This is the one! The classic! The only apple pie recipe you need! With a flaky, buttery crust and tender spiced apples, it doesn’t get any better than this—unless you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the top.
While apple crumb pie and cinnamon apple hand pies are quite delicious, there are also those occasions when you want an old-fashioned apple pie recipe. This is the apple pie I make for Thanksgiving and other fall celebrations. You simply can’t go wrong with this one!
Why You’ll Love This Apple Pie Recipe
- Tried-and-True. This apple pie recipe is adapted from one by Martha Stewart, and it’s one I’ve made time and time again. You’re guaranteed to get good results with this apple pie recipe.
- Simply Delicious. Without a bunch of competing flavors and ingredients, the core elements of an apple pie can truly shine: spiced apples baked to tender perfection and flaky, buttery crust.
- Easy to Make. The peeling, coring, and slicing is by far the most difficult part of the pie filling preparation. Not keen on making your own pie crust? Buy a high-quality store-bought crust instead.
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
- Pastry for a double crust pie – I use my go-to pie crust recipe.
- Egg yolk and heavy cream – You’ll brush the pie crust with these, which really takes it to the next level.
- Apples – Peel them (sorry, you just can’t leave the skin on for classic apple pie!), core them, and slice them.
- Fresh lemon juice – To keep the apples from turning brown and to balance the sweetness.
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour – You’ll need some for thickening the juices that bake off of the apples and some for rolling out the crust.
- Ground cinnamon – An absolute must for apple pie. Learn more: Types of Cinnamon: A Home Baker’s Guide
- Freshly grated nutmeg – If you’re making this for a special occasion, do go out and buy nutmeg and grate it yourself. You’ll be rewarded with the coziest, warmest fall flavor!
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – Learn more: Unsalted or Salted Butter: Which is Better for Baking?
- Sanding sugar
What Are the Best Apples for Apple Pie?
I recommend Macoun, Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonagold, or Empire. Use a variety if you can; they each bring something different to the table and they’ll add extra layers of flavor to your pie.
How to Make Apple Pie
- Prepare the bottom crust. Set one portion of the pie crust dough on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it into a 12-inch round, then place the dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges to a 1/2-inch overhang and crimp as desired.
- Prepare the top crust. Roll out the other half of the pie crust to the same size and transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill both crusts until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Make the egg wash. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream.
- Prepare the filling. In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add the apples to the bottom crust. Transfer the apples to the pie shell and dot them with the butter.
- Add the top crust. Brush the rim of the pie shell with the egg wash. Cut out the remaining rolled-out pie crust into the desired shapes. Arrange the cut-outs on top of the apples, leaving some spaces for venting. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired.
- Chill. Freeze the pie for about 30 minutes, or until the dough is firm.
- Bake. Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the oven rack positioned in the lower third of the oven. Set the pie on a lined, rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling up through the gaps in the crust.
- Cool. Set the pie on a wire rack to cool, then slice and serve.
Tips for Success
- Don’t overwork the dough. As with any pie recipe, the key to a perfectly flaky crust is to avoid overworking the dough. The bits of butter in the crust are what create those wonderfully flaky layers. Overworking the dough will give you a dense, tough crust.
- Make the top crust your way. If you don’t want to do cut-outs, you can make a lattice-top pie crust or simply drape the entire top crust over the pie and cut a vent in the center.
- Use good apples. Apples that are bland, mealy, or shriveled won’t make good apple pie. If it’s not an apple you’d want to snack on, you shouldn’t use it to make pie! Learn more: The Best Apples for Baking
- Shield the edges if you need to. If you notice the edges of the pie crust are getting too dark too quickly, you can shield them with strips of foil or use a pie shield to protect them.
Serving Suggestions
Naturally, a scoop of vanilla ice cream is fantastic on top of a slice of warm apple pie. A drizzle of caramel sauce makes it even better, and if you truly want to take it over the top, sprinkle on some candied pecans or sugared cranberries.
How to Store
You can store homemade apple pie at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days. Either way, be sure to cover it in the pan or transfer it to an airtight container.
Can I Freeze This Recipe?
Freeze apple pie in an airtight container, large freezer bag, or wrapped tightly in the pan. It will last up to 2 months frozen.
When you’re ready to serve, let the apple pie thaw in the refrigerator.
More Apple Recipes
- Apple Crumb Cookies
- French Apple Cake
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Baked Hasselback Apples
- Cranberry Apple Crumble
Classic Apple Pie
This old-fashioned apple pie recipe is a fall staple!
Ingredients
- pastry for a double crust pie*
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 3 pounds assorted apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices**
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (23g) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the crust
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
- sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Place one half of the pie crust on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 12-inch round. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing it into the edges. Trim the edges to a 1/2-inch overhang, and crimp the edges as desired.
- Roll out the other half of the pie crust to the same size and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill both until firm, about 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream to make an egg wash. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the apples, lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Arrange the apples in the pie shell. Dot with the butter.
- Brush the rim of the pie shell with the egg wash. Cut out the remaining rolled-out pie crust into desired shapes. Arrange the cut-outs on top of the apples to cover well but with some spaces for venting. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Freeze the pie for about 30 minutes or until the dough is firm.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the rack positioned in the lower third of the oven. Place the pie on a lined, rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust begins to turn golden.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake about 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The crust should be a deep golden brown and the juices should be bubbling and have thickened.
- Cool the pie on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
*I prefer my all-butter pie crust, but feel free to use your favorite double crust pie crust recipe.
**Recommended apples: Macoun, Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonagold, or Empire
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.
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10 Comments on “Apple Pie”
Oh man, how gorgeous. It makes me want to go right home and make that pie tonight, special crust and all. Your guests were so lucky to have access to such a spread! And I’ve only heard about the spectacular desserts!
I saw martha’s pie and I’ve been dying to try it – particularly after slaving over a fussy lattice crust for Thanksgiving (the classic looks nice too – but there’s not a lot of room for error!). I had the same thought on leaves and was thinking I’d have to hand-cut them – great idea finding leaf-shaped cookie cutters! Such a pretty pie – great job!
Oh man, the crust has me sold too! I’m just about to rummage through my cookie cutters.
Thanks, everyone, for the compliments!
Love it! Thanks for recipe!
Fabulous recipe and I love the pastry leaves on top. Gives it a great finish. I love receiving your updates by email and I try to visit everyone at least once a month. Sorry if it has taken me so long to come visit your page but reassured that I enjoy your recipes so much xoxo
Thank you, Beverley!
Made this with the traditional pie crust, and it turned out lovely! Only wish I did leave the pie to cool for a bit instead of cutting it immediately out of the oven, as that part is crucial for the apples to steam to the right texture – my apple slices weren’t soft enough and the liquids were still too runny – all could’ve been avoided if I had let it cool!
I had some problems with this pie. To be fair, I have little experience with pies, so my troubleshooting skills are minimal.
The crust was quite problematic–hard as a rock after chilling (I guess just don’t let it rest in the fridge, then?), so I re-processed it to start over. Worked well enough. 3 lbs of apples is much too much–try 50-67% of that and you will be absolutely fine. My pie is absurdly tall. It’s just in the oven now, so I’m praying the temps and times are right. Given how many apples I shoved in there, 1:00-1:10 doesn’t sound far off.
I think I’ll stick to baked goods that rise from here on out. Who knew I’d be better at macarons than pie.
Sometimes after chilling the dough, it works better to leave it at room temperature for 15 minutes or so to make it easier to handle. The resting time is mostly for letting the gluten relax so it’s not tough. There are A LOT of apples in this pie. If your best judgment is to leave some out, then that’s perfectly fine.