There’s nothing more comforting than a warm slice of homemade apple pie, with its golden crust and sweet, cinnamon-spiced filling. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a beginner, this foolproof recipe will have you creating the perfect apple pie that everyone will rave about.

Table of Contents

pro tips

mise en place: weigh and prepare your ingredients and supplies before starting. The purpose is to streamline the cooking process, ensuring efficiency, and reducing stress. Minimize the risk of errors and allow for better focus on technique and timing.
equipment varies: ovens vary, purchase an oven thermometer to ensure the oven is at the correct temperature. Each oven will have different hot spots and some use convection to heat. If your oven has convection, I recommend lowering the temperature by 25°. Place your baking pans in the center of the oven on the middle rack for even baking.
read the recipe: be sure to read the entire recipe before starting. This way you can see if any of your ingredients need to be room temperature or cold, or if any of the ingredients need to be processed before adding to the other ingredients.
pie methods: check out my post on pie methods for helpful tips and tricks for pie prep.

equipment and supplies

9″ pie dish
rolling pin
large pot
kitchen knife
peeler or the kitchen aid attachment
rubber spatula
pastry cutter or pizza wheel
food processor
kitchen towels
saran wrap

ingredient notes

Pie Dough

pastry flour: best choice for pie dough because it has enough gluten to produce desired structure and flakiness, yet low enough gluten to yield a tender product. You can use AP flour if you don’t have pastry flour on hand.
butter: always use cold butter to prevent the flour and butter from mixing too much. You want small chunks of butter in the dough because that is what creates the flakiness.
water: use cold water to keep all the ingredients cold.

Apple Filling

Apples: I used Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples for my pies. The most important criteria for choosing apples are taste and texture. The apples you choose should have good flavor and a noticeable level of acidity. They should also hold their shape when cooked. Some apple varieties perfect for apple pie include Granny Smith, Jonathan, Jonagold, Braeburn, Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, etc.
spices: cinnamon and nutmeg, classic apple pie spices. Feel free to switch it up a bit to create your flavor profile. But you can never go wrong with cinnamon.
pie crust: a mealy pie crust is better for the bottom crust of a fruit pie because it won’t soak up the juices and get soggy. For the top crust, a flaky pie crust is best. You can use a flaky crust for the bottom, just make sure your filling has thickened.
Dutch apple pie: Add streusel instead of a top pie crust.
butter: I had leftover brown butter so I used that instead of regular butter. It added a nice subtly nutty flavor.

recipe instructions

pie dough

step one: Add flour, butter, and salt to a food processor. Pulse 10 times at one second intervals.

step two: Add cold water and pulse another 10 times.

step three: Split the dough between two clean kitchen towels. Twist the ingredients into a tight ball and wrap with saran wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour.

step four: Roll out the pie dough to 10″ rounds. Place one round into a pie tin and refrigerate until ready to use. You can design the other round however you like. Cover and refrigerate.

cooked fruit method

step one: Saute the apples lightly in the first amount of butter until they are slightly softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add the first amount of sugar as the apples cook. This will draw the juices out, then the apples will simmer in those juices.

step two: In a small bowl, mix the water and cornstarch until smooth. Add the mixture to the apples and boil until the liquid is thick and clear.

step three: Remove from the heat. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir gently until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted.

step four: Cool completely. Fill the pie shell and top with the pie shell. You can slice the pie shell into strips to make the design I did in the picture or place in on the apples whole. Just remember to add a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.

step five: Bake the pie at 425°F for about 30-40 minutes. If the edges are too brown before the rest of the pie is done, wrap the edges in aluminum foil or use a pie shield.

Allow to cool completely before storing. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Apple Pie

Stacey

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American