No Apple Apple Pie: A Fun Food Science Experiment for Kids

What if you could make an apple pie… without using a single apple? It sounds a little impossible, which is exactly what makes this such a fun food science experiment to try with kids! This No Apple Apple Pie (also sometimes called mock apple pie) uses crackers in place of apples. With a little sugar, lemon, cinnamon, and some kitchen science, those plain crackers transform into a filling that looks, smells, and tastes surprisingly similar to traditional apple pie.

I remember making this “no apple pie” in my college food science labs, and it’s so fun to bring it back out for my kids. It’s part baking project, part science experiment, and part taste test — which makes it a really fun activity for kids, especially during apple season.

And yes, you actually get to eat the experiment when you’re finished!

What Is No Apple Apple Pie?

No Apple Apple Pie is exactly what it sounds like: an apple-style pie made without apples.

Instead of sliced apples, the filling is made with round buttery crackers (Ritz) that are cooked with sugar, water, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and cinnamon.

Once baked inside a pie crust, the crackers soften and take on a texture surprisingly similar to cooked apples. The lemon and cream of tartar adds the tartness we normally associate with fruit, while cinnamon and sugar give the filling that familiar apple pie flavor.

The fun part is seeing whether your family can tell the difference!

Setting Up The Experiment

Supplies and Ingredients

For this edible science experiment, you’ll need:

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
• About 30–35 round buttery crackers
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Second pie crust for the top

You’ll also need a saucepan, measuring cups and spoons, a pie plate, and an adult to help with the stove and oven.

Before You Start: Make a Prediction

Before you tell the kids exactly how it works, have them make a prediction:

Can crackers really taste like apple pie?

For older kids, this is a great time to introduce the scientific method as well. First up – Problem: How can we make an apple pie without using apples?

Then it’s time to experiment. Before making the pie, let everyone examine one of the crackers. Now ask what they think will happen after the crackers are cooked in the sweet and tart filling and baked inside a pie crust.

Some questions to ask include:

• Will the crackers stay crunchy?
• Will they still taste like crackers?
• Will the filling taste fruity even though there’s no fruit?
• Will it actually taste like apple pie?
• Will you be able to tell that there aren’t any apples inside?

There’s no need for complicated worksheets. Simply getting kids to observe, predict, test, and talk about what happened is practicing the basic scientific method.

How to Make Apple Pie Without Apples

1. Prepare the Pie Crust

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Place the bottom pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and set it aside while you prepare your no-apple filling.

2. Make the Sweet Syrup

Add the water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let it simmer for a few minutes before adding the lemon juice. This mixture is going to provide much of the flavor and moisture that transforms our crackers.

3. Add the Crackers

Break the crackers into large pieces rather than crushing them into crumbs. I usually aim to break them in half. Carefully add them to the hot sugar mixture. Gently stir or spoon the liquid over the crackers. You don’t want to aggressively mix them because we’re trying to keep some larger pieces intact. Already, you should notice the crackers beginning to soften.

4. Fill the Pie

Carefully spoon the cracker mixture into your prepared pie crust. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the filling and dot the top with small pieces of butter.

At this point, take a look at your filling. Does it still look like a pile of crackers, or is it starting to look a little more like cooked fruit?

5. Add the Top Crust

Place your second pie crust over the filling. Trim and crimp the edges, then cut several small slits into the top so steam can escape while the pie bakes. Kids can help with this part, especially crimping the edges of the crust.

6. Bake

Bake the pie at 425°F for about 25–30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. If the edges of the crust begin browning too quickly, loosely cover them with foil (or use a cool crust cover like this).

Allow the pie to cool before slicing. The filling will continue to thicken as it cools.

Now for the Experiment: Does It Taste Like Apple Pie?

This is the best part! Once the pie has cooled enough to eat, cut everyone a slice — but don’t immediately tell them what they’re supposed to notice. Have your kids investigate their pie using their senses. Look at the filling. Smell it. Feel the texture with a fork. Finally, taste it.

For even more fun, serve your No Apple Apple Pie alongside a regular apple pie and do a blind taste test.

