Apple Pie

By Maria Lichty

Published on October 14, 2024

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There’s a reason apple pie is an American classic—it’s comforting, beautiful, and so delicious. With an easy-to-make filling and a no-fail pie crust, this recipe brings the best of buttery crusts and warmly spiced apples into the perfect dessert. Made in a 9-inch pie pan, there’s no shortage of apples begging to be served a la mode. You will LOVE the layers of tender apples in this pie!

This recipe is beautiful and impressive, but it’s also simple enough to make for a Sunday dinner with family. If you’ve never made an apple pie before, this is an excellent place to start. And, even if you’re a pro, this classic apple pie recipe will become your new go-to.

The pie is best served warm, with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream melting into the warm filling, adding richness and a touch of decadence. Each bite offers a comforting blend of sweet, spicy, and fruity goodness, evoking nostalgia and warmth with every slice.

It’s a popular dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, the 4th of July, or any celebration. It is also a MUST make during the fall months when apples are at their peak.

Ingredient Notes

For the Crust:

• Cold Butter: Keeping the butter cold is essential to a flakey crust. If the butter needs to sit out for any amount of time, make sure it’s resting in the fridge.
• Ice Water: Ice water helps keep the butter from melting and gives you the ideal conditions to make a great pie crust. Just make sure no ice makes it into the dough!
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Vinegar in pie crust keeps the crust tender, but it also helps it brown. Apple cider vinegar is very well-suited to an apple pie, but you could substitute this for white vinegar with no issue.

For the Apple Pie Filling:

• Apples: Mixing and matching is encouraged! Be sure to include 1 to 2 Granny Smith apples because they are nice and tart, but the rest are entirely up to you. Find fresh, crisp apples and try to use a balance of tart and sweet. Honeycrisp, Gala, and Pink Lady are all good options.
• Apple Juice: While not a typical ingredient in most apple pies, apple juice is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe a little extra special. Simmered to a slightly thickened consistency, the apple juice enrobes the apples and results in a perfectly moist slice. You could also substitute the apple juice for apple cider.
• Warm Spices: This recipe calls for a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, but any warm spices would be delicious. Cinnamon is essential, but you could easily substitute the nutmeg and ginger for cloves, cardamom, or allspice.
• Lemon Juice: Not only does lemon juice brighten the apples and prevent them from tasting flat, but it also adds a little extra pectin to make sure the filling sets.

How to Make Apple Pie

Making an apple pie recipe is surprisingly simple. There are a few techniques involved, but practice makes perfect. Before long, you’ll be making this pie for Thanksgiving or weekend dinners without hesitation. Here is an overview of each step, scroll down for the full recipe!

• Make the Crust: Combine the dry ingredients and butter in the food processor, then transfer to a bowl. Add the cold water and apple cider vinegar, tossing to combine with a fork. Bring together with your hands until a round of dough forms. If the dough is dry, add more ice water, one tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too wet, add flour, one tablespoon at a time. The dough should be supple and soft, never sticky or crumbly. Form into two even disks. Wrap in plastic wrap.
• Note-If you like my pie crust recipe from my chicken pot pie, you can also use that pie crust. Both are great!

• Chill the Pie Dough: Place the disks In the fridge for 2 hours before rolling out. You can keep the pie dough in the fridge for up to 5 days. Chilling the dough hardens the fat in the, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes.

• Prepare the Filling: After peeling and coring the apples (you can use this apple peeler corer to speed up the process), thinly slice them. Cook about half of the apples with apple juice, then combine the raw and cooked apples with cornstarch, sugar, warm spices, and lemon juice. Don’t skimp on the cornstarch, this is what thickens the pie filling.

• Roll the Crust: Remove the disks from the fridge and let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly pliable. Roll both disks into rounds about 12-inches in diameter. Place one round in the pie plate and cut slits into the other.

• Assemble the Pie: Spoon the apples into the pie crust, then pour the juices over the top. Dot with pieces of butter, the butter will help the pie set once cooled.

• Crimp the Pie Crust : Crimp the extra round of pie dough onto the top. You can do a classic crimp by using the pointer finger of one hand and the thumb and pointer finger of the other hand. Press to make even indentations along the entire edge of the pie crust. A fork crimp will also work and is super easy! Press the tines of a fork into the edge of the dough creating small indented lines that face the filling. Rotate the pie plate as you do this, until you have created the pattern all the way around your pie.
• Brush with an Egg Wash: Brush the pie dough with an egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar for a golden finish and a pretty sugary crunch.

