The Best Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
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There is nothing like a homemade apple pie recipe from scratch during the fall months and winter holidays. This one is double thick and topped off with ice cream and caramel.
Who doesn’t like to finish off their meal with a sweet treat? If you and your family are the same, check out my Best Blondies and Classic Cheesecake Recipe.
Apple Pie
Apple pie is a classic sweet recipe consisting of freshly sliced apples that are tossed in cinnamon and sugar and baked inside a pie dough until golden brown. This traditional dessert originated in England and first appeared as written recipe in the 1300s. It had influences from France, the Netherlands, and the Ottoman Empire.
This now All-American favorite is commonly made British-style, as I did, with another pie dough covering the apples or Dutch-Style with a sweet streusel topping. Apple pie didn’t make it’s way to the United States until the late 18th century. Regardless of how you like apple pie, it’s always a favorite and a must-have at holiday celerbrations.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pie Crust – I used a rendition of my Best Homemade Pie Crust Recipe for this apple pie. You can use your favorite recipe or even pre-made store-bought pie dough. Substitute the bacon fat or lard with all unsalted butter.
- Apples – I like to combine sweet and tart, so Fuji and Granny Smith apples were my go-to. Other great apples are McIntosh, Gala, Honey Crisp, and Golden Delicious.
- Lemon – Some freshly squeezed lemon juice will help brighten up the apples.
- Butter – Always use unsalted butter in your cooking and baking so that you control the sodium content and not a butter company.
- Sugar – I used a combination of light brown sugar and regular sugar. You can substitute the light brown sugar with dark. In addition, I used turbinado sugar for the top of the pie before baking. However, you can use regular sugar in place of that.
- Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon enhances the flavors of the apples.
- Flour – This is used to help thicken the apple filling and for the crust.
- Corn Starch is another thickening agent for the filling to help stabilize it after slicing.
How to Make Apple Pie from Scratch
Add the all-purpose flour to a food processor along with some cut up cold unsalted butter, cold rendered bacon fat, salt, and sugar.
Pulse the ingredients until it is combined, and the butter is about the size of a pea or rice and slowly drizzle in water while pulsing. The pie crust should come together to form a ball at this point.
Divide the pie crust in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.
Start by peeling the apples using a peeler or a paring knife. Next, you want to remove the apple from the core by slicing around and then slicing it about ¼” to 1/8” thick.
Add the sliced apples to a bowl and add lemon juice, melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, flour, and corn starch.
Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly ensuring the apples are completely coated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Roll out 1 of the chilled pie doughs on a clean surface dusted with flour until it is about 1/8” thick.
Transfer the dough to a fluted 9” pie pan and form it to the pan and flutes cutting off and discarding any excess dough.
Add the apple pie filling to the pie pan and flatten out until even.
Roll out the second chilled pie dough on a clean surface dusted with flour until it’s about 1/8” thick. Place the dough on top of the apples completely covering it and pinch the outside edge to the other pie dough cutting off and discarding any excess.
Brush the top of the pie dough with 1 whisked egg.
Cut 4 slits in the center of the pie to help it bake and rise.
Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar on top and then bake at 400° on the lower third rack for 30 minutes then turn down the heat and bake the pie at 375° for 30 minutes.
Completely cool the pie to room temperature before serving with vanilla ice cream and caramel.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: For freshness, this pie overall can be made up to 3 days ahead.
How to Store: This will hold in the refrigerator, covered for up to 7 days. Likewise, it freezes well, covered in plastic for up to 3 months. Completely thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before slicing and serving.
How to Reheat: It can be served cold, but if you like it warm, simply heat up a slice in the microwave for 30 seconds. Serve it with whipped cream or ice cream and caramel sauce.
chef notes + tips
- I used a deep pie casserole dish, as shown in the video.
- If the pie crust ingredients do not come together when pinching it with your fingers, then drizzle in some cold water while pulsing until it does
- The butter and bacon fat need to keep cool in the pie crust so that the pie does not fall while in the oven, so be sure to chill it before rolling it out.
- If you want to do the prep now and make the pie later, hold the sliced apples in pineapple juice to help keep them from turning brown for up to 2 days ahead.
- There are several recipes where you cook the apples in the pie filling before completely cooling it. My recipe, however, does not call for doing that, so there is no need to cook them ahead of time.
- It can take 6 to 8 hours to cool the apple pie completely.
- Sugar in the raw is a type of turbinado sugar.
More Dessert Recipes
Video
The Best Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut up
- ½ cup cold rendered bacon fat
- pinch coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cold water
- 1 whisked egg
For the Apple Pie Filling:
- 5 medium-sized cored and sliced Granny Smith apples
- 5 medium-sized cored and sliced Fuji Apples
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 whisked large egg
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Add the all-purpose flour to a food processor along with some cut up cold unsalted butter, cold rendered bacon fat, salt, and sugar.
- Pulse the ingredients until it is combined, and the butter is about the size of a pea or rice and slowly drizzle in water while pulsing. The pie crust should come together to form a ball at this point.
- Divide the pie crust in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the Apple Pie:
- Start by peeling the apples using a peeler or a paring knife. Next, you want to remove the apple from the core by slicing around and then slicing it about ¼” to 1/8” thick.
- Add the sliced apples to a bowl and add lemon juice, melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, flour, and corn starch.
- Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly ensuring the apples are completely coated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Roll out 1 of the chilled pie doughs on a clean surface dusted with flour until it is about 1/8” thick.
- Transfer the dough to a fluted 9” pie pan and form it to the pan and flutes cutting off and discarding any excess dough.
- Add the apple pie filling to the pie pan and flatten out until even.
- Roll out the second chilled pie dough on a clean surface dusted with flour until it’s about 1/8” thick. Place the dough on top of the apples completely covering it and pinch the outside edge to the other pie dough cutting off and discarding any excess.
- Brush the top of the pie dough with 1 whisked egg.
- Cut 4 slits in the center of the pie to help it bake and rise.
- Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar on top and then bake at 400° on the lower third rack for 30 minutes, then turn down the heat and bake the pie at 375° for 30 minutes.
- Completely cool the pie to room temperature before serving with vanilla ice cream and caramel.
I did a trial run for Thanksgiving. I used a mandolin to slice the apples. I also used Raw sugar for the sugars. Turned out great. Except the apples were somewhat crunchy. Should the apples be cooked with spices and sugar prior to baking?
nope.