Our Favorite Apple Pie
4.5
(56)
Active Time
45 minutes
Total Time
3½ hours, plus cooling time
When you’re cooking the classics, simpler is usually better. This apple pie recipe is the embodiment of that idea. The age-old combination of a flaky, buttery pie crust and tender sliced apples is perfect as it is, without any added bells and whistles (except maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream). It’s an essential dessert to cap off a holiday meal—alongside pumpkin pie or pecan pie as the occasion demands—but it’s also great anytime as a comforting treat to enjoy with coffee.
The key to the best apple pie recipe, though, lies in the techniques: To make a flaky pie crust, you need to ensure your ingredients stay cold; so, before you get started, you’ll want to freeze the butter. Once you’ve made the dough, you’ll refrigerate it to chill everything again, both before you roll it out and after you’ve placed the bottom crust in a pie plate. You’ll also want to take care when selecting your apples. The best apples for pie are firm varieties that hold up to baking and don’t lose their shape; Honeycrisps, Braeburns, and Golden Delicious all work well and are readily available. (While some recipes call for precooking the apples, it’s best to leave them raw and let the fruit cook in the pie itself; this will keep the apple pie filling from getting mushy and keep the bottom crust from being soggy.) Once you have these elements down, you can’t go wrong with this beloved dessert.
Ingredients
Yield: One 9-inch pie
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse 2½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1½ tablespoons sugar. Add butter and pulse until coarse, pea-sized crumbs appear, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add vinegar and ¼ cup ice water and process until the dough just holds together, about 30 seconds. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your fingers and if it is very crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time (2 tablespoons maximum). Do not over process.
Step 2
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push together into a rough ball. Knead a few times to combine, then divide into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc with smooth edges (no cracks), cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to overnight).
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 425°F with one rack on the bottom rung and one rack in the center of oven. Place a rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack to preheat.
Step 4
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of dough into a 13-inch round. Roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin, and then unfurl it into the 9-inch pie pan. Gently lift and settle the dough into the pan. Trim the excess dough using scissors, leaving a ½-inch overhang, and transfer to the refrigerator. On a floured piece of parchment, roll out the second disc of dough to the same size as the first and refrigerate both crusts for 30 minutes.
Step 5
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and set aside. Peel, core, and slice the apples into ¼-inch thick wedges. Place apples in a large bowl and mix with ¼ cup flour, ⅓ cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon salt, and lemon. Fill the dough-lined pan with the apple mixture, packing apple slices as tightly as possible.
Step 6
Brush the rim with egg and milk mixture, reserving the excess. Top with the second dough round and press over apples to minimize excess space between apples and crust. Press the top and bottom crusts together and trim the top crust to a 1-inch edge around pan. Tuck top edge under bottom edge and crimp or decorate as desired. Cut five vents in the top crust for steam. Refrigerate pie for 30 minutes to set the crimp.
Step 7
Brush top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Step 8
Place pie on the preheated rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust begins to turn golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate sheet, move to center rack, and reduce oven to 350°F. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown and you can see the thickened juices bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes more. Cool on a rack 3 to 4 hours to allow juices to set before slicing.
Do Ahead: The pie dough can be made up to 3 days in advance and chilled, or frozen for up to 3 months; thaw before using. The baked pie will keep, loosely covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in August 2014. For more of our favorite apple dessert recipes, head this way →
Leave a Review
Reviews (56)
Back to TopVery good pie crust, but not enough. Double recipe and freeze what's not needed for next pie. The filling was OK, but not our favorite. If the pie lasts longer than 2 days, cover lightly with foil and refrigerate--we had to throw away half the pie--it got moldy the 3rd or 4th day. So sad!
Judy Forkner
Boulder, CO
9/25/2023
Absolutely delicious! I would actually give this a 4.25. When I made this the top of it was a bit overcooked, but it did give the top of the pie a toasty crunch. I am certain that I did the correct measurements for the two sets of dough, and the bottom of my pie fell apart because I couldn't strectch it out more. So you might want to add more dough for the bottom layer of the pie that goes in the tin. Overall, it was so tasty, especially with the lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon. The perfect combo of citrus and warm herbs.
Milan
Orlando, Florida
7/10/2023
Kriskrat from Poland! Thanksgiving in US is a time of family gatherings, gratitude, sharing and community giving. This recipe as recipes all over the world have a beloved following, a springboard for more baking ideas or adjustments for personal taste. Many personal choices for beloved foods are part of own Mothers cooking and recipes handed down from childhood especially special holiday gatherings. It is inappropriate in this forum for anyone from anywhere to be rude, hateful or disrespectful to the person sharing a favorite recipe! You are welcome to your opinion and it is important everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas since we come here for ideas and continued learning. However respectfully request when you share your opinion you are both respectful and courteous of our contributor and remember manners which are a universal expectation in all responses!
