My all-time favorite Apple Pie Recipe! Imagine saucy apples bubbling through that flaky pie crust – irresistibly good! This pie always gets glowing reviews from everyone who takes a bite. This is the pie everyone has to make for Thanksgiving!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Helpful Reader Review
“I have made a lot of different apple pies for my family over the years. This is by far the best apple pie ever! My family requests it all the time.“ – Elaine ★★★★★
Apple Pie Video Tutorial
Watch my video and see how easy this apple pie is—from the simple crust to that homemade apple pie filling. You’ll crave it until you make it!
Apple Pie Recipe
This easy Apple Pie is a treasured recipe with thousands of glowing reviews. It’s simple to make but looks just like a professional baker spent hours in the kitchen to make it, and it tastes that way too. It’s buttery, flaky, gooey, and just perfect.
You’ll love the homemade flaky pastry pie crust – we use this same crust for Blueberry Pie and Cherry Pie. It’s also perfect for savory pies like Chicken Pot Pie. It’s a keeper!
The method for this homemade apple pie filling is surprising, but it will win you over. It’s well worth the extra 5 minutes, and you’ll never want canned apple pie filling again.
Ingredients for Apple Pie
You may be surprised to hear you only need pantry staples and some fresh apples to make this apple pie recipe.
- Pie crust – you’ll need two disks of homemade pie crust. We love this apple pie crust just as much as the filling. Since it’s an all-butter homemade pie crust (no shortening), it’s flaky and tender. The bottom is never soggy but forms a crispness at the edges. You can use store-bought, but homemade is best.
- Apples – We use Granny Smith in this pie recipe for the best flavor and texture. Avoid overripe or mushy apples. See my notes on apple substitutions below.
- Butter & Flour – creates a thick and saucy filling
- Cinnamon – adds a warm, spiced flavor to the apples. You could also add a pinch of nutmeg.
- Sugar – add sugar to taste, depending on the types of apples used (see apple options below).
- Egg Wash – combining egg and water gives the crust a golden brown, shiny finish.
The Best Apples for Apple Pie
Granny Smith apples are tart and crisp and the gold standard for baking, but any sweet/tart and crisp apples or even a mix of apples will do, but use less sugar when substituting sweeter apples such as Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Fuji, Braeburn, or Pink Lady.
How to Make Apple Pie
- Prepare the pie crust recipe and chill in the refrigerator. When ready to assemble your pie, preheat the oven to 425˚F with a rack in the center of the oven.
- Make the Filling – Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute. Whisk in water and sugar. Simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from heat. Do not overcook.
- Prepare apples – peel, core, and slice apples into about 1/4″ thick slices. Sprinkle with cinnamon and toss to combine, then stir in the filling to coat the apples.
The Best Tool for Apple Recipes
My family loves apple recipes, from Baked Apples to Apple Turnovers. If you love apple desserts, this apple slicer will save you so much prep time! It peels, slices, and cores all in one swoop. You’ll have all of your apples prepped in less than 5 minutes. Imagine saucy apples bubbling through that flaky lattice crust – irresistibly good!
- Roll the Crust – into a 12-inch diameter pie dough and transfer to a 9-inch, deep pie pan. Add the apple filling, mounding in the center (avoid getting apple filling on the edges of the pie crust, which will make it difficult to seal).
- Lattice Top – Roll the second disk into an 11-inch diameter circle and cut into 10 strips with a pizza cutter. Arrange half of the strips over the pie and weave in the second layer of strips (see how to make a lattice crust). Crimp the edges to seal and brush the crust with egg wash.
- Bake at 425˚F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350˚F and continue baking for another 45 minutes until you see thick juices bubbling through the lattice crust for at least 5 minutes.
How to Keep Pie From Browning Too Fast
If you find the edges of your pie are browning too quickly, you can use a pie shield or simply cut a 3″ circle out of the center of a square sheet of foil and loosely place it with the dull side down over the top of your pie.
Tips for the Best Apple Pie
- Don’t overheat the filling – Avoid overheating the sauce or cooking for too long, which can cause it to separate or get too thick. If this happens, don’t stress, you can still toss the apples together with the sauce, and it will come together in the oven.
- Chill the crust – make sure to chill the pie crust according to the instructions, or the butter will melt out of the crust, and it will go flat.
- Let it cool – allow the pie to cool and set for at least an hour before slicing, for the juices to thicken up and set, otherwise it will slide apart when sliced.
Everything about this apple pie is good, from the flaky, buttery, homemade crust to the unbeatable apple pie filling. Try this served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Let me know if it graces your holiday table.
P.S. Did you know you can make an apple pie ahead (see the make-ahead tips in the notes below). With all the bustle of the holidays, it’s nice to know you can check this pie off your list early.
The BEST Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for double pie crust
- 2 1/4 lbs Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored 6-7 apples (7 cups thinly sliced)
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg , + 1 Tbsp water, for egg wash
Instructions
- Make the pie crust recipe and chill per instructions while preparing the filling. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 3 Tbsp flour then simmer for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Whisk in 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue simmering for 3 minutes, whisking frequently then remove from heat.
- Peel, core, and thinly slice 7 cups of apples and place them in a large bowl. Sprinkle the top with 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and toss to combine. Pour the sauce over the apples and stir to coat the apple slices.
- Sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll out the bottom pie crust to a 12" diameter circle. Wrap it around your rolling pin to transfer it to the 9" pie plate. Add apple mixture, mounding slightly in the center and being careful not to get the filling on the edges which would make it difficult to seal.
- Roll the second crust into an 11" round and cut into 10 even-thickness strips using a pizza cutter. Arrange strips in a woven lattice pattern over the top (see video tutorial). Beat together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water and brush the top with egg mixture.
