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!
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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
Can I use salted butter? Don’t really want to buy a whole pack of unsalted as it will just go to waste in my house. Lol
Hi Christina, I always use unsalted just so I can control the salt level of the recipe but feel free to try it!
Natasha, i did end up using salted butter and it was still 5 stars! Everyone loved it! Thanks so much!
Yay glad to hear!
why would unsalted butter go to waste, you just add salt to it when needed.
I was a bit nervous to make this pie because the dough and latice looked daunting. But it was actually a lot easier than I expected! The process was a bit long but that’s because it was my first time making a pie. And my pie didn’t turn out as beautiful as Natasha’s but that’s ok. It was very delicious! My family ate it in basically one sitting! I did use 5 apples and that turned out to be a bit much. And also in the video for the egg wash you said to use egg and sugar, whereas in the recipe you wrote egg and water. I used all 3 ingredients and it turned out fine.
So glad you enjoyed it! Both options will work for the wash, but the written instructions are the most recent and updated version.
Omg! This is the best and easy apple pie recipe. I made it last nite and it came out awesome. I actually used gala apples that were on my counter and they came out great.
So glad you loved it. Thank you for the feedback.
THIS IS AMAZING. I’ve been looking for the perfect apple pie recipe. I’ll never make a different one again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Brooklyn!
hi there! im planning to make the pie but i would like to get some help with the oven, since it has modes of baking (up and sown, griiled, fan, etc..). what would be the best for making the pie? thank for the help 🙂
Hi Michal! I hope you love this pie. This recipe is written for a conventional oven using regular bake mode, not a conventional (fan) oven so I am not sure what adjustments need to be made for your oven. You may try researching online to see how to adjust the time and temperature.
This was a great apple pie filling. I made a different crust but I followed the recipe for apple filling and my family of 4 loved it and the pie only lasted one day. Thank you for posting this recipe!!!
You’re very welcome, Melanie!
Worst filling. Sauce too runny even though I followed directions. Why are we adding water to our filling mix?? Seems unnecessary…
Please leave a note about cornstarch for thickening tip on your ingredient list.
Hi Julie, this has been one of our most popular recipes so I will do my best to troubleshoot. We thicken with flour – if your sauce water watery, I’m wondering if maybe the stovetop sauce step was skipped or maybe the flour was omitted? The sauce would be watery without it. Once the apple pie is baked, the sauce because bubby and thick and just right.
Very nice filling. I would use less sugar & bake a little less, filling got too soft, apples lost shape too much
Planning on making this pie soon 😀 I can’t find though, does this crust need to be pre-baked??
No need to pre-bake this crust. I hope you love this recipe.
Made this for a church picnic. I got so many compliments. I will admit it is the best apple pie I have ever eaten! Both the filling and crust were unbelievably delicious! Easy too. Do you have any tips on canning the filling so it could be made with apples from our own trees when they are out of season? Would you prebake the crust if you did it this way? Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m so happy you loved it, Loretta! I haven’t tried canning it before, we’d love to know how it goes if you try that!
The filling is too sweet. I reduced it to 150g still too sweet.
HI Zara, it really depends on the type of apples you are using. If you use sweeter apples, you would want to use less sugar.
Absolutely amazing!!!! I have never had homemade pie crust before but now I don’t think I can go back to the pre-made crusts!
Homemade is so much better, great to hear that you enjoyed it too!
LOVE IT!! I’ve made this twice and followed your directions to the letter. 🙂
But now I want to make the apple pie filling and can it.
Have you ever done that before?
Thanks for sharing that, Bob. I haven’t tried canning it before, we’d love to know how it goes if you try that!
I will keep you posted. And thank you and your husband for all the great videos.
Thank you!
This has butter in the filling, which is not recommended for home canning.
There are several safe canning websites with apple pie filling recipes to get the job done right! The NCFHP is a place to start.
I too would love to can this. Please post if you figure it out!
I made both pie crust and the filling with vegan butter (the block one, not margarine) and it worked super well. My sauce however wasn’t saucing, it was a lumpy mix that wouldn’t come together (I used half the sugar, maybe that’s why). I still went ahead and baked it and it turned out beautifully. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you
Good to know! Thanks for sharing, Sophie. I’m glad that it turned out wonderful!
In order to avoid dairy, do you think I could make it with margarine instead of butter?
Hi Natalie! I have not tested it myself but I think it could work. I am not sure how it will affect the taste and texture though. Let us know if you experiment.
Pie did not set up even though I let it sit for an hour. What did I do wrong. Tasted great but couldn’t slice it like a pie.
Hi Yvonne! Did it start to bubble in the oven? If not, it needed longer in the oven to bubble and thicken. They type of apples used could also effect the filling, see my notes above for recommended types to use. You can also add a little more flour/corn starch to thicken the filling. I hope that helps.
Can I make just the filling ahead of time, freeze it, and then thaw it out and add to a crust when I’m ready to bake it? I don’t have room for a bunch of full pies, but I have extra apples that I don’t want to go to waste.
Hi Ashley, Pre-making the apple filling might cause it to get brown, the best way to make it ahead (in my opinion) would be to assemble and fully bake the pie as directed.
I made this a couple of weeks ago and am already making another! Easy and great tasting. My husband said it’s the best he’s ever had!
Your recipe for baked beans is also my go to! It’s fabulous!!
That’s wonderful, Liz! Thank you for sharing.
I have been a Pinterest user for years and this is the FIRST time I have ever commented on a recipe. Thanks again!!
Great recipe. Used apples from my tree, not sure the type of apple it is. Crisp is buttery and flaky. Delicious.
Hi Izabela! I’m glad you loved the recipe. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Natasha,
I’m making this pie as we speak …in your video for the egg wash you said 1 egg & tbsp of sugar, but in the recipe it says 1 egg & tbsp of water is it suppose to be egg & sugar??
Hi Angie! Either will work but we updated the recipe so the written recipe is the most up to date.
Sorry, but this recipe was awful! I measured accurately and followed instructions and it was a pastey glob of flour, sugar and spices with all the butter pooling to the edge of my saucepan. Wasted ingredients? Yes! But wise enough to not dump this on all my apple slices.
Hi Jen, I’m sorry to hear that and it’s definitely not what you should expect with this recipe. If you are new to pie dough, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial and reading through our pie dough tutorial.