What could be better than a slice of homemade apple pie? Made with tart apples and a buttery pie crust, my double-crust pie makes the perfect apple pie and is guaranteed to become a family favorite.
This easy-to-make apple pie is one of my favorite pie recipes, and after one bite, I know you’ll agree this is the best apple pie recipe you’ve ever made!
My classic apple recipe is definitely a crowd-pleaser and is the perfect dessert for a weeknight dinner, potluck, game day, or get-together.
If you love apple desserts, make sure to check out my Caramel Apple Torte, Apple Turnovers, and Old Fashioned Apple Crisp. They’re three of my favorite apple recipes.
Ingredients to make Homemade Apple Pie
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients needed to make my easy apple pie recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
What are the best apples to use for apple pie?
The best apples for apple pie are Granny Smith. It’s a tart apple with a slightly sweet flavor. If you prefer sweet apples, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Nothern Spy, Jonathon, and Rome apples are good for pie recipes, cakes, and tarts.
Don’t use Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, or MacIntosh apples, as they will get soft and mushy when baked.
How to make the Best Apple Pie
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse the dry ingredients four times to fully mix the ingredients.
- Add the pieces of very cold butter to the dry ingredients.
- Pulse at one-second intervals until the butter is mixed in, forming buttery pebble-sized pieces.
- Add ¼ cup of the ice-cold water to the mixture and pulse until the pie dough forms a ball on the blade of the food processor.
- Turn the dough out of the food processor onto a floured surface (be careful with the blade).
*This is my favorite pie crust recipe and can be used to make your favorite fruit pie recipes. The food processor makes the process easy, but you can also use a pastry blender to cut in the butter.
- Divide the dough into two even dough balls. Press them into discs with smooth edges, wrap them in plastic, and chill until ready to use (at least an hour, up to overnight).
- Add the apple slices, granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a large bowl.
- Toss the ingredients to combine, coating all of the apple slices evenly.
- Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin, roll one disc into a 12″ circle that is ⅛” thick.
- Carefully lay the crust into the bottom of a deep dish pie pan.
- Spoon the apple pie filling over the bottom crust, discarding any juices that may have gathered in the bottom of the bowl.
- Roll out the second disc of pie dough until it’s ⅛” thick and lay the top crust over the top of the pie, covering the apple filling.
- Using a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pie dough along the outside of the pie plate. Then, lift the edges where the two pie crusts meet and gently press them together to seal and fold them under. Rotate the pie plate and repeat this process until the edges are neatly tucked under themselves.
- Using a sharp knife, cut four slits in the top of the pie dough to allow the steam to vent. Brush the top of the pie crust with the lightly whipped egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
*Use pearl sugar, sanding sugar, or coarse sugar to top the pie crust. This step is optional.
- Cover the edges of the pie crust with a pie shield or a strip of aluminum foil to keep the outer edges of the crust from over-browning.
- Place the pie dish on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drippings), then place it on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pie from the oven and remove the pie shield. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden brown and the juices are bubbly.
- Place the finished pie on a wire rack to cool for at least 3 hours.
To make this All-American dessert extra special, serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.
Store leftover apple pie well covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container refrigerated for up to five days. The pie can be frozen in a freezer-safe container or double-wrapped in plastic wrap for up to two months. It can be frozen after baking or before baking.
For a change of pace, cut the top crust into strips to make a lattice crust, or eliminate the top crust and make a streusel topping to make a Dutch apple pie.
Recipe FAQ’s
You don’t have to cook the apples before adding them to the pie, but there are some benefits to pre-cooking them. Precooking them will allow you to add more apples to the pie and not have the space between the pie and the apples that occurs when the apples cook. Precooking the apples will make them a little softer (which is why I prefer raw apples), so depending upon your taste preference, keep that in mind.
No, you don’t have to. But if you prefer a crisper bottom crust, you should definitely pre-cook the bottom crust. The crust will get soggy from the apple juice whether you precook the crust or not. But pre-cooking will help keep it firmer.
If you use sugar to make your pie, you can leave it covered on the counter for two days. After that, it needs to be refrigerated. Pies made with sugar substitutes need to be kept refrigerated.
More Recipes You’ll Love!
Easy Apple Pie Recipe
Equipment
- deep dish pie plate
Ingredients
Pie Dough
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 8 oz butter chilled and cut into small cubes (1 cup = 16 tbsp)
- ½ cup very cold ice water
Pie filling
- 7 large Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and sliced into ½ inch slices.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 large large egg lightly beaten for egg wash
- 2 tablespoon pearl or sanding sugar -optional for decorating pie (coarse sugar can also be used)
Instructions
Pie Dough
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse the dry ingredients 4 times to fully mix the ingredients.
- Add the pieces of very cold butter to the dry ingredients and pulse at one-second intervals until the butter is mixed in, forming buttery pebble size pieces.
- Add ¼ cup of the ice-cold water to the mixture and pulse until the dough forms a ball on the blade of the food processor.
- Turn the dough out of the food processor onto a floured surface (be careful with the blade).
- Divide into 2 even dough balls. Press them into discs with smooth edges, wrap them in plastic, and chill until ready to use (preferably at least an hour, up to overnight.)
Pie Filling
- Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F
- Add the sliced apples, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a large bowl and toss to combine, coating the apple slices evenly.
- Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc into a 12" circle that is ⅛" thick. Carefully lay the crust into the bottom of a deep dish pie plate.
- Spoon the apple pie filling over the bottom crust, discarding any juices that may have gathered in the bottom of the bowl.
- Roll out the second disc of pie dough until it's ⅛" thick and lay it over the top of the apple pie filling.
- Using a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pie dough along the outside of the pie plate.
- Lift the edges where the two pie crusts meet and gently press them together to seal and fold them under. Rotate the pie plate and repeat this process until the edges are neatly tucked under themselves.
- Cut four slits in the top of the pie dough to allow the steam to vent. Place the finished pie on a baking sheet (to catch the drippings).
- Brush the top of the pie crust with the lightly whipped egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.*Use pearl sugar, sanding sugar, or coarse sugar to top the pie crust. This step is optional.
- Cover the edges of the pie crust with a pie shield or a strip of aluminum foil to keep the outer edges of the crust from over-browning.
- Place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pie from the oven and remove the pie shield. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden brown and the juices are bubbly.
- Place the finished pie on a wire rack to cool for at least 3 hours.
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