Apricot Pie Recipe
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Apricots are one of the few fruits that taste so much better when you cook them. They are especially amazing when you catch them in season. There’s also something magical about pairing them with cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon juice.
This apricot pie will make your taste buds dance. It reminded me of Christmas and that beautiful baked pie and pastry dough aroma that filled the kitchen… Ooh dear I want another slice badly! I love that this apricot pie wasn’t overly sweet, which only means that a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side was less guilty. I guess I’m craving Fall, but I’m not done with Summer. Nope! Not even close!
Anyway, this flaky cream cheese pastry dough is the best. If you haven’t tried it, you must! It doesn’t come close to any store-bought crust. Best of all there is no shortening, lard or any other ingredients that would make you cringe. Love it up folks. 🙂
Ingredients for Apricot Pie:
1 recipe for Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry Dough (creates the top and bottom of the pie).
2 1/2 lbs fresh ripe apricots, pitted and sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
For the Egg wash:
1 egg whisked together with 1 Tbsp cold water
Preparing the Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry Dough:
(Click here for the Perfect Flaky Pie Crust Recipe)
1. Once apricot pie crust has cooled in the fridge at least 1 hour, and you are ready to use it, remove dough from the refrigerator and on a large sheet of parchment paper, roll it out into a 13-inch circle, sprinkling lightly with flour to keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.
2. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate (the parchment paper makes it easy to transfer the dough; just put the rolled dough over the pie plate and peel off the paper backing.
3. Take the next piece of dough out of the fridge and re-using the parchment paper, roll it into a second 12-inch circle. Use a pizza cutter to slice the second rolled dough into about 15 (3/4-inch thick) strips. Set aside until ready to use.
Prepping your apricot filling:
Preheat Oven to 425˚F.
1. Stir together the dry ingredients in a small bowl: 1/4 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp salt.
2. Pit apricots and slice into 1/2″ thick slices and place them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and gently stir. Sprinkle the sugar/flour/cinnamon mixture over the sliced apricots and toss gently to combine
3. Transfer prepared apricot filling into the bottom of your pie pan which should be lined with pastry dough.
4. Use the strips of pastry dough to create a lattice top and crimp the edges. Click here to view the full photo tutorial on how to make a lattice pie topping. I’ve made it easy for ya!
5. Crimp together the edges or use the leftover lattice topping scraps to make a fancy woven border; just make sure to push the border down onto the pie or it will disconnect from the pie and pieces of it will fall to the bottom of the oven and turn black (not that I’m speaking from experience ;)).
6. Beat together 1 egg with 1 Tbsp cold water. Brush top and edges of pie generously with egg wash.
7. Place pie on the center rack and bake at 425 ˚F for 20 minutes then place cookie sheet lined with foil under the pie to catch any drips then reduce oven to 375˚F and bake an additional 30 min until your filling is bubbling. Loosely Cover the top of the pie with foil if it is starting to brown too quickly.
Here’s the tough part: let the apricot pie cool down ideally at least 2 hours so the filling thickens. If you cut it early, the pie will be too juicy and will fall apart on your plate if eaten right away. It will still taste amazing, but it firms up as it stands
Apricot Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry Dough, Se Notes Section
For the Pie Filling:
- 2 1/2 lbs fresh ripe apricots, pitted and sliced into 1/2" thick slices
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
For the Egg wash:
- 1 egg whisked together with 1 Tbsp cold water
Instructions
Prepare the Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry Dough (see notes for link on NatashasKitchen.com)
- Once pie crust has cooled in the fridge at least 1 hour, and you are ready to use it, remove dough from the refrigerator and on a large sheet of parchment paper, roll it out into a 13-inch circle, sprinkling lightly with flour to keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.
- Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate (the parchment paper makes it easy to transfer the dough; just put the rolled dough over the pie plate and peel off the paper backing.
- Take the next piece of dough out of the fridge and re-using the parchment paper, roll it into a second 12-inch circle. Use a pizza cutter to slice the second rolled dough into about 15 (3/4-inch thick) strips. Set aside until ready to use.
Prepping your apricot filling: Preheat Oven to 425˚F.
- Stir together the dry ingredients in a small bowl: 1/4 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp salt.
- Pit apricots and slice into 1/2″ thick slices and place them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and gently stir. Sprinkle the sugar/flour/cinnamon mixture over the sliced apricots and toss gently to combine.
- Transfer prepared apricot filling into the bottom of your pie pan which should be lined with pastry dough.