- Bake at 425˚F in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350˚F and continue baking for another 45 minutes or until the apples are soft and the filling is bubbling through the vents for at least 5 minutes.* Rest at room temp 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- Store at Room Temp: Cool completely to room temperature before covering and storing. The pie keeps well covered on the counter for up to 2 days.
- To Refrigerate: Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freezing Pie: store in a freezer-friendly airtight container for up to 3 months. Here’s a tutorial on how to freeze and bake a frozen pie.
- To Reheat: thaw baked pie in the fridge or on the counter and then reheat in a 350°F oven until warmed through.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Fall Baking Recipes
Fall always puts me in the mood for baking. All of these recipes are on our regular rotation. These recipes are easy to make and are so good that they are our go-to Thanksgiving recipes!
- Pumpkin Cake
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Baklava
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Bread with honey butter
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Apple Crisp
- Pumpkin Roll
Hi Natasha I love your recipes… I was wondering if I could freeze the filing?
I have not tested freezing this however, one of my readers said, “I assemble this pie and freeze it before baking. It bakes well from the frozen state.” I hope that helps. God bless!
May I use peaches instead of apples in this recipe. It is peach season and this recipe has always been a winner! Has anyone substituted peaches and had good results?
Hi Leslie, I have not tried this specific recipe with peach. It may work with a few adjustments. We do have a Peach Pie recipe HERE. Or our most recently shared Peach Galette recipe HERE.
Thank you for responding to my question so quickly! All your recipes are winners and I will try one of your suggestions as soon as I can get my peaches peeled.
You’re welcome, Leslie. I hope you’ll enjoy all the recipes that you’ll try!
Beautiful pie, Natasha! I’ve just made my second one this week!😍😍😍
Love that you’re enjoying it a lot!
Hi, is it possible to get the entire recipe in grams? Clicked the metric system but not all te measurements converted. Thanks!
Hi Fabiana, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
Made this pie a few times already! Absolutely great and tasty!
Thank you for sharing Natasha!:)
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Veronika!
This was the best apple pie I’ve ever made and tasted in my whole life honestly it’s a 10/10
Wow, thank you for the perfect rating. Love it!
Best apple pie I have ever made! And most praised dessert ever! Thank you so much for such gastronomic pleasure!
Wow, thanks so much for the awesome feedback!
Hi Natasha,
This pie was so amazing. And the crust is just soooo crusty…loved every bite of it. I used pinklady apples and everything else was same and it was delicious. Yumyum in our tumtum.
Nice to know that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks a lot for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha,
I made this pie recently and absolutely loved the filling, but unfortunately the bottom pie crust turned out pretty soggy. Not sure if it was fully cooked or not. I was wondering if blind baking the bottom pie crust beforehand will help with this issue? Would it be too burnt or overdone if I blind baked it and then baked again for another hour with the filling inside? Thank you so much! 🙂
Hi Helen! Did you use my pie crust recipe or make any substitutions? I have not found it necessary to blind bake the crust for this pie (I do for my pumpkin pie). It could also be the apples used, some release more liquid than others and seep into the crust. You can try blind baking but you’ll need to watch it so it doesn’t burn.
Hello Natasha, I have a treasure trove of red apples (assorted varieties). If using red apples, i expect less shape and more disintergrations yes?
I won’t add extra liquid no?
Hi Blaine, If they are sweeter apples, I would use less sugar, otherwise everything else should be about the same.
This recipe is so good that I’ve made three apple pies since the first one, and guess which recipe I use? I’ll never make apple pie another way!
Love it! Thank you so much for the great feedback, Melissa.
I’ve now made this apple pie a dozen times and every time, it’s perfect. If I tell my family or friends I’m making it, they line up. The filling is brilliant and so easy to do. I made apple pie the same way for 30 years until I read this recipe. Thanks Natasha!
That’s wonderful, Gail! So glad you found this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Your video says egg and tablespoon sugar for the egg wash, but the recipe says egg and tablespoon water?
Hello Kaye, I recommend always following the written recipe because that can be edited/changed while the video cannot be edited anymore. I hope you like the recipe!
The crust recipe mentions blind baking but the recipe here says to chill then bake? Should I blind bake the crust? Thanks!
Hi Penelope, there are instructions on the crust post for blind baking if it is necessary for a recipe such as Pumpkin Pie, but it is not necessary to blind bake for this apple pie recipe.
Really delicious pie. The sugar gravy step is a new one for me and quite the time and mess saver. It also makes the pie stand out from its peers that try to achieve that smoothness in other ways.
Thank you for sharing, Hal! I’m so glad you loved this recipe.
Amazing! I made this pie, as the recipe says, using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten free flour. It simply could not have been better! Delicious. Thank you
Hi Sue, I’m glad it worked out for you. Thank you for the review and for sharing your feedback. I’m sure our readers will find this helpful!
Thank you. I made this pie, as the recipe says, using 1:1 Gluten Free flour. Both the crust and pie were unbelievably delicious. I’ve never had better.
I made this for mother’s day. Every one loved it. But while letting the sauce cool off while I peeled the apples there was a problem. The sauce became jellied. I think it cooled off too much?? Idk. Any comments?
Hi Angie, if the sauce is heated for too long or at too high of heat, it can thicken up but that’s ok, once the pie is baked in the oven, it evens out.
I made this and it’s super good!!
I changed one thing and it was to use dark brown sugar instead of normal, so if anyone else reads this and wants to do that, you’ll probably want to add 2-3 extra tablespoons of water in the filling. It won’t be too watery, it turns out really good and gooey and yummy!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Ken!
This Recipe always ends up delish every time I make It! Superb! – A.R.E.M.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!