This is quite possibly my favorite pie of all time. I am a huge pumpkin pie girl, but man, this apple pie has my heart. I have tweaked this recipe for a couple of years and this is turning out to be THE ONE. It’s a pretty classic apple pie recipe, but I think the mix of tart and sweet apples, the brown sugar, and the little pinch of ground ginger make it a real winner.
One thing that makes this apple pie recipe easy is that you don’t cook anything before baking. You just take the raw apples, drizzled with a little lemon juice to stop them from browning and toss them with the spices to coat. Then you just fill your pie crust and bake!
Ingredients
8 cups of sliced apples, I use 4 large Granny Smith apples and 4 Honeycrisp apples
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
9-inch double-crust pie crust
Pie Crust Confession
Listen, I don’t make my own crusts. I know people that can and they make it look easy. It isn’t easy for me and maybe someday I’ll have the motivation to master making pie crusts, but until then it’s going to be store-bought for me. No judgment, thanks!
If you do want to make your own pie crusts, these are the pie crust recipes from cooks I trust VERY MUCH.
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Ina Garten’s Pie Crust
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Sally’s Baking Addiction Pie Crust
How to Make Homemade Apple Pie
Here’s how I make my favorite apple pie recipe.
1. Preheat your oven to 400-degrees.
2. Line a 9-inch pie dish with the bottom pie crust, making sure you have some to work with around the edge. You do not need to pre-bake the crust for apple pie.
3. Peel your apples and slice them into 1/4 inch thin pieces. Add them to a very large bowl and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning.
4. In a separate, smaller bowl, stir together your flour, white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
5. Pour the melted butter over your sliced apples and stir to coat.
6. Sprinkle the flour and sugar mixture over the apples and stir so that everything is coated and combined.
7. Pour your apples into your bottom pie crust. They will be slightly mounded in the center and that is fine!
8. Place the top pie crust over everything and tuck the edges under the bottom crust, pinching to seal the crusts together.
9. Cut slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape as you bake. I like to get some foil with the center cut out ready to place on my pie about halfway through baking.
10. Place the pie in your preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes. Cover the edges and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes until the crust is brown and the apples are tender.
11. Serve with vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream!
Best Apples for Apple Pie
If you’re looking for apples that will hold up well in the oven, these are the ones you should consider:
- Granny Smith – Tart and crisp, a classic choice.
- Honeycrisp – As the name implies, a crisp apple with a sweet flavor
- Braeburn – Similar to a Granny Smith, but a little less tart
- Jonagold – A sweet apple with a nice acidity
- Golden Delicious – A very sweet and buttery flavor, perfect in a pie. But baking it does give it a softer texture
Tips for Making Homemade Apple Pie
- Add tiny bits of lemon juice to your bowl of already-sliced apples while you’re slicing the rest. It helps keep them from turning brown.
- Before baking, take a square of aluminum foil and cover your pie, cutting out a circle in the center to keep the outer crust from over-browning. You could also use these handy pie crust shields.
- Bake your pie with a large, foil-lined cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any spillage. Baked on sugar is really hard to clean up.
- Always let your pie cool before cutting it. The inside will be really loose liquid until it has cooled completely.
- You can freeze a pie by wrapping it in plastic wrap once it has completely cooled and then placing it in a zip-top bag. It will last in the freezer for about 4 months. When you’re ready to eat it, thaw it overnight and then bake at 350-degrees for about 30 minutes until it’s warmed through.
Cookware Suggestions
Here are a few things I use to make my favorite apple pie a little easier!
- KitchenAid peeling attachment – I use this attachment pretty often and it speeds up the prep process immensely. If you have a KitchenAid mixer, I recommend snagging one of these or asking Santa for one!
- High quality vegetable peeler – If you don’t have a KitchenAid or a peeler attachment, a super affordable alternative is a high quality peeler. This one is my absolute favorite and it’s $10 on Amazon.
- Ceramic pie dish – I got my pie dishes from Williams-Sonoma a few years ago and absolutely love them. They have three in the set and they are different sizes and styles for whatever kind of pie you like. They are $70 for the set, so if you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, I like this 10″ option on Amazon.
- Pie crust shields – To keep your pie crust edges from burning, these pie crust shields are awesome. I currently use aluminum foil, but I’ve burned myself a couple times and these pie crust shields are on my list for Santa this year.
- 8 cups sliced apples
- 1 stick melted butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 9 inch double pie crust
- Preheat your oven to 400-degrees.
- Line a 9-inch pie dish with the bottom pie crust, making sure you have some to work with around the edge. You do not need to pre-bake the crust for apple pie.
- Peel your apples and slice them into 1/4 inch thin pieces. Add them to a very large bowl and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- In a separate, smaller bowl, stir together your flour, white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
- Pour the melted butter over your sliced apples and stir to coat.
- Sprinkle the flour and sugar mixture over the apples and stir so that everything is coated and combined.
- Pour your apples into your bottom pie crust. They will be slightly mounded in the center and that is fine!
- Place the top pie crust over everything and tuck the edges under the bottom crust, pinching to seal the crusts together.
- Cut slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape as you bake. I like to get some foil with the center cut out ready to place on my pie about halfway through baking.
- Place the pie in your preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes. Cover the edges and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes until the crust is brown and the apples are tender.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream!
Well, that’s how you make my favorite apple pie! Please give it a try this holiday and let me know what you think.
Since I’m the most indecisive person in the world, I’ll likely have an apple and a pumpkin pie on my table for Thanksgiving. What about you? What kind of pie will you be serving?