- Use the strips of pastry dough to create a lattice top and crimp the edges. (See notes for full photo tutorial on how to make a lattice pie topping). I've made it easy for ya!
- Crimp together the edges or use the leftover lattice topping scraps to make a fancy woven border; Just make sure to push the border down onto the pie or it will disconnect from the pie and pieces of it will fall to the bottom of the oven and turn black (not that I'm speaking from experience ;)).
- Beat together 1 egg with 1 Tbsp cold water. Brush top and edges of pie generously with egg wash.
- Place pie on the center rack and bake at 425 ˚F for 20 minutes then place cookie sheet lined with foil under the pie to catch any drips then reduce oven to 375˚F and bake an additional 30 min until your filling is bubbling. Loosely Cover the top of the pie with foil if it is starting to brown too quickly. Here’s the tough part: let the pie cool down ideally at least 2 hours so the filling thickens. If you cut it early, the pie will be too juicy and will fall apart on your plate if eaten right away. It will still taste amazing, but it firms up as it stands.
Notes
https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/08/30/how-to-make-a-lattice-pie-crust/ Cream Cheese Pie Crust Recipe:
https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/08/30/flaky-cream-cheese-pie-crust-recipe/
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi, Perhaps the lemon juice could account for the variety of sourness -in reading the comments about filling turning out too sour. Ex. Meyer lemons are much sweeter than the common Eureka variety. A tablespoon of very tart lemon juice might be too much in some cases.
HI Mitsi, it depends on the type of apricots as well. If the apricots are very sweet, it will be a welcome balance but if you are using tart apricots or trying to cut the sugar, the lemon juice may be overpowering. Also, I used regular lemons. I hope that helps.
Natasha, have you ever combined apricots with blueberries? It is awe-mazing!
Hi Sandra, I have not tried that yet but thank you for the suggestion. I’ll try that next time!
We really enjoyed this! Made a spelt pastry. Read comments while it was in the oven so I was a little worried but we really enjoyed this pie. I might try swapping the fruit and experimenting
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe! Feel free to experiment and please share with us how you liked that version if give it a try!
Can you freeze the apricot pie filling once prepared for use in a pie later?
Hi Fiona, I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure if it would discolor with freezing and thawing.
My apricot pie was perfect. I recommend this recipe. Not real sweet or tart . I love it. My husband loved it .
Thank you
That’s just awesome Betty! Thank you for that wonderful review!
I frozed my apricots how do you think frozen apricots would work?
Hi April, frozen apricots will work well, use a little more flour since frozen apricots are always slightly juicier.
Can I make this recipe using tinned apricot halves? If so, is there anything I’d need to adjust??
Hi Stephanie, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I questioned the amount of sugar but made the recipe as stated. Won’t be using your recipe again unless I increase the amount of sugar. Really tasted “off” and sour.
Hi Mary Jo, Some apricots are sourer than others and it’s so hard to tell until you can actually bite into them. More sugar may be needed based on the apricot.
Not all apricots are the same, some are sweeter than others, also less tart.
Exactly! I make pies for a market and all our recipes have 1-1.5 cups of sugar for a 9 inch pastry pie. The solely .25 cup of sugar will be very off-putting and made me question if it was a typo or the author misread her notes when baking it before publishing. Even sweet apricots fresh off a tree require 3/4 cup of sugar in pastry.
I had a lot of apricots so decided to bake something with them.
And my pie looks great but filling turned out to be really sour 😣 Maybe my apricots wasn’t the best ones, but I didn’t expect this result. There’s no way to fix this, right? Except pour a ton of honey over it..
I guess should be some way to regulate sugar/lemon juice amount before baking..
Hi Daria, it is most likely due to tart apricots. For pie, the riper the apricots, the better because their sweetness increases considerably. You could try a sweetened slice of apricot before baking to double check next time.
What a tasty pie! I sometime add some sugar on top just for garnish
That’s a great idea Dawn! I’m glad you like it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Can I bake this the day before my bbq and simply stick it in the fridge for the next day?
Hi Elise, yes that will work fine. It would probably be just fine at room temperature overnight.
I am not using the cream cheese crust, so i am going to freeze it before baking, I am making pies to bake later date. i hope it works. Love the recipe thank you
Please let me know how it turns out Pam!
Hey so how many cups of pie filling does this recipe use? I have apricot pie filling in hard so now I wondered how much I should use for 1 recipe of this pie.
