Simply Perfect Apple Pie
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A mountain of tender, cinnamon-spiced apples nestled under a buttery, flaky homemade pie crust makes this the most perfect apple pie recipe. Perfect for your Thanksgiving dessert table or any time of year! Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate dessert. Whether for a holiday table or a cozy family dinner, this apple pie is always a crowd-pleaser!
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos, success tips, and more clear recipe instructions.
Table of Contents
- Here’s Why You’ll Love This Apple Pie Recipe
- Start With Quality Pie Dough
- Key Ingredients You Need (For The Filling)
- How To Make The Perfect Apple Pie (In Pictures)
- 4 Apple Pie Success Tips
- FAQs
- More Favorite Pies
A reader, Kelli, commented: “I just made this pie this afternoon and it’s already half gone! My family loves it! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it tastes just like my Grandma’s (which is a huge compliment!) and I will for sure use it again! ★★★★★”
Here just in time for Thanksgiving, but I certainly don’t limit this apple pie to the holiday season. I have shared many homemade pies over the years but this apple pie recipe is a classic– up there with pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Tart and sweet juicy apples tossed in warm spices, tucked within a buttery pie crust.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Apple Pie Recipe
- Class recipe, nothing complicated
- Filled with deliciously sweet and tart, cinnamon-spiced apples
- Buttery, flaky pie crust provides a crunch against the soft and juicy filling
- So much comforting flavor
- With a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it, it’s the ultimate dessert!
Start With Quality Pie Dough
With so many apples, you need a sturdy pie crust to hold them all. There’s nothing quite like homemade pie crust– whether you’re an experienced baker or just starting off, I encourage you to try my pie crust recipe. (I also know how chaotic the holiday season can be and don’t blame you if you choose store-bought).
A reader, Debra, commented: “68 yr old happy baker just found the BEST pie crust recipe I have ever used!! The ingredients, perfect! But what shines, shines, shines are the instructions! Only thing I changed, out of necessity to meet a dinner deadline, was that each of my chillings was only 20 minutes. Worked absolutely perfectly!! THANK YOU, beautiful young former pastry chef! ★★★★★”
Key Ingredients You Need (For The Filling)
Once your pie dough is ready, you can gather the rest of the ingredients. Make-Ahead Tip: Save yourself time if you make pies for for the holidays– simply prep the dough in advance, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Apples: You can use your favorite apples, but it’s best to use firm apples for baking, like Granny Smith. Because Granny Smith is more tart, I sometimes pair it with a sweeter variety like Honeycrisp. If using a softer apple, like Gala, I recommend slicing a little thicker than instructed so they don’t get too mushy when baked.
- Spices: It’s not apple pie without the warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. If you’re not a fan of nutmeg, you can leave it out.
- Sugar: Sugar helps sweeten the pie filling. You can use white granulated sugar or brown sugar.
- Lemon: Don’t worry, you don’t actually taste the lemon, but just a splash prevents the apples from browning and enhances the overall flavor.
- Flour: The flours thickens the pie filling.
How To Make The Perfect Apple Pie (In Pictures)
Start with rolling out the bottom pie dough. Remember, you’ll need need 2 pie crusts, one for the bottom and another for the top. (Keep the other in the refrigerator until you need it). Carefully place into a deep-dish pie plate.
Toss the filling ingredients together in a large bowl. Make sure it’s well combined, each apple slice should be coated spices, flour, and sugar.
Arrange the apple slices into the pie dish. Don’t just pour the apples– make sure the slices are compact. Then, add the second pie crust on top. Brush with egg wash to get the beautiful color and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. I have a tutorial on how to make a lattice pie crust, which is how I top the apple pie pictured. You can also lay the second rolled-out pie crust on top and slit some vents on the top with a sharp knife.
It’s time to bake! Place the apple pie on a baking sheet and the apple pie until the crust is golden brown, and the filling is bubbling through the vents, about 1 hour.
