Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
A good homemade apple pie recipe is a must have for any home baker. With a sweet slightly tart apple filling nestled in between two buttery crusts, it’s a classic dessert for fall, the holidays, or any occasion where you need a beloved traditional treat.
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Warm apples, sweet and spicy cinnamon, and brown sugar all wrapped in a buttery, flaky crust?
Yes PLEASE!
A homemade apple pie recipe is a fall and holiday classic for a reason.
Everyone loves them and for good reason.
A freshly baked apple pie is the perfect close to any holiday, gathering, or celebration no matter what time of year.
Dress them down for everyday dessert or make them fancy for Thanksgiving dinner.
No matter what you choose, apple pie is one of the most comforting desserts of (f)all.
Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies
Here’s what you need to make our homemade apple pie recipe:
- Pie Crust – You can make your own following our recipe or use store bought dough. You can also make it with a graham cracker crust if you like.
- Apples – You want to use a crisp apple, like Granny Smith or Cortland. Avoid red, yellow, and golden delicious.
- Spices – You can use an apple pie spice mix or make your own with cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.
- Brown Sugar – This helps to sweeten the apples.
- Water – Gives the apples something to cook in. You also use some to make an egg wash.
- Corn Starch – You could use flour to help thicken the apples after cooking them on the stove.
For equipment, you’ll want:
How to Make This Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
1. Prepare the crust (if making your own) and apples.
If you want to make your own pie crust from scratch, you can follow our recipe here.
You’ll need only a few basic ingredients to make it.
Otherwise, if you are using a store-bought crust or graham cracker crust*, you can start making your apples.
*Please note: times for this recipe are based on either a homemade crust or a store bought crust.
To prepare the apples, wash and peel them.
Next, use either a knife or corer to cut them into thin wedges.
2. Cook the apples.
To help ensure the apples fully cook, you’ll want to sautee them on the stove top before baking the pie.
To do this, add your sliced apples, spices, and sugar to a bowl and toss to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk the corn starch and water together.
Place the apples in a deep skillet and cook over medium-low to medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the apples start to soften and release some juices.
Pour in the corn starch slurry and stir to combine.
Remove the skillet from heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
The apples will not be fully cooked at this point.
You can find all the tips and tricks for how to make apple filling in our apple pie filling post.
3. Prepare the crust, fill, and bake.
As the apples cool down a bit, add the one pie crust to the the pie tin, pushing out any excess air that might get caught under it.
Scoop and spread the apple filling evenly over the pie crust to fill the pie up.
You can either place the second pie crust round on top, crimming the edges or roll it out and cut fun shapes with it like we did.
We used leaves, but you can use just about any fun shaped cookie cutters for a similar effect.
To use cookie cutter shapes, start at the edges and work your way around in a circle towards the center.
You will have some spaces between each shape.
Before placing in the oven, mix up your egg wash and brush the top of the pie.
Wrap aluminum foil around the edge of the pie to prevent the edges of the pie crust from overbrowning.
Place the pie in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and take the foil off the edge.
Add the egg wash to the edges of the pie.
Put the pie back in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the edges and center have tuned golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.
Serving
You can serve apple pie on its own and it is a little slice of fall heaven, but adding toppings takes it to the next level.
Our favorites include:
- whipped cream
- vanilla ice cream
- caramel
- walnuts or pecans
It is best served warm from the oven, but you can also reheat in the microwave after storing for a fresh from the oven taste.
Storing
When making apple pie ahead, allow it to cool completely before tightly covering with plastic wrap.
You could also place it in a large container to store if it is air tight.
Refridgerate the pie for up to about 3 to 5 days.
Before serving, you can reheat in the microwave of pop the entire pie dish in a warm oven for a few minutes to warm through.
Tips and Tricks
- The easiest way to make this pie is semi-homemade, meaning you use a store bought pie crust. They are pretty easy to work with and produce decent results each time. Homemade crust has a slightly better butter flavor, so for best flavor, make your own.
- You do not have to peel the apples, but we find peeling them gives the apples a bit more of a buttery smooth texture.
- If you do not have brown sugar, you can use white granulated sugar instead. You can also add butter to the apples as you cook them on the stove top the way you would for fried apples, but this is not necessary.
Other Pie Recipes to Try
Looking for other fall treats as the weather gets cooler or just because? Check these out:
- Chocolate Pecan Pie
- Pumpkin Hand Pies
- Best No Bake Peanut Butter Pie (with Cool Whip)
- Pumpkin Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
And looking for some other fall desserts that aren’t pie? Try these:
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Equipment
- 1 pie tin or dish
- 1 corer
- 1 peeler
Ingredients
- 8-10 medium Granny Smith Apples
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 3 tablespoons water (2 for cornstarch, 1 for egg wash)
- 2 12" pie crusts
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and core the apples, cutting them in small pieces and removing any bruised parts.
- Place apples, spices, lemon juice, and brown sugar into a medium pot set over medium-low to medium heat.
- Stirring frequently, cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples start to soften and release their juices.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water.
- Pour the mixture into the apples, stirring to combine, and remove from heat.
- Allow the apple pie filling to cool while you prepare the crust.
- Unroll your pie crust and push gently into your pie baking dish.
- Scoop the apple pie filling into the crust, spreading it around evenly.
- You can cover the pie with the second crust by laying it over, pinching the edges together, and sealing it. You will then need to cut 2 to 3 slits in the top to allow for venting.
- Instead of creating a sealed pie, we used leaf cookie cutters to make shapes and then arranged them, partially overlapping over the top of the pie. You do not need to cut slits with this approach since there is plenty of space for venting.
- Once you add the top crust, create a tent and wrap it around the edges of the pie to help prevent burning.
- Bake the pie for 40 minutes and then remove from the oven.
- Carefully remove the aluminum foil tent and place the pie back into the oven.
- Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the top of the pie turns a golden-brown color.
- Allow the pie to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving with your favorite toppings.