Hi, I really didn’t measure it that way so I can’t say for sure. I would guess 4 to 6 cups depending on how large your pie pan is.
Do you have to balance and peal the apricots like a peach
Eddie, there is no need for blanching the apricots. Let me know how it turns out 😀.
I would to know if I can freezing and bake later. Thank you.
Hi Rosa, to be honest, I haven’t tried that with this recipe so I’m not sure if the dough would cook through properly or if it would become mushy taking it from the freezer to the oven. I just haven’t experimented to say for sure. If you try it out before I do, let me know how it works out 🙂
I have frozen I cut them up and put the spice what ever it is and put them into zip lock bag put them into pie tin shape when frozen take the pan out and leave fruit in the frozen when ready to bake I take the fruit out of bag let throw and put into pit tin and put lattice top on because full top will have more juice lattice will not and be perfect let sit two hour after to let juice goes away good luck
Can I use dried apricots for this recipe ? If yes , then tell me the method to make this pie
To be honest I haven’t experimented with dried apricots so I can’t really say yes or no.
Easy recipe,but was too tart. No one enjoyed it very much. If I were to make it again I would use at least 3/4 cup sugar.
Hi Brenda, maybe your apricots were more tart? You can definitely scale the sugar up or down depending on the sweetness of your apricots.
I ran across your post of Pinterest. My father-in-law LOVES apricot pie. Going to attempt to make this tomorrow. I’m not sure how quickly you are able to respond to your blog comments, but can I make this crust with low-fat cream cheese? We already have some in the fridge and I thought I’d check before getting more since we hardly ever use it. Thanks!
Molly, I haven’t tried it with low fat cream cheese but that should still work. Let me know how it works out :).
I used it with low fat, and it was just as good – better since I could enjoy with less guilt
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing that with me 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Yesterday I bought apricots, which were quite sour 🙁 and a bit pricey a may add.
So thinking of what to do with them, I came across your recipe.
I added more sugar than it is stated, and the pie sheet was from the store, but the pie looks amazing. I tested the taste with a toothpick waiting to cool off before serving, and yeah still a bit sour…
So I will serve it with maple sauce 😉
Problem solved :))
Thanks for your great blog, I bookmarked it 🙂
Thank you Ildi! 🙂 Some apricots are more sour than others and it’s so hard to tell until you can actually bite into them. The maple sauce was a great idea!
i ran out of white sugar, can i substitute with brown sugar?
Tanya, yes you can substitute it, just use a little more of it. Color might be slightly darker inside. Let me know how it works out :).
Hi! This pie looked delicious! And I had just picked off the last of the apricots on our tree this past week—they were very very ripe and sweet…and needed to be used in something ASAP! I came across your beautiful pie and couldn’t wait to try it! Well, it didn’t turn out good at all. 🙁 it was very very sour. I don’t know what happened! It looked beautiful, and I was able to make the lattice top and everything! (Didn’t have enough skills in me to make the homemade dough though, unfortunately!). But it’s so sad. I used up all the apricots and I can’t even enjoy the pie now. My husband said he didn’t mind it and he’ll eat it (I think he’s just being nice), but it’s waaaaay too sour for my liking. And the apricots were really sweet and ripe. Maybe 1/4 cup sugar wasn’t enough?? But the other reviewers seemed to say it turned out great. I’m so sad! I did notice I had a ton of apricots, but when I weighed them on my scale, it was just a touch over 2.5 lb Maybe too much lemon juice?
Hi Melissa, That’s strange that it would be sour if your apricots were sweet. Were the skins tart?
No, not at all! The whole apricot was so sweet! And they were all mostly overripe since sitting on my counter almost a week after I picked them off my tree. I’m wondering if I used too many? And not enough sugar to balance it? But that just doesn’t make sense since they were soo sweet. I would say I used a little over 2.5 lb. it was hard to tell exactly because I weighed them on my baby scale I had for my son, haha. But it said 2.10 (2lb 10oz)..so that’s just over 2.5 lb.
That is so bizarre. Its possible that it was too many apricots, but it shouldn’t have made that big of a difference to be as sour as you’re describing.
I know! It’s really bizarre. It got a little less sour after sitting in the fridge these past two days, so I am able to eat it! Before it was just waaaay too sour for me.
This pie was a massive hit! I switched out half the apricots for peaches for something different and it was delicious! Will definitely be making this again!