Top each slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream and, if you’re feeling fancy, a drizzle of salted caramel sauce, or even dulce de leche. Or keep it simple with a dollop of whipped cream.
4 Apple Pie Success Tips
- Uniform Apple Slices: It’s important that your apple slices are the same thickness. You don’t want some solid apples while others are mushy. You want them all to be tender, with a slight crunch.
- Refrigerate Pie Dough/Crust: Keep the pie crust dough in the refrigerator when you’re not using it. Remember, cold pie dough is important.
- Pie Dish Size: There are a ton of apples in this pie so it’s important that you use a deep-dish pie plate (it also works wonderfully for non-deep-dish pies too). You want the pie dish to be at least 1.5 or 2 inches deep. If you don’t have one, you can slightly reduce the amount of apples.
- Arranging the Apple Slices: You will be shocked to see how many apples can fit into a pie crust when arranged neatly and not just poured in. You want minimal air pockets throughout.
FAQs
You can! You can prepare the pie crust up to 3 days in advance.
Absolutely! Once the pie is fully assembled, wrap tightly in 2 layers of plastic wrap. Freeze the pie for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
If there’s even any apple pie left… it will stay fresh at room temperature for 1-2 days, and in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Though it’s best to eat within the first few days as the crust may begin to get soggy. You can also freeze the pie for up to 3 months. Allow it to cool completely, then wrap it tightly in 2 layers of plastic wrap. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
More Favorite Pies
Simply Perfect Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 1 batch Perfect Pie Crust from Scratch, , prepared & chilled
- 10 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (2.5 teaspoons) ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground nutmeg, (or 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg)
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons (29.57 g) unsalted butter , (cold), cubed
- egg wash, (one egg beaten with a tablespoon of cold water)
- 2 teaspoons raw sugar, , for garnish
Instructions
- Roll out half the pie dough to about 2 inches wider than your pie dish, place it in the bottom of an ungreased pie plate, and refrigerate.
- Place the apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice, spices, and salt in a large bowl and toss to coat evenly.
- Fill the chilled pie shell with the apple mixture, working carefully to mound the apples evenly and with as few empty spaces between apple slices as possible.
- Dot with butter and refrigerate.
- Roll out the second disk of pie dough, (large enough to overhang the sides of the pie by at least an inch), and drape the dough over the pie, pressing lightly to conform to the shape of the apples.
- Trim off any excess dough, leaving about a one inch margin all around the pie.
- Roll the top and bottom crusts up and over, pinching together to seal, and crimp.
- Cut steam vents in the top crust with a sharp knife or kitchen shears, brush with egg wash, and garnish with raw sugar.
- Refrigerate the pie for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Bake the pie for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the crust is golden, the juices are bubbling, and the apples are softened but still a little firm (not mushy).
- Cool the pie for at least an 2 hours before slicing.
The pie crust was extremely difficult to roll out.
I expect the crust to be very tough, but the filling should be good.
I made this today and although the crust was delicious and flaky on top, the sides and bottom were all soggy. What can I do to prevent this from happening? Can the crust be par baked ?
Theres ALL kinds of directions on how to do the crust and filling , but at least I couldn’t find the actual ingredients and measurements for the pie crust
😢😭
VERY FRUSTRATING!!@
You couldn’t find the pie crust recipe? It’s the first item listed in the ingredients section. Just click the link- it’s all right there at the bottom of the post.
Do you reccomend a certain type of apple for this recipe?
I do- I talk about it within the post please read the section “Apple Pie Filling.”
Thanks! Can I bake this in a glass pie pan?
Any kind of pie pan will do! Just make sure it’s a standard-sized pan (9.5-inches in diameter).
