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This Deep Dish Apple Pie turned out amazing; the best one I’ve tried! The flaky cream cheese crust seals in all the fantastic bubbly apple cinnamon juices; it’s just scrumptious.
I got the recipe for the pie crust from my good friend: “The JOY of cooking” cookbook. It’s always been a trusted reference for me. I was happy to find a pie crust that doesn’t use shortening, but is equal (if not better!) in flakiness, texture and flavor. Your home will smell amazing in the process!
Deep Dish Cinnamon Apple Pie Filling Ingredients:
10 cups (3 lbs or 7-8 apples) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour *measured correctly
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces for the top
Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry Dough (for a deep dish pie):
makes 2 (9-inch) pie crusts (top & bottom for 1 pie)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp) COLD, unsalted butter
6 oz COLD cream cheese
3 Tbsp cold heavy whipping cream
For the topping:
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
How to make Deep Dish Cinnamon Apple Pie:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 and 1/4 cups flour, 2 Tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.
2. Cut 1 1/2 sticks of COLD butter and 6 oz of cream cheese into small cubes. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces.
3. Drizzle 3 Tbsp of cold heavy cream over the dough and cut into the dough with a spatula until the dough forms moist clumps.
4. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, press into flat disks, cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
5. Once its fully cooled, remove 1 piece of dough from the refrigerator and on a clean surface, roll it out into a 13-inch circle. (Dough rolls out easier without flouring the surface, use pastry scraper to lift rolled out crust). Transfer the dough to a 9-inch deep dish pie plate and refrigerate it. Take the next piece of dough out of the fridge and roll it into a 12-inch circle, cover with plastic and refrigerate while you make the fruit filling.
Preheat the Oven to 425˚ F before you mix together your apple filling ingredients. Place oven rack in the bottom third of the oven (1 level below the center rack)
How to Make the Apple Filling:
1. Combine 10 cups of Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick with 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/8 tsp salt in a bowl. Mix well and let the filling stand for 15 minutes, stirring a few times in the process. (I used apple corer and divider to speed up the process).
Final Assembly Instructions:
1. Take your pie dish out of the refrigerator and pour the entire apple filling mixture (juices and all) into the bottom crust and scatter pieces of 2 Tbsp of butter over the top.
2. Just before putting on the top crust, brush the edge of the bottom crust with cold water. Trim any excess dough on the edge and fancy up the edge with a flute pattern. To flute, with your index finger and thumb, pinch your other index finger, now imagine there is dough in between both hands. Cut 6 to 8 slits in the top crust to vent the pie.
3. Sprinkle top with the mixture of 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 2 tsp of sugar. Bake apple pie for 15 minutes at 425˚F. If you see your crust browning too quickly, cut a 3-inch hole in the center of a square piece of foil and loosely place over the top of your pie.
4. Reduce oven to 350˚F, slip a baking sheet under the pie (I like to line it with foil to catch any drips) and bake another 45-50 minutes. For the filling to thicken properly, you have to let it cool completely (2 to 3 hours). You can keep the pie for up to 3 days on the counter.
Deep Dish Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients
Apple Filling Ingredients:
- 9 cups (3 lbs) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces for the top
Pie Dough Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 Tbsp COLD unsalted butter
- 6 oz COLD cream cheese
- 3 Tbsp cold heavy whipping cream
Topping Ingredients:
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
How to make Cinnamon Apple Pie:
- In a large bowl, whisk together 2 and 1/4 cups flour, 2 Tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Cut 1 1/2 sticks of COLD butter and 6 oz of cream cheese into small cubes. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces.
- Drizzle 3 Tbsp of cold heavy cream over the dough and cut into the dough with a spatula until the dough forms moist clumps.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces, press into flat disks, cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- Once its fully cooled, remove 1 piece of dough from the refrigerator and on a clean surface, roll it out into a 13-inch circle. (Dough rolls out easier without flouring the surface, use pastry scraper to lift rolled out crust). Transfer the dough to a deep dish 9-inch pie plate and refrigerate it. Take the next piece of dough out of the fridge and roll it into a 12-inch circle, cover with plastic and refrigerate while you make the fruit filling.
Preheat the Oven to 425˚ F before you mix together your apple filling ingredients. Place oven rack in the bottom third of the oven (1 level below the center rack).
How to Make the apple Filling:
- Combine 9 cups of Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick with 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/8 tsp salt in a bowl. Mix well and let the filling stand for 15 minutes, stirring a few times in the process.
