Sixth Grade
Worksheets
As American As Apple Pie
Where did the dessert we call apple pie come from? According to historians, the earliest apple pie recipe was found in a cookbook from the 14th century. The first apple pies did not contain sugar. Sugar was expensive and hard to get at the time. The earliest form of apple pie in England was served in a pastry called a "coffin" that was used only to hold the filling.
By the mid-1500s, sugar became more readily available. It was used in both the pie and the pastry. By then, apple pie recipes included both sugar and cinnamon.
Crabapples were the only variety of apple native to America. Crabapples are small and sour. The early colonists brought apple seeds with them and planted apple trees. Along with the seeds came recipes for apple pie. Their apple pies included lattice tops and two crust pies that were like those we see today. Pennsylvania Dutch women created delicious apple pies with a streusel crumb topping.