Oooh that does sound like a great combination of peaches and apricots. Yum!! I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
I liked this Apricot pie recipe. The images look quite appetizing. I generally cook something different for holidays or any special occasions. I am planning to celebrate my next holiday by making apricot pie for my kids.
I hope the kiddos love it! I love baking for special occasions to. It’s such a cozy and fun way to remember the holidays.
Really good recipient for pies. I made two apple pies, they were gone quickly. One I made the same design as yours and in a round dish, but the other I made in spring form with different design and were able to get it out on a plate and cut it in pieces. Thanks, we enjoyed it.
Im so happy you enjoyed it! Now you’ve got me craving an apple pie! I can just smell it now! 🙂
Hi Natasha, I tried making this pie but it didn’t turn out good. It looked delicious but the filling was to sour and it didn’t thicken. Do you have any ideas what could have gone wrong? I followed your recipe and added sugar and flour. Thanks! And thanks for such an awesome blog, now I’m so into it and I check it several times a day.
Your apricots may not have been as sweet or as ripe. You might add a little more sugar next time. Did you use the same amount of apricots? Did you wait for the pie to cool before cutting into it? It thickens as it stands. I hope that helps. Thanks so much for visiting my blog! You’re so sweet 🙂
This cream cheese pie crust sounds amazing, especially paired with flavorful apricot filling. It looks beautiful on the pictures and I must try to make it sometime soon 🙂
Thanks so much 🙂 It is a wonderful combo. I hope you love it!
Just might be the most beautiful pie I’ve ever seen! Totally in love here and can’t wait to try the cream cheese pastry dough!
Thank you so much Julie 🙂 You’re so sweet! I think you’ll love the dough.
I tried the cream cheese dough when Martha Stewart’s had a guest, she did pinwheel rugelah they are delicious, the dough is amazing to work with, rolls like silk. I was born and raise in Alexandria, Egypt where lots of Greek and Armenian communities lived, this was a well know Greek pie called “Pasta Flora” it was always made with apricot jam. Do you suppose I could substitute jam or even chopped dried apricot soaked in either apple or orange juice instead of fresh as it is the shortest seasonal fruit. Thanks, love your site. Getting your postings is a joy. Keep up the good work.
I think the next best option would be frozen apricots and use a little more flour since frozen apricots are always slightly juicier. I haven’t tried it with jam or dried apricots so I can’t really give advise on those versions. You could also use peaches, but there is a little bit of a different process for peaches. I have it detailed here: https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/08/30/perfect-peach-pie-recipe/. Did Martha make the pinwheel rugelach out of pastry dough? That does sound yummy!
Thanks Natasha, didn’t know there is such thing as frozen apricot. Where do you find them?would love to try them. Btw your tres leches cake sound great, it my favorite, will try it soon.
We have always frozen our own because my parents tree mass produces, but they are kind of difficult to find in stores. You might call your local grocery stores to ask if they carry them before you go on a wild goose chase.
Natasha, this pie is a showstopper! I do love apricots. So hard to get good ones where I live so that means I must make an apricot pie. Pinned!
Hi Norma! Thanks so much for pinning! What part of the country are you in?
I am wondering if the cream cheese pastry can be frozen.
I haven’t tried freezing it so I can’t say exactly but I have kept it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days with great results.
Yes it freezes beautifully, I make pinwheel cookies filled with jam and chopped walnut, roll it as a jelly roll, wrap it real good with plastic wrap then parchment paper, when ready to bake slice it frozen, roll in some sugar and cinnamon it becomes caramelized from the sugar. always make double batches, they keep great. Tried one time with craisin and raspberry jam and chopped almond.
That sounds wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh, this look amazing, Natasha! I am a big time apricot lover. 😉
Thanks Iryna. So are we 🙂
Oh please show us a chicken pot pie recipe? That would be an astounding recipe to make at home! Thank you.
I think this crust would work really well for chicken pot pie. I’ll definitely keep it in mind and will share if I come up with something delicious 🙂
Can I use peaches instead of apricots?
Yes, actually it’s a little different of a process but I have a great recipe for peach pie: https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/08/30/perfect-peach-pie-recipe/
Each summer I made at least one apricot pie – fresh apricots are the best! Your pie is just beautiful, and that cream cheese crust sounds amazing!
So you already know how great apricot pie is! Do you put anything different into your filling? Thanks for your sweet compliment 🙂
Gorgeous pie, I love apricots and the cream cheese pastry is perfection!
Thank you Laura! It is quite a treat. 🙂