Perfect Apple Pie
Looking for the best apple pie recipe—the one that Mom used to make? This is it! We call our recipe the Perfect Apple Pie because it has that easy, buttery homemade pie crust you love, and the right mix of apples for that fruity, not gooey, taste.
Tip: For an apple pie that’s not mushy, use a mix of firm-sweet and firm-tart apples. See example below. See the best apples for baking.
Note: Be sure to use fresh, new apples that are kept cold in the refrigerator. Older apples and/or apples that are stored at room temperature can turn too mushy. This is why we added a step of putting your cooked apples in the freezer to keep them firm!
Have apples leftover? Try some of our favorite apple recipes! Once you’ve mastered this basic apple pie, check out our delicious Caramel Apple Crumb Pie or Sour Cream Apple Pie recipes!
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Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F. Peel and core apples, slice them ¼-inch thick, and put in a clean bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook in dutch oven for 10 minutes until apples are tender. Remove apples from heat and stir in cornstarch. Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet, and put in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes until room temperature.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the larger disk of Double-Crust Pastry Dough (see recipe below) into a 12- to 13-inch circle, rolling out from the center and turning the dough as you go. Transfer to a 10-inch pie plate; press the crust into a plate and let extra dough hang over sides.
Transfer the apples into the pie plate.
Roll out second piece of pie dough and cover apples with it. Trim excess dough to about 1-inch overhang; tuck edges of top crust under bottom crust and crimp.
Brush egg over pie surface; sprinkle with sugar. Make slits or decorative cuts to let steam escape. Bake 20 minutes.
Lower oven temperature to 375°F and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes longer.
Double-Crust Pastry Dough
Ingredients
Instructions
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt until well combined.
Sprinkle butter over flour mixture, and use your fingers to work it in (rub your thumb against your fingertips, smearing the butter as you do). Stop when the mixture looks like cornmeal, with some pea-size bits of butter remaining.
Sprinkle 6 tablespoons ice water on top, and stir with a fork until dough begins to come together. If needed, add more ice water, a tablespoon at a time.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead three times, or just enough to make a cohesive dough—don’t over mix!
Gather into a ball; then divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Press each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
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The recipe mentions a sugar
The recipe mentions a sugar mixture to put on apples when you fill the crust. Recipe calls to combine the sugar, apples, nutmeg and cinnamon in the dutch oven, so what mixture is being referred to in this step? According to recipe there is only the coarse sugar left for the top of the pie. Help!
Thank you for pointing this
Thank you for pointing this out, Hal. We recently improved the recipe and the directions were not properly updated. Good to go now! Enjoy!
I like the Zest apples tart,
I like the Zest apples tart, sweet, & firm. I wonder how it would do in a pie?
Zestar apples are
Zestar apples are exceptionally good eaten fresh, but they also do well in baked goods.
If you can find them, one of
If you can find them, one of the best pie apples is the Ida Red. But multiple apple types can be combined, depending on what is available -- this year I've used Ida Reds, Granny Smiths, Honeycrips, Fujis, Galas, Liberty, Pink Lady successfully -- Zestar, available early in the season, were bland, even when blended with Granny Smiths. I get my apples from nearby orchards when possible, but am not a fan of Jonathans or Jonagolds. Taste the apples you use in your pie -- cut back on sugar when they're especially sweet.
I love cortlands! I dry them
I love cortlands! I dry them, can them and bake everything with them. They make a perfect pie! I don't know what people are doing to get soggy pies, I never have that problem.
prefer tender apple
It surprises me when people discourage using Macintosh or similar apples in pies. I use them and never have a problem with a *soupy* result. I use a tablespoon of cornstarch as I mix the sugar in with the apples, I use half white half brown sugar & the usual spices cinnamon & nutmeg.
Also I add about a tsp of lemon juice to the apple slices & dot the whole mound of apples with
butter just for extra richness. Instead of egg wash on the crust I dot that with butter too & a sprinkle of sugar.
apple pie apples
I, too, always use Macs. I always have a perfect pie and perfect soft apple.
Tender Apple Pie
I agree totally with you and make my pies the same way! Matter of fact, I won't eat pie with hard apples. I use macintosh apples and do like Cortland also but I can't recall if I ever made a pie with them. Now my mouth is watering!!
which apples are the softest
which apples are the softest when making apple pie, I dont like crunchy apples in my pie
For apple pies, I like a mix
For apple pies, I like a mix of "firm-tart" and "firm-sweet" apples for the perfect texture. You don't want apples that are too soft or your pie will just get very watery. An example of a firm-tart is Granny Smith. An example of a firm-sweet is a Baldwin as well as a Honeycrisp.
McIntosh is the softest. It
McIntosh is the softest. It is very flavorable and makes a delicious pie. It is my favorite. I use half the normal amount of sugar, so that it does not turn-out too sweet.
Cathy, I'm with you.
Cathy, I'm with you. Northern Spies bake soft, as do Macs. Cortlands are lovely pie apples too; bake soft, but still in recognizable slices. Just slice pretty thin: no thicker than~3/8". All three are excellent, but the Northern Spies have a flavor that's esp. wonderful, IMO. But you almost never see them in grocery stores, so keep in mind the Macs & Cortlands.
Growing up near Boston we
Growing up near Boston we spent much time visiting friends in New Hampshire. McIntosh apples still remain my favorites even after 30 years in Florida,We drove the Newburyport Turnpike in apple season where we bought a peck for .50 cents.My favorite times were spent sitting up in the old tree eating apples and reading.