Our delicious Apple Pie recipe is like the red carpet of desserts – it's flavorful, classic, and always a crowd pleaser, from summer BBQ's to holidays feasts.
Do you love pie recipes as much as I do? Try my Lemon Sour Cream Pie, Triple Berry Pie, or Pumpkin Cheesecake!
Apple Pie is an American classic that's gotta be done right!
Apple Pie is an American classic that's gotta be done right!I'm so proud of this recipe and feel like it is the absolute perfect apple pie! It has the delicious flavor we love with tender cinnamon sugar apples and it also stays together when you serve it, ensuring everyone gets their share of filling and flaky crust. A truly perfect pie recipe is only as good as the crust, so be sure to start this one with our easy homemade pie crust! You wont regret making this all from scratch.
How to make Apple Pie Filling:
Prep Apples and : Peel, slice, and core each apple. (I use my johnny apple peeler, which does all three at once).
Cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, cloves, salt, nutmeg, and sugar.
Make Filling: Melt butter in a large pan then add apple slices and lemon juice. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on top and stir to coat. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring often. Sprinkle cornstarch and flour over the apples and stir well. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature (optional: pour mixture onto a baking sheet to cool quicker).
Assemble Apple Pie: Prepare a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan with an unbaked pie crust. Add cooled apple pie filling. Cut the top crust into strips for a lattice crust, or place the whole pie crust on top and cut slits to let the steam escape. Seal top and bottom pie dough edges together.
Bake: Make an egg wash and lightly brush it over the apple pie and add a sprinkle of sugar. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes then reduce the temperature to 375°F, leaving the pie in the oven. Continue baking for 30-40 minutes longer, until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, at least 2-3 hours.
Serve the best apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: You can make the pie crust dough several days in advance, or freeze for months. The apple pie filling can also be made ahead, stored in the fridge before assembling and baking.
To Store: Store at room temperature for up to several hours, or keep covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
To Freeze: The pie crust and apple pie filling can be made and frozen in separate freezer safe containers for up to 3 months. Thaw completely before assembling. Baked apple pie can also be frozen once it has cooled completely. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge (about 1.5 days) before serving.
More Apple Recipes:
- Fresh Apple Cake
- Baked Apples
- Applesauce Muffins
- Apple Coffee Cake
- How to make Caramel Apples
- Broccoli Apple Salad
- Caramel Apple Dip
- Waldorf Salad
- Applesauce
- Apple Pecan Salad
- Apple Cobbler
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Homemade Apple Pie
Equipment
- Johnny Apple Slicer (optional)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs apples (I use 3 large Granny Smith and 3 large Honeycrisp)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar , divided
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 recipe homemade pie dough (2 crusts) (My recipe makes enough for the 2 crusts needed)
- Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Peel, core, and thinly slice apples. I use a johnny apple peeler which does all three at once. Make sure the apple slices are relatively thinly.
- Apple Pie Filling: Whisk together the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and ¾ cup sugar, and set aside. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add the apples and lemon juice. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top and gently stir to coat. Cook the apple mixture for 3-5 minutes, until the apples are slightly tender. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch over the apples and toss until well combined.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Optional: Pour the apple pie filling out onto a baking sheet to cool faster.
- Preheat oven: Place a large baking sheet on the middle rack of oven and preheat the oven (with the pan inside) to 425 degrees F. (Cooking the pie on a hot baking sheet will help the bottom crust crisp and not get soggy.)
- Roll out pie crusts: Remove one disc of pie dough from the refrigerator and roll it out to about 12 inches in diameter. Place crust inside a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate while you roll out the second, top pie crust.
- Assemble: Remove the pie pan from the fridge and pour the apple pie filling into it. Cover with the second, top layer of dough. You can either place the entire circle of pie dough over the filling and cut a few slits in it to allow steam to escape, or make a simple lattice crust. Pinch the pie dough edges together to seal. Crimp pie edge.
- Brush with egg wash: Mix 1 egg with 1 Tablespoon milk or water. Lightly brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining Tablespoon of sugar.
- Bake: Place pie in oven on top of hot baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Leave the pie in the oven and reduce temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue to cook until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden, about 30 to 40 more minutes. If the crust is getting too browned, Tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top.
- Cool: Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool completely, at least 2-3 hours. This allows the filling to set up so it wont fall apart when slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe September 2019. Updated November 2022 and November 2024.
Recipe adapted from NY Times.
This post contains affiliate links.
This pie filling recipe is amazing! Consistency was spot on and the warm spiced flavor was perfection. Thank you!
This is the best thing I’ve ever made. Followed it exactly. Just don’t overwork that dough. The chunks of butter and shortening are perfect.
Unfortunately the high temperature started to burn the edges after just 10 minutes so I went ahead and lowered the temperature to 375. I checked it about 5 minutes later and the edges were continuing to burn so I wrapped them in foil and was able to save them from burning completely. Overall, very good recipe. It could be my oven is slightly off, but I don’t think the high temperature was necessary. Ended up baking for a total of 37 minutes. Waiting for it to cool so I can taste it, but it looks great for my first time!
This was my first Apple Pie. Hubby & I loved it! Used a pre-made pie shell, but made pie dough for the lattice on top.
My only variances were on the sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar & 1/4 brown sugar & adding 1 tsp of vanilla. I also did not use milk in the egg wash (didn’t have any). Sprinkled Demerara sugar over the apples after I put them in the pie crust, plus on top of the egg washed lattice. Better than store bought. Thank’s for sharing your recipe 💕.
I made this pie for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit. My first made from scratch pie- and it turned out great.
Best and easiest apple pie I’ve made!!!
I’ve made your triple berry and apple pie recipes and they are amazing. I sub white/cane sugar with brown sugar for the apple pie, comes out decent. Also, your pie crust recipe is the bomb, I’ve used gluten free all purpose flour a couple times and it seems to hold up fine. Do you ever make gluten free baked goods? Any advice?
Thank you so much! I honestly never bake gluten-free stuff. Sorry!
Lauren!! Put this in your make ahead area! I forget every year to say this! Love this recipe so much!
great tasting, crust flaky, just right, not to tart, very good pie for thanksgiving , will definitely make again, everyone wants another one. real success.
Could you prep the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it? Trying to save time for thanksgiving!
Yes, you can make the filling ahead and store it in the fridge! Enjoy!
We made this and ate it with friends! IT’S FANTASTIC!
We love the recipes on your blog, Laur! They feature at least weekly in our meals. But this one really didn’t work for us. The apples were too mushy soft after ~6 min in the pan, 20 mins above 400, and 30+ mins at regular temperature. And the interior was quite dry, as well. Maybe this would work without a lattice/mine let out too much moisture. It didn’t leak, but I don’t think the consistency was an ideal trade-off. If I make I think again I’ll use less cornstarch, less pan-sauté time, and see how that goes. 🤷🏼♀️