• Bake the Pie: Bake the pie at a high temperature to set the crust, then reduce the oven temperature to evenly bake the filling. If the crust gets too dark, you can loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
• Cool the Pie: For best results, let the pie rest for at least 3 hours before serving to give the filling time to set.

How to Store

• Cool Completely: Allow the pie to cool completely at room temperature after baking. This prevents condensation, which can make the crust soggy.
• Cover: If you plan to eat the pie within a couple of days, loosely cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. This keeps it from drying out while still allowing air circulation.
• Refrigerate: If you won’t eat the pie within a couple of days, store it in the refrigerator. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container to prevent it from absorbing odors.
• Freezing: For longer storage, you can freeze apple pie. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil to protect it from freezer burn. It’s best to freeze it before baking for optimal texture, but you can also freeze a baked pie.
• Thawing: To thaw a frozen pie, place it in the refrigerator overnight. You can reheat it in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 20-30 minutes to restore its fresh-baked flavor and texture.

More Pie Recipes

• Apple Cranberry Pie
• Salted Caramel Pumpkin Pie
• Blueberry Crumble Pie
• Key Lime Pie
• Biscoff Pumpkin Pie

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Pies/Tarts

Apple Pie

Apple pie is the quintessential fall dessert, and this is the best apple pie recipe. It has a flaky, buttery crust that is easy to make. The filling is a blend of tart and sweet apples that are tossed with warm spices. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

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All-Butter Pie Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
• 1/3 cup ice water, plus more as needed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Apple Pie Filling & Assembly:

• 3 1/2 pounds mixed apples*
• 1 cup 100% apple juice
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

 

• Make the Crust: In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, and salt, then pulse to combine.
  
• Cut the cold butter into 1/2-tablespoon sized pieces, then add the butter to the food processor. Pulse until the largest pieces of butter are the size of pebbles, then transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
• Add the cold water and apple cider vinegar, tossing to combine with a fork. Bring together with your hands until a round of dough forms. If the dough is dry, add more ice water, one tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too wet, add flour, one tablespoon at a time. The dough should be supple and soft, never sticky or crumbly.
  
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form into a disk. Form it into a ball. Use a sharp knife to cut it in half. Gently flatten each half into 1-inch-thick disks. Tightly wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or until ready to use. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
  
• Prepare the Filling & Bake the Pie: Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Peel and core the apples, then thinly slice them no thicker than 1/4-inch thick. Take about half of the sliced apples and transfer them to a saucepan along with the apple juice. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
  
• In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Add the uncooked apples and lemon juice to the bowl and toss until fully coated. Finally, add the cooked apples and toss until well distributed. Set aside.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one of the disks of pie dough into a circle about 12-inches in diameter. If an inverted 9-inch pie plate is centered on top, there should be about 1-inch extra dough on all sides.
  
• Place the dough into the 9-inch pie plate, letting the dough fall into the plate without stretching or pulling. Roll out the second disk of dough to about the same size, then use a sharp knife to score slits in the top. Set aside.
• Spoon the apple filling into the pie plate, then pour the juices over the top of the apples. Cut the butter into small pieces and use the pieces to dot the apple filling.
  
• Place the dough with slits over the top of the filling and trim off any dough that hangs more than 1-inch over the sides of the pie plate. Around the edges, tuck the top layer of pie dough underneath the dough resting on the pie plate. Use your fingers or a fork to crimp and seal the edges.
  
• Finally, whisk the egg and water to create an egg wash. Brush the egg wash over the pie dough and sprinkle with sugar.
• Transfer the pie to the center rack of the oven, positioning a sheet pan below it to catch any drips. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350° for 45-50 minutes. The crust should be a deep golden brown (cover with foil if the dough gets too dark during baking).
  
• Remove the pie from the oven and let cool for at least 3 hours at room temperature. Serve with generous scoops of vanilla ice cream and enjoy.

Notes

Use crisp apples. I like to use a mix of tart and sweet apples. I recommend using Granny smith with a mix of Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and/or Gala apples. 

Nutrition

Calories: 609kcal, Carbohydrates: 91g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 89mg, Sodium: 598mg, Potassium: 301mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 52g, Vitamin A: 935IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 2mg

Keywords apple, apple pie, pie

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