This apple pie is a classic and filled with homemade apple goodness. The crust is flaky and delicious! Add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and you’ve got yourself one of the best apple pie A La Mode recipes you’ll ever taste!
Apple Pie
I absolutely must share one of my most loved and desired desserts! Homemade Apple Pie…it’s a classic pie recipe that never gets old! Every Christmas Eve, I make my Frozen Caramel Silk Pecan Pie and this apple pie recipe. My husband LOVES this dessert so much that he says it’s the best apple pie he’s ever tasted.
Best Apples for Apple Pie
There’s a lot of different ways to make apple pie and a lot of people use different varieties of apples, like Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, and Macintosh. Personally, I only use granny smith apples because the tartness blends perfectly with the amount of sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon this recipe calls for. I don’t like overly sweet apple pies and this version is the perfect blend of sweet and tart.
How to Make Apple Pie Filling
Let’s start with the filling.
- Slice the apples – take a paring knife and slice the granny smith apples thinly. Now, cut off the peeling. Place the apples in a bowl.
- Use fresh lemon juice – squeeze fresh lemon juice from a lemon onto the apples…about a teaspoon full. The lemon juice keeps the apples from turning brown. Plus, it adds a tiny bit more tartness to offset some of the sweetness from the sugar.
- Mix sugar and spice – pour the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon mixture into a bowl and combine.
- Add the peeled apple slices to the bowl of sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon mixture and stir. Now your apples are coated and you’re ready to fill the pie shell.
Pie Shell
Do you see all that yummy filling pouring from the apples into the pie shell? This apple filling is what makes this pie so rich and delicious. When you pull this apple pie out of the oven, the filling will be thick, hot and bubbly and oh my goodness it tastes so amazing! But before we get to baking the apple pie, let’s talk about the pie shell. I’m going to give you the recipe to make your own in the recipe card, but I’m also a fan of using store bought pre-made pie shells. Sometimes you just need the convenience of a store bought shell and that is perfectly ok. Feel free to cut yourself a break this holiday season.
- Pour the seasoned apples into the pie shell. Look how lovely these apples look in the shell. Looks amazing, huh? Now it’s time to top the apple filling with the pie crust.
How to Make Pie Crust
There are so many ways to top a pie. You can completely cover the pie with a pie crust. Sometimes I use a mold to perfectly place the pie crust, but today I chose to do a lattice pie crust.
- I used a wheeled pie cutter so after I made the dough, I rolled it out with my rolling pin and cut my crusts lines.
- I layed 5 lattice lines on top of the pie filling.
- Then, I gently intertwined the crusts and pushed the edges down.
- Expert Tip – I took the extra dough I had left over and cut out snowflake molds to place on my apple pie. There are hundreds of molds out these so get creative and have some fun!
How Long To Bake Apple Pie
It takes a total of 60 minutes to bake this in the oven. Here’s how to avoid burning the crust:
- To prevent over browning, cover edge of the pie with foil or a pie crust shield for 40 minutes.
- Remove foil or shield and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
When it has finished baking, pull the pie out of the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Looks delish, huh? Look at that crust…it’s super flaky and so buttery!
Apple Pie A La Mode
Once it’s cooled, cut a piece and serve it while it’s hot.
Or serve it A La Mode style. Adding vanilla bean ice cream, topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon is my favorite way to enjoy this dessert. My warm homemade apple pie is now complete.
Can Apple Pie Be Frozen?
Yes. All you need to do is prepare the pie filling, pour it into the pie shell, and add on the crust. From there, place it in either a gallon size Ziplock baggie or a freezer safe bag and freeze. Make sure you cook the frozen pie within 3 months of the freeze date. When you’re ready to bake, remove the pie from the freezer bag and let it sit out on the counter for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 and bake for 60 minutes.
Does Apple Pie Have To Be Refrigerated?
It doesn’t have to be, no. You can either store it on the counter or in the fridge. Regardless of how you store it, toss after 3 days if there’s any left!
Other Apple Desserts You’ll Love
- Apple Pumpkin Spice Cake with Butter Rum Glaze – a rich and flavorful bundt cake topped with the perfect glaze.
- Cherry Apple Cake – super versatile, you can use any fruit you want!
- Apple Snickers Salad – a candy bar whipped cream delightful treat.
- Gluten Free Apple Crumble – perfect crumble that is gluten free.
- Zucchini, Carrot and Apple Olive Oil Cake – perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack!
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Apple Pie
Ingredients
Recipe for Double Crust Pie
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 10 Tablespoons cold water
Recipe for Apple Pie Filling
- 1 Recipe for Double-Crust Pie (above) or use a store bought ready made pie shells and topping if you are short on time.
- 6 cups Thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith Apples (about 5-6 apples)
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice from fresh lemon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 Tablespoon milk (for topping)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (for topping)
Instructions
Directions for Double Crust Pie
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt with a hand whisk.
- Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea sized.
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the flour mixture. Gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time until all the flour mixture is moistened.
- Divide in half; form each half into a ball
- On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten 1 dough ball. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle 12 inches in diameter.
- To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin and then unroll it into a 9-inch pie plate (or I re-use my aluminum pie pans)
- Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it. Trim the pastry even with rim of pie plate.
- Transfer apple pie filling (recipe below) to pastry-lined pie plate.
- Roll remaining dough ball into a circle, about 12 inches in diameter.
- Cut slits on top to allow steam to escape. Place the pastry on top of the filling, then trim 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate.
- Crimp the edges as desired (there are so many cute ways to do this!!)
Directions for Pie
- Prepare and roll out pastry for Double-Crust pie (see recipe above).
- Take your Granny Smith Apples and core them and cut into slices.
- Peel the apple slices and cut slices until they are thin. Place in a large bowl.
- Take 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle over the apple slices. Combine the apple slices with a spoon to ensure that the juice is covering all apple slices.
- In a separate bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined.
- Pour mixture over apple slices and mix well until all apple slices are well coated.
- Transfer apple mixture filling to the pastry-lined pie plate. Trim the bottom pastry to edge of pie plate.
- Place on filling, cut slits in pastry and crimp edges as desired.
- Brush top pastry with milk and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. This gives your pie a nice brown topping.
- Chef’s Note: To prevent over browning, cover edge of pie with foil or a pie edge cover.
- Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes.
- Remove foil or pie edge cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven an cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in December 2017, but was re-published with updated step-by-step instructions, pictures, and tips in September 2019.
I can smell the apple pie baking now. Your crust looks so pretty and I really appreciate the step by step pictures. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thanks, Tina!! I hope you enjoy!!
I love a good apple pie and that lattice crust is so beautiful! Such a great fall/winter treat.
Thank you!!
I barely make apple pie because I’m the only one that likes it in my family. But I would convince them to like it with this recipe. Looks so delicious!
Thanks! I hope they get to try it and enjoy!
I am a little confused about the apple peeling process. Your recipe indicates you should pare,or cut the apples and then remove the skin. Is there a reason why you wouldn’t peel first and then cut the apples? This seems like a lot more work and very tedious. I want to try this recipe, but not sure if this step is vital, not sure I have the patience! Thanks!
Hi Melissa! How you peel the apple is totally up to you! As long as the apples are peeled and sliced before you bake the pie, you’re good to go!