Despite the fact that I graduated from Culinary School and cook professionally, my mom still makes homemade apple pie that is twice as good as mine. She has a way with pie dough made from scratch where it consistently comes out super flaky and delicious—it’s been like that since before I can remember. I’ve seen her freeze the unbaked pie dough before, and it seems to come out great once you thaw it out in the fridge.
This recipe includes a homemade pie crust, along with the apple pie filling recipe and baking instructions.
Homemade Apple Pie
Despite the fact that I graduated from Culinary School and cook professionally, my mom still makes homemade apple pie that is twice as good as mine. She has a way with pie dough made from scratch where it consistently comes out super flaky and delicious—it’s been like that since before I can remember. I’ve seen her freeze the unbaked pie dough before, and it seems to come out great once you thaw it out in the fridge. This recipe includes a homemade pie crust, along with the apple pie filling recipe and baking instructions.
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp white granulated sugar
- 16 Tbsp (2 sticks, or 1 cup) salted butter, cubed and very cold
- 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
For the Apple Pie Filling:
- 6-7 cups of peeled, cored, and sliced apples (Granny Smith, or a mix of tart and sweet apples)
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 Tbsp salted butter, cubed
- 1 egg beaten, for egg wash
- 1 tsp water, for egg wash
- 1 Tbsp white granulated sugar, for sprinkling on the top crust
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Instructions
For the Crust:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar.
- Add the cold, cubed butter and cut into the flour using a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with some pea-sized lumps of butter remaining in the flour and butter mixture.
- Gradually add the ice water, about one tablespoon at a time, and mix until the dough just comes together.
- *You can do this in a food processor, which is what my mother does. Instead of blending it, you just use the “pulse” button until the dough just begins to come together and forms a shaggy dough. Be careful not to overwork the dough at this stage, or it will become tough.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts, and shape each piece of pie dough into a disk.
- Wrap each pie dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour while you prepare the apple pie filling.
For the Apple Pie Filling:
- In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, corn starch, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Toss until the apples are well coated.
- Let the apple pie filling mixture sit for about ten minutes to let the flavors meld together.
- When you are ready to assemble the pie, preheat your oven to 425F.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one disk of the refrigerated dough to fit your pie dish with a slight overhang when draped over the edges.
- *Keep your top crust piece of pie dough in the fridge while you roll out and work with the bottom crust.
- Transfer the bottom pie crust to your pie dish.
- Carefully adjust the pie dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pie dish, trying to avoid any air pockets.
- Spoon the apple mixture you prepared earlier on top of the bottom pie crust, piling the apples up slightly higher in the center compared to the edges.
- Dot the apple filling with the cubed butter.
- Roll out the second disk of pie dough, and drape over the filling.
- Trim the excess dough off the top pie crust, and crimp the edges of the bottom and top crust together to seal the pie.
- Cut slits in the top crust with a knife, or poke holes in the top crust with a fork, in order to allow the steam to escape while baking.
- Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle with a bit of additional white granulated sugar.
- Place the pie dish with the assembled pie on a sheet tray.
- *The sheet tray is just there to catch any filling that might escape from the pie while baking.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 425F, and then reduce the oven temperature down to 350F.
- Continue to bake at 350F for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and the filling is hot and bubbly.
- *If the edges of the pie are browning too quickly, you can cover them with a bit of aluminum foil.
- Let the pie cool for at least an hour before slicing, to allow the filling to set.
- Serve with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
This pie will taste great a few days after it is made. Just store it in the fridge covered with aluminum foil, and cut yourself a big slice whenever you want. My grandpa likes to eat his apple pie for breakfast, with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. Some people just get it.
