Our favorite apple pie recipe! Simple and delicious with an easy flaky crust.
Even though the first day of fall is in September, I feel more official about celebrating all things fall starting in October, including making our favorite apple pie. This is when I bust out all of my apple and pumpkin recipes, and maybe finally unpack my colder weather clothing. (Although that really depends on what the Mississippi weather decides.)
About this Recipe
I make this apple pie every fall season for over 10 years now! It is our family favorite recipe with an easy homemade crust that is so flaky you'll beg for more. My older sister never liked apple pie until she ate this one.
Do not let the homemade crust part intimidate you! It's really a basic recipe with easy to follow instructions.
Ingredients
This American favorite uses basic ingredients like flour, sugar and cold butter for a quick and flaky crust. Then, of course, you have apples. Below is a list of the ingredients you need to make the best apple pie.
Grocery List for Apple Pie Recipe:
- For the crust:
- Flour - 2 ½ cups of all-purpose.
- Sugar - Just 2 tablespoons.
- Butter - Unsalted, but if you only have salted just omit the salt in the recipe.
- Salt - You probably already have this on hand, right?
- For the apple pie filling:
- Apples - Of course! Our favorite is honeycrisp, but any good baking apple will do. Try a mix of granny smith and honeycrisp for a sweet and tart combination. You need about 6 medium.
- Lemon - We're adding a splash of fresh lemon juice to brighten and preserve those apples.
- Sugar - More sugar for the filling! ¾ cups.
- Flour - The flour in the filling helps thicken and stabilize it.
- Spices - Ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg are the stars of this show.
- Egg - This is for the egg wash. You just need the white.
Click here or scroll to the recipe card at the end of this post for full recipe ingredients and instructions.
Instructions
Some apple pie recipes require chill time for the dough. Not this one! Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the step-by-step on how to make apple pie. The general steps are as follows:
- Make the crust:
- Combine flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Drop in butter cubes and mix on low speed until crumbled.
- Mix in cold water until dough forms.
- Roll out dough into two 12-inch circles.
- Place one pie crust into pie plate; set other aside.
- Make the apple pie filling:
- Toss together apple slices and lemon juice in large bowl.
- Stir in sugar, flour and spices.
- Pour into lined pie plate.
- Place second dough circle onto top of pie and seal edges.
- Slice a few slits on top of crust and brush with egg wash.
- Bake in preheated 375°F oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
We are leaving for our annual fall Michigan trip later this week. Every year, we load into the van and drive up from our home in Mississippi to visit my family and spend a few days in the apple orchards and pumpkin patches while taking advantage of all of the other fun fall activities Grand Rapids has to offer -- like donuts, Art Prize and fall color tours. I'm hoping the leaves are changing colors already. One year the trees were SO vibrant but then the next year there was hardly any color yet, so we never know what we'll get!
My family already asked if I would make them this apple pie after we pick our apples together this weekend.
99% of the time I make this pie with a lattice top. It is a beautiful presentation that doesn't take much effort at all, especially once you get the hang of it. Use a pizza cutter to slice strips in the top crust then just weave them one at a time. This is a great video tutorial from Inspired Taste.
If you choose not to do a lattice crust, you can just lay the top crust over as a whole like a blanket, then slice a few venting strips with a sharp knife. My photos show both a lattice crust and a full top crust. This is the reason I made the pie twice this week.
One of my biggest tips for you when making this pie has to do with transferring the rolled out pie dough. Once you have it rolled out to your 12-inch disc, use your rolling pin to easily transfer it to the pie plate. You do this by loosely wrapping the dough around the rolling pin and then carefully lift it over to the plate and re-roll it out into the plate. Make sure your keeping your dough well floured in the process. Here is a helpful video from Epicurious demonstrating how to roll out the crust, transfer it to the plate and then crimp the edges.
A few items that might help you with this recipe:
Pie plate (I have 9- and 10-inch plates that both work with this recipe.)
Pastry mat (Not a necessity, but very helpful to have for rolling and measuring dough. I use mine for all my dough recipes.)
Rolling pin (Guessing you might already have one.)
Homemade Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
- 6 tablespoons very cold water
For the pie filling:
- 6 medium to large apples (Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonagold or variety) peeled and sliced
- splash of lemon juice
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 egg white (for egg wash)
- 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)
- raw sugar optional
Instructions
For the crust:
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Drop in the butter cubes a few at a time while fluffing with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Once all the butter is added, mix on low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal and the butter pieces are no larger than small peas. Add the cold water and continue to mix on low speed just until a dough is formed. Do not overmix.
(Alternatively, you can pulse everything in a food processor instead, or mix in a bowl using a pastry cutter. I like using my stand mixer for convenience.) - Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide in half and set one half aside. Pat dough into a ball and lightly flatten into a disc with 4 to 6 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift and flip the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly flour the bottom and top of the dough and rolling pin as needed while rolling to a 12-inch round. Carefully transfer to the bottom of a 9- or 10-inch pie plate.
- Roll out the other half of dough in the same way, then complete the steps for pie filling below before transferring top crust to the plate.
For the pie filling:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Adjust rack to lower third position.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together the apple slices and lemon juice. Mix in the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg until evenly coated. Transfer to the pastry-lined pie plate.
- Transfer the second half of the dough over top of the apples. Press edges to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut slits into top of crust for venting the air. (See instructions below for a lattice style crust.)
- In a small bowl, mix the egg white and 1 tablespoon water. Brush onto the pie crust (you will not use all of the egg wash). If desired, sprinkle with raw or regular sugar.
- Place pie on a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Allow to rest on the counter for 1-2 hours before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
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Allison Herlihy says
Hello,
Going to attempt making an apple pie again, new house, new oven maybe this one will not fail 🙂 Question can I make this pie 2 days before thanksgiving, trying to cut down use of the oven on Turkey day and the day before.
Nikki Gladd says
Hi Allison,
Yes, you can, but because I love this pie warm, you might want to consider re-warming the pie or slice by slice.
Angie says
It’s true! It’s the only apple pie I’ll eat. -the oldest sister