Hi Allie! I baked this pie but didn’t get to taste it. I used a 9″ tin pie pan as the pie was not coming back and it was not a deep pie. Just the standard 9″ tinny pan from the store. Because it wasn’t deep, I ended up using only 4 or 5? Good sized granny Smith’s (they weren’t small apples) for it but kept all of your other ingredients the same on their measurements. I’m waiting to hear if they liked it but wondered from your expertise, did I do a bad thing here and do you think it would have made it too sweet? The slices were nicely and evenly coated with the cinnamon/sugar mixture so I thought it’d work fine. It turned out beautifully; I just haven’t heard yet how it tasted… :). Any thoughts with large GS apples if this would be fine? I’m hoping to duplicate it soon to find out. ??. Thank you!!
I doubt you did a bad thing Lori! I think you did a very nice thing to give that pie (that you worked so hard on!) away without even getting a taste. To be honest, apples vary so much in size. I’ve made this pie with 12 apples and I’ve made it with 8 apples, and it comes out delicious regardless. Your pie may have been a little sweeter but is that such a bad thing? I think most people enjoy a sweet treat. I hope you get some positive feedback soon, and when you make it next time I hope you get a nice big slice for yourself!
I’m not sure what I did wrong or what happened, but my pie was burnt up at 30 minutes. Is the 425 correct temperature? I’m sad. LOL
Oh no! It’s definitely right- in fact I just made it again yesterday and baked it at that temp. Did you have it on the middle rack of your oven? Sounds like your oven temp could be off.
I have made this pie in the past and it TOOK my breath away. However I have noticed something new when I came back to make the recipe this year…there are less apples. Before I recall you say thisbpie was very deep (which I’m sure it still is ) however am I correct in that there are less apples ? 12/15 it used to be…not sure, and now there are 10? Also , did the pie used to call for cardamom ? I could be way off, maybe it was cloves but I want to be sure! Either way this is the only apple pie recipe I will ever use .
Hey Ashley! I am so sorry- I did not think anyone had looked at this recipe in years! I did update it and decreased the number of apples from 10 to 12. It was always cloves though! If you want to still use 12 apples you definitely can. Thank you so much for the 5 star rating, in spite of the fact that I made a change to the original!
Perfect is right!! This is one delicious pie!
This apple pie really is simple and looks so perfect! What a delicious addition to the holiday dessert table!
I just made this pie this afternoon and it’s already half gone! My family loves it! I don’t find my pie crust to have the layers like yours does, but this was my first time making pie dough from scratch so it might just take some practice for me to get the hang of working with it. I used Cortland apples because we have a bunch of them from apple picking.Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it tastes just like my Grandma’s (which is a huge compliment!) and I will for sure use it again 🙂
I am so honored to have measured up to your Grandma- I can’t even tell you how much that means to me! And thrilled that you were happy with the recipe. Keep that crust nice and cold and don’t be afraid of big streaks of butter in there, k? And thank you SO much for reading and for trying one of my recipes, Kelli!
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious Apple Pie!!!! I made it yesterday! (It was my first time making an apple pie) The crust was really good! I set up the oven at 425 degrees but unfortunately the apples turned out really really mushy for me 🙁 I don’t know what happened? I followed every single step! Maybe because my oven is new? Who knows.. Anyway I won’t give up! I will try again… If you have any advise that would be great! Thank you so much again 🙂
Hey Stephanie! I’m so sorry your apples were mushy! 🙁 Mine always come out really snappy…??? Did you use granny smith apples? They are so great for baking because they’re firm… Other than that I’m not really sure… I suppose it could be the oven? If you try it again maybe just decrease the bake time. You could stick a knife through one of the steam vents to gauge how the apples are doing. The crust usually only takes around 25 minutes to brown and crisp up, and any time over and above that is just to get the apples cooked. So, as soon as you feel they are where you want them to be, you could take the pie out and let it start to cool down. I hope that helps! And thank you so much for reading my blog and trying one of my recipes 😀
Tried it- its amazing! So delicious…mmmmmm.
Yay! Thank you so much, Olenka! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for letting me know. Enjoy the season! 🙂