Why Does It Taste Like Apple Pie? (The Short Version)

The secret is acidity! Apples naturally contain mostly malic acid, which gives them their familiar tart flavor. Cream of tartar is an acidic salt of tartaric acid. It isn’t the same acid found in apples, but it adds a similar tartness that, combined with sugar, lemon, and cinnamon, helps trick our taste buds into thinking apple pie — even though there isn’t an apple in sight.

The Science Behind No Apple Apple Pie (The Longer Version)

While the acidity is huge in creating that apple pie experience, there isn’t one magical chemical reaction that turns crackers into apples. Instead, we’re essentially tricking our senses by recreating several characteristics we associate with apple pie.

Texture – The crackers start out dry and crisp, but they absorb the hot liquid as they cook. Their starches soften as they absorb water, changing the crackers from crunchy to soft and tender. Once they’re tucked inside the crust, those softened pieces can have a texture surprisingly reminiscent of baked apple slices.

Tartness – Apples aren’t simply sweet. They also contain acids (see above section) that give them their characteristic tart flavor. That’s where the lemon juice and cream of tartar come in. They add acidity to our filling, balancing all that sugar and creating the sweet-and-tart combination we’d expect from an apple dessert.

Smell and Flavor – Cinnamon is another important part of the illusion. Our brains don’t experience flavor using taste alone. Smell plays a huge role in how we perceive food. Cinnamon, sugar, butter, lemon, and a freshly baked pie crust create many of the same smells and flavors we associate with apple pie. Your brain recognizes those familiar clues and thinks: apple pie!

Turn It Into a Blind Taste Test

If you want to take this food science activity one step further, make a regular apple pie along with your No Apple Apple Pie. Don’t tell your taste testers which one is which.

Label them Pie A and Pie B and have everyone taste a small piece of each.

You might be surprised by the answers!

Why This Is a Great Food Science Experiment for Kids

I love activities where kids get to see that science isn’t limited to a classroom or a complicated experiment, it’s something that they can do themselves at home.

With this activity, kids can practice making predictions, observing physical changes, comparing textures, exploring how ingredients interact, and thinking about how our senses affect the way we experience food.

More Ways to Experiment

Older kids can even design their own experiment by changing one ingredient at a time and recording how that change affects the flavor or texture. Feel free to reduce the recipe size and make mini pies to maximize the amount of variables tested without ending up with a bakery of pies!

A Delicious Science Experiment You Can Eat

Making an apple pie without apples sounds like a kitchen trick, but that’s what makes this experiment so memorable. Kids get to watch ordinary crackers completely change texture while exploring how sweetness, acidity, aroma, and texture work together to influence what we think we’re tasting.

And at the end of the experiment? You have pie. If you’re really hitting a home run on the food science lessons, be sure to top your pie with a scoop of our Ice Cream in a Bag and enjoy!

Print Recipe

No Apple Apple Pie

This No Apple Apple Pie uses crackers instead of apples for a fun and surprisingly tasty food science experiment for kids! Sugar, cinnamon, lemon, and cream of tartar transform simple crackers into a filling that tastes surprisingly similar to classic apple pie.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Cooling Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple pie without apples, mock apple pie, no apple apple pie

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 1 package refrigerated pie crusts 2 crusts
• 30 – 35 round buttery crackers
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place one pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate.
• Add the water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2–3 minutes.
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Break the crackers into large pieces and gently add them to the saucepan. Spoon the liquid over the crackers until they begin to soften, being careful not to stir them into crumbs.
• Spoon the cracker mixture into the prepared pie crust. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon and dot the top with butter.
• Place the second pie crust over the filling. Trim and crimp the edges, then cut several small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
• Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cover the edges of the crust loosely with foil if they begin to brown too quickly.
• Allow the pie to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. The filling will continue to thicken as it cools.

Notes

For the best apple-like texture, break the crackers into large pieces rather than crushing them.

Let the pie cool before judging the final texture. The filling will be much softer and more syrupy while it’s hot.

For an extra food science challenge, serve this alongside a traditional apple pie and have kids conduct a blind taste test!