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This classic apple pie recipe pairs a flaky, buttery crust with cinnamon-spiced apples and a rich, cider-like filling that’s never runny.
Over my 25 years of professional cooking, I’ve tested countless apple pie recipes and landed on a few simple techniques that make all the difference. This classic apple pie recipe has a flaky, buttery crust and tender, cinnamon-spiced apples in a rich, cider-like filling.
The secret is cooking the apples before assembling the pie, which concentrates their flavor, helps the filling set beautifully, and keeps the bottom crust crisp. I’ll walk you through the process step by step, from making and rolling the dough to assembling and baking the pie.
Serve this homemade apple pie on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce. And if you’d like to get a head start, my apple pie filling can be made ahead of time.
“Apple is my husband’s favorite. He walked out the door this morning and said it was the best I’ve made!”
What You’ll Need To Make Apple Pie
- Pie crust: Made from all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, a touch of baking powder, cold butter, and ice water. The cold butter and water are key to creating a flaky, tender crust.
- Apples: Use firm baking apples that hold their shape when cooked. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn, and Golden Delicious are all good choices; a mix gives the filling more complex flavor.
- Dark brown sugar: Adds sweetness along with a rich, caramel-like flavor.Lemon juice: Brightens the filling and balances the sweetness of the apples.
- Cinnamon: Adds just enough warmth and spice without overpowering the apples.
- Flour & cornstarch: Work together to thicken the apple juices so the filling sets beautifully when sliced.
- Egg, cream, or milk: Brushed over the top crust to help it brown beautifully.
- Turbinado or granulated sugar: Adds a sweet, lightly crunchy finish to the crust.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Apple Pie
Make and chill the pie dough: Pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor, then add the cold butter and pulse until crumbly. Add the ice water and pulse just until the dough is evenly moistened—it should still look crumbly rather than forming a ball. Divide the dough, shape into discs, and refrigerate until firm.
Prepare the apple pie filling: Combine the apples with the lemon juice, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, flour, and cornstarch and cook over medium heat, stirring often. The apples are ready when they’ve softened slightly and their juices have thickened. Spread the filling on a baking sheet so it cools quickly and completely.
Assemble: Roll the larger dough disc into a 13-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie pan. Add the cooled apple filling, then roll the top crust slightly larger than the pie and drape it over the apples. Seal and crimp the edges, brush with egg, cream, or milk, sprinkle with sugar, and cut a few slits in the top for steam to escape.
Bake: Bake the pie on a preheated baking sheet in the lower third of the oven—the blast of heat underneath helps crisp the bottom crust. The pie is done when the crust is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents.
Cool and serve: Let the pie cool completely before slicing, at least 4 hours. This resting time is important: as the filling cools, it thickens and sets so you get neat slices rather than a runny filling. The pie can be baked a day ahead or frozen (baked or unbaked) for longer storage.
Apple Pie Video Tutorial
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Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 18 tablespoons (2 sticks + 2 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 7 tablespoons ice cold water
For the Filling
- 4½ pounds baking apples (about 8 large apples; see note), peeled, cored, and sliced ¼-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For Baking
- A beaten egg, heavy cream, or milk, for brushing over crust
- 2 tablespoons granulated or turbinado sugar, for topping the pie
Instructions
- Prepare the Crust: Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the pieces of butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly with lots of pea-size clumps of butter within.Add the water and pulse until the mixture is evenly moistened and very crumbly.Dump the dough crumbles onto a work surface and divide into two piles, with one pile about 15% bigger than the other. You can eyeball it, but if you have a kitchen scale, one pile should weigh 13 oz (368 g) and the other 11.5 oz (326 g). Shape into two balls of dough and pat each one into a 5-inch (13-cm) disc. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or up to 3 days to rest.
- Prepare the Filling: In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, mix the apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, flour, and cornstarch. Stir until thoroughly combined and both the flour and cornstarch are dissolved. Place the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the apples soften and the juices thicken, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer the apples and their juices to a baking sheet, spreading them out evenly. Allow them to cool completely.
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and set an oven rack in the lower third position. Place a baking sheet on this rack to preheat as well. (This acts like a pizza stone, providing a hot surface to help the bottom crust of the pie crisp up effectively.)
- Assemble the Pie: Remove the larger disc of dough from the refrigerator. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and place the dough on it; sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough as well. Gently knead the dough with your hands just until it becomes soft and malleable (avoid overworking it—you want it just supple enough to roll out). Roll the dough out into a 13-inch (33-cm) circle, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Carefully lift the dough by draping it over your rolling pin and transfer it to a 9-inch by 1½-inch (23-cm by 3.75-cm) deep pie pan, preferably metal (as metal conducts heat more effectively, helping the bottom crust crisp up) but ceramic or glass will work too. Gently press the dough into the pan, making sure to ease it into place without stretching. Trim the edges of the dough to extend about ½ inch (1.25 cm) beyond the pie pan's lip.Transfer the cooled apples and their juices into the crust; refrigerate while you prepare the top crust.Remove the second disc of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into an 11-inch (28-cm) circle, following the same process described above. Retrieve the filled pie from the refrigerator and carefully drape the rolled dough over the top. Crimp the edges with a fork or flute them with your fingers to seal the top and bottom crusts together. Work quickly and dust your fingers with flour as needed to prevent the dough from becoming too warm. Brush the top crust with beaten egg, cream, or milk, and evenly sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of granulated or turbinado sugar. Cut four 3-inch (7.5-cm) slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
- Bake and Cool: Place the pie on the preheated baking sheet and bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and continue baking for an additional 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let the pie cool completely on a wire rack before slicing, at least 4 hours. Resist the temptation to cut into the pie while it’s warm, or you may end up with apple soup!
