff pastry: it’s easiest to use ready rolled puff pastry for this. So that all you have to do with it, is cut it into rectangles.
  • Make your pies: I’ll go into more detail on how to put the pies together, but essentially all you’re doing is adding the fillings to a rectangle of puff pastry, then adding more puff pastry on top.
  • Leave these to freeze: you want to freeze them for at least 30 minutes before frying.
  • Fry them: fry them in oil that is around 180c, let them cool for a bit, then enjoy.
4 of the mcdonald's apple pies on a tray before being fried

Making the apple filling

Making the apple filling is pretty simple, there are just a few things I wanted to talk about.

The apples

I once said in a video, and a blog post too, that you should only be using green apples.

SO MANY PEOPLE told me that red apples are so much better when making something like this.

I tried it, my eyes have been opened. Red apples really do taste way better in desserts.

I was wrong, but any apples do work.

Also I used 6 medium sized apples. I had around 400g of apples, after I had peeled and chopped them. The amount doesn’t need to be completely accurate though.

The sugar

I like to always use brown sugar when making anything with apples.

Brown sugar just gives a much better flavour, but you could also use granulated or caster sugar. Literally any sugar will work to be honest.

The amount of sugar you use is adjustable. It really depends on the sweetness of your apples.

If you taste the filling and feel like it needs to be sweeter, add more sugar.

Or beforehand, if you know that you have very sweet apples, add less sugar. Then add more later if it needs it

The corn flour

If you’re not from the UK, you probably call this corn starch.

That’s all I had to say about this, it just causes confusion sometimes.

Leaving the filling to cool

In the recipe, I’ve said that you need to leave this filling and the custard to cool before making the pies.

They don’t need to cool down completely, you just don’t want to add them to the puff pastry whiles they’re hot.

It will make the butter in the pastry melt. 

Making the pies

Here’s a rundown on how to make the actual pies:

  1. Cut your puff pastry into rectangles. Then get one rectangle and place this onto a lightly floured surface.
  2. Pipe a line of the apple filling and a line of the custard into the centre of this rectangle. You could also just use a spoon, I feel like it’s easier with a piping bag though.
  3. Add another rectangle of puff pastry on top of this, then seal the edges with your fingers first.
  4. Now press a fork on the edges, to seal them even more.
  5. Leave these in your freezer to chill for a bit.

I thought it would be fun to show like a step-by-step on how to put the pies together.

This might not be needed, I apologise if it is not. But for the people who like to visualise things, these pictures were taken for you!

1 rectangle of puff pastry with a line of the apple filling and custard on top
The pie after a rectangle of puff pastry was added on top of the filling

Frying the pies

You want your oil to be around 180c when frying these.

If you don’t have a thermometer, that’s fine, just make sure the oil is hot before you fry them.

If the oil is not hot enough, these pies will end up extremely oily, we don’t want this.

To test the oil, I recommend adding a small piece of puff pastry into it. If the pastry starts bubbling a little, the oil is ready.

Not feeling these pies? Here are 2 other apple desserts that you might want to make

McDonald'sApple Pie with Custard
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McDonald's
Apple Pie with Custard

Ingredients
Makes: 10

  • For the apple filling:

  • 6 medium sized apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces

  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar (you can adjust this amount)

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 4 tablespoons water

  • 1 tablespoon corn flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water

  • For the custard:

  • 200ml whole milk

  • 40g granulated sugar

  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

  • 20g corn flour

  • 3 egg yolks

  • 15g unsalted butter

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • For the pastry:

  • 2 packets ready rolled puff pastry

Directions

  • Making the apple filling:
  • Add the peeled and chopped apples into a pot, along with the sugar, cinnamon and water.
  • Place this over medium heat and let the apples cook until they've softened. The softness of your apples is up to you, just keep cooking them until they are as soft as you want them.
  • Add in the corn flour/water mixture and heat, whiles stirring, until the mixture thickens.
  • Pour this into a bowl and then leave it in the fridge to cool.
  • Making the custard:
  • In a pot, mix together the milk, sugar, salt, corn flour and egg yolks. Place this pot over medium heat.
  • You want to keep heating this mixture, whiles constantly stirring, until it thickens. Make sure not to increase the heat, keep it on medium-low throughout the whole process.
  • Once the mixture thickens, take it off the heat and add the butter and vanilla. Mix until the butter has melted. At this point, I like to push the custard through a sieve, to get out any lumps or egg. If you feel like there is no lumps, you don't have to sieve it.
  • Cover this with cling film, making sure that the cling film is touching the surface of the custard, then leave this in the fridge to cool as well.
  • Making the pies:
  • Once the apple filling and custard have cooled down a little, you can put the pies together.
  • With one of your puff pastry sheets, cut it into 10 rectangles.
  • Get one rectangle of puff pastry, pipe a line of the apple filling on top of it, and then pipe a line of the custard. You could also just use a spoon.
  • Add a rectangle of pastry on top of this, then seal the sides with a fork. Repeat this until you've used all your puff pastry.
  • Leave these in your freezer for at least 30 minutes before frying.
  • Frying them:
  • Once they have chilled for a bit, fry them in some oil that is at 180c. You want to fry them until they're a golden brown colour. This should take around 3-5 minutes for each side.
  • Once fried leave them on a wire rack so that any excess oil can drain off but then after that, you can dig in!

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