Once upon a Thanksgiving morning, Oma swooped into the kitchen with a family recipe for Dutch Appeltaart that required no trip to the supermarket. Kneading simple ingredients together, we mashed and mushed with our hands until dough formed. Thinly sliced apples, no thicker than a crepe, were arranged accordingly and that first taart slid into the oven to bask in the heat. Forty-five minutes later, glazed and glowing, the taart was accentuated with ice cream and devoured.

With more of a shortbread crust, the Appeltaart unites cookie and pie in a single dessert.

Brittany Bennett, a baker and writer and sometimes farmer located in Vermont, has been writing on pies ever since, lending a new touch to an age-old recipe.