Anonymous
Plymouth, MA
11/19/2022
I have been trying for YEARS to make a good pie crust, and this is the first time I’ve succeeded. I think doing it in the food processor is genius, because it’s not as easy to overwork the dough. The only change I made to the pie was to add about 1/8 tsp of cloves. Overall, it was absolutely amazing.
Best Pie Ever!
Muskegon, MI
2/7/2022
I think it'd be a lot fu(kin easier if you just have the whole entire recipe out on the top instead of looking for it... And the famous words ain't nobody got time for that
Kingofkingz
Ny
11/21/2021
I haven’t made it yet, but I’m going to this thanksgiving for sure bc of your crust recipe alone. I have one I’ve been using for many MANY years (chef/pastry chef at a private golf club for 28 yrs 😉) but I’m forever adding new recipes & techniques, & learning new things. Looking forward to trying the ACV since I using it frequently but I’ve always used ice cold vodka in my crust as well as dotting the filling with butter before the top crust goes on. For those having trouble with a soggy bottom try brushing your bottom crust with egg whites before filling. Can’t wait to make this & thank you so much for this recipe!
Gina Shugarts
Berlin, NJ
11/2/2021
Please allow us the choice of using either metric or imperial measures. Thanks
Ted
London, U.K.
10/31/2021
I should really give this pie 4 reviews because 4 people ate it for Thanksgiving. They all loved it! Truth be told, I fudged it a little bit too. I used two frozen pie crusts instead of making the one in the recipe. I'm a 73 year old widower just getting back into baking, so I wanted to simplify things a little. It still worked great. Next time, and there will be a next time, I'll make the crust as included here. I'm sure it will be even better. In that case, they'll probably all faint when they taste that one 'cause it will be so darn delicious [WINK].
Lonnie-S
Carlsbad, CA, USA
12/10/2020
This is a fabulous recipe! To carolynsol from Israel: good grief, girl, Google is your friend! One stick of butter = 4 ounces = 113 grams. How hard is that?
tputn
Western Mass
11/20/2020
OMG!! I'm not a huge fan of pie crust but this recipe for crust is literally AWESOME. The while recipe is amazing. If you haven't tried it yet you are really missing out.
josantos1
Grover Beach, CA
11/1/2020
Really excellent crust. I will say however that I needed to add an additional 2-4 tablespoons of ice water to even come close to getting the dough to form. Could be because I'm in a very dry climate, but that's quite a difference. The filling was nice, definitely your standard apple pie filling flavor profile. I think I might try to find ways to make it a bit more unique next time I make it, but it did the trick as is. Overall, good recipe!
cirish
Colorado
10/26/2020
I haven't made this recipe but PLEASE, PLEASE could you always give the weight for the amount of butter in a recipe. We don't have sticks of butter and measuring out 16 tablespoons is absurd and impossible!! Please give ounces or grammes, preferably both, for all your recipes. Thank you.
carolynsol
Israel
10/19/2020
Ok this is a review for JUST THIS CRUST. i used my own apple pie filling recipe from something else. but this crust. THANK YOU!! so light, i feel so accomplished. the last time i attempted pie crust was probably a decade ago. i used crisco as per my MIL's instructions and it was dense and dry. this was just so special and flaky and crispy and held its shape. to the person who feels the crust was very short bread like in nature...i can see why when combining dough it might have headed in that direction. when i pulled the dough balls out of fridge after first cooling (2.5 hours). the balls were hard but then when i went to roll out, it all fell apart and was super crumbly. i had the sense to add a few scant teaspoons of ice water. like magic it all came together. the crust seemed fine for a 9'' pie plate. i did have some pastry left over and we made hand pies with leftover apple pie filling. gorgeous crust. yes it requires a lot of time in fridge but just stick with it. it's worth the back and forth to the fridge to keep the dough cold.
bns727
Chicago, IL
10/18/2020
To Kriskrat from Canada: Well, maybe go back to Poland then and bake your pies there. Every August and September there are ginger gold apples sold in fruit/veggie stores that are similar to the taste of Antonovka. Why not do your research first and try to work with what is available and similar before hating and complaining?
Maybeso
10/18/2020
Could you possibly write the recipe in grams too? ... For those of us who live in Europe. It look really nice!
Vanphys
England, Uk
10/18/2020
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