Final Assembly Instructions:
- Take your pie dish out of the refrigerator and pour the entire apple filling mixture (juices and all) into the bottom crust and scatter pieces of 2 Tbsp of butter over the top.
- Just before putting on the top crust, brush the edge of the bottom crust with cold water. Trim any excess dough on the edge and fancy up the edge with a flute pattern. To flute, with your index finger and thumb, pinch your other index finger, now imagine there is dough in between both hands. Cut 6 to 8 slits in the top crust to vent the pie.
- Sprinkle top with the mixture of 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 2 tsp of sugar. Bake apple pie for 15 minutes at 425˚F. If you see your crust browning too quickly, cut a 3-inch hole in the center of a square piece of foil and loosely place over the top of your pie.
- Reduce oven to 350˚F, slip a baking sheet under the pie (I like to line it with foil to catch any drips) and bake another 45 minutes. For the filling to thicken properly, you have to let it cool completely (2 to 3 hours). You can keep the pie for up to 3 days on the counter.
My family raved about this pie! Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Teri!
Making the pie today and it smells delicious. We can’t wait to enjoy the delicious goodness ☺️.
Hi,
For the past 5 years or so I have been making your “The best apple pie” recipe and serving it with your caramel sauce which I love. I noticed this deep dish apple pie recipe with a different crust. I am thinking of making this recipe for Thanksgiving . Is there a big difference in taste? Do you prefer one recipe over the other?
Hi Adrienne, I personally love the best apple pie recipe more because the filling is more saucy and I prefer the butter crust.
Tried the filling today as I already had the crust and just waiting for it to come out of the oven. Seems great so far. I had some maple sugar to use up and am excited to see the effect it has on the taste. I did notice though that the post says 10 cups of apples and the recipe below says 9.
Followed this to the letter. Way too watery for my taste. I’ve made apple pie for forty years but with no sauce. This was like an apple sauce pie. Flavour was good but I prefer my drier version. Not a fan of this wet pie.
Hi, I think you’d love our most popular Apple Pie with the lattice pie crust.
Amazing as all of your recipes are! Thank you. Worked out perfect.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe as well. Thank you for sharing the wonderful review.
Why did my apple pie fall apart when cutting it I did exactly how you said to ,it was the deep dish apple pie
Hi Christal! Did you make any substitutions to the recipe? Also- be sure to let it cool, as this helps it stay together.
The pie recipe was amazing, like all of your recipes are. My pie dough shrank though, even though it was put into the freezer before the oven. This always happens to me. Can you tell me why?
Hi Denise! I’m glad you loved the recipe. It could be several reasons. Overworking the dough, or stretching the dough too much into your plate rather than easing it onto the pie plate. It could also be that the dough was too warm when you were working with it, and didn’t let it rest long enough in the refrigerator. Also, be sure to fully preheat your oven before baking. I highly encourage the use of an internal oven thermometer (affiliate link). You may also enjoy our other easy pie crust recipethat we use in our favorite apple pie recipe.
Hi Natasha! Eleny here from down under! I have stumbled upon this delicious recipe and making it today but I have a quick question. Why do you not blind bake the pastry base before putting in the filling?? Don’t get me wrong, I love less steps, but just wondered why. Hopefully I do your recipe justice. 🙏🥰
Hi Eleny! For our fruit fillings, we do not blind bake but we also use this crust for our pumpkin pie and we do blind-bake. For wet/custard filings it’s recommended to blind-bake the crust. It turns out great without the blind-bake for this recipe.
Hi Natasha! Thank you so much for letting me know. I’ve currently got it in the oven and it smells amazing!!!
Hi Eleny! You’re very welcome. I hope it’s a hit!
Hi.
I’ve made your recipe before and it came out delicious.
I mixed Granny Smith apples with another kind of sweeter apples. I didn’t used the lemon though. I never do in apple pies. I was wondering what is the purpose of the lemon juice?
Thanks!
Hi Kate, Lemon juice prevents oxidation of the apples, which stops the slices from turning brown by providing a barrier between the apple’s flesh and the air; it also helps balance the sweetness. I hope this helps.
To save time I mixed the pastry ingredients in a food processor with the two bottom blades. It turned out really well. All the ingredients and how to prepare them were the same. People loved the pastry.
I’m glad to hear it works well using a food processor, Michael! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.