Notes
- Be sure to use baking apples that hold their shape when cooked, such as Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Granny Smith, or Golden Delicious. And use a mix of different varietals for the best flavor.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The pie can be baked up to 1 day ahead of time and stored, loosely covered with foil, at room temperature. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months before or after baking it. (If freezing it unbaked, hold off on brushing the top crust with the beaten egg and sprinkling it with sugar; you can do that right before baking.) If baked, let it cool completely and place it in the freezer uncovered. When fully frozen, wrap the pie securely in foil and freeze. If the pie is unbaked, wrap it securely in foil and freeze. When ready to serve, proceed with baking instructions above (the pie is likely to take 10 to 15 minutes longer to bake).
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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the best apple pie ever
Hi Jen,
I am making this apple pie for Thanksgiving and I was wondering if I can use a prepared crust instead of making it from scratch (saves some time!).
Thanks,
Cathy
Sure Cathy, that would work. (And most prepared crusts have instructions for blind baking, so I’d follow those on the package.)
Hi Jen,
This really looks good. I’d like to try and make it for Thanksgiving. But I have a question. Can I make this a day before? If so, do I keep it in the fridge? And how would I warm it up for my guests? Reheat it in the oven? Please advise.
Thanks.
Lucy
Hi Lucy, You can definitely make it a day ahead and store it at room temperature. I don’t recommend serving apple pie too warm, as it tends to get soupy when hot. But you could pop it in a 300°F oven for 15-20 minutes to warm it up just a bit.
Hi Jenn,
Would you be able to offer a streusel/crumb topping variation on this to make it into a Dutch apple pie?
Thanks!
Hi Lauren, The topping that goes on my apple pecan crisp would work well here. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
I made the Dutch apple pie for Thanksgiving, using the streusel topping from Sarabeth’s Bakery cookbook (it’s a small batch, so I tripled it), only because we had pecans on our sweet potatoes. The pie came out fantastic! Probably the best apple pie I’ve ever made, and I’ve made a bunch over the years. I loved your apple recommendations: used a mix of granny smith, golden delicious and jonagold. It probably helped that I bought them from a local orchard, as opposed to the grocery store. And I went a bit heavier on the cinnamon than what you call for because we are cinna-fanatics. Blind-baking the crust really made a huge difference as far as avoiding a soggy bottom. Love this recipe, would definitely make it again, and highly recommend it with a crumb topping.
Hi Jenn and Lauren,
If I decide to go with the streusel topping, how and where do I place it on the pie? When do i add it? before, during or after baking?
Thanks
Hi Eric, you’d put the streusel on top before baking. Hope you enjoy!
This recipe is perfect!! Follow the directions carefully and you won’t be disapointed! I let my apples sit for close to an 1 and 1/2 hours….while I was preparing the crust. The person it was made for said “This is the best homemade apple pie I’ve ever had.”
This pie was beyond outstanding! Thank you for this terrific recipe. There were alot of steps and it took some time but the results, WOW, so worth it! We are big fans of cinnamon, so I increased the cinnamon to 1.5 teaspoons. I used “Granny Smith” cut as directed and “Macs” cut into chunks. This combo had a really great flavour.
The tips for prevailing the bottom crust and reducing the syrup really help make a great crust which isn’t soggy at all! Thank you my husband loved it ?
This pie was fantastic! Everyone I served it to loved it and it held up very well the next day too! The pictures for the crust really helped. I didn’t have any issues with a gap between the crust and apples, but will watch for it next time I make it. Thanks for another great recipe Jen!
This pie was absolutely delicious and the technique details/photos, combined with the weight measurements for the flour, made a huge difference in the quality of the crust. The only issue I had was with the crust doming – when I cut into the pie there was a large air pocket between the crust and the apples. Any suggestions on how to alleviate this problem? I weighed the apples, but compared to your photos, it seemed like maybe I had more than your pie (the pan is exactly the same size).
Hi Katie, So glad you enjoyed the pie! This is a common issue with apple pie because the crust sets before the apples soften and sink a bit. Compacting the apples tightly in the crust to eliminate air pockets helps a lot (I’ve updated the instructions to emphasize this) but the only way to alleviate the issue completely is to cook the apples before filling the pie. If you want to try it, instead of straining and reducing the syrup, you can cook the apple and sugar mixture on the stovetop for about 10 minutes, until the apples are softened and the syrup is reduced. Then you’ll need to let the mixture cool before using — if the apples are warm, the dough for the top crust will be impossible to work with. Hope that helps!
Yes, it does! Thank you so much, Jenn!
Hi, I made this pie the other day and it was (still is!) delicious. Like the other reviewer, I had the same problem with the apples cooking down and leaving at least a 2″ gap between the pastry and the apples. Could you provide the extra instructions for pre-cooking the apples? Also, I used only about 2 lbs of apples and the pie was huge! Love all the recipes I’ve tried on your site. Thanks!
Hi Jane, I’m so happy you enjoyed the pie. The gap seems to be a common theme – see my response to Katie above for instructions. It’s a bit more work, but it will do the trick. If you go this route, I would definitely use the full amount of apples or the pie will be sunken in.