This delicious homemade apple pie recipe, with a flaky and buttery crust, is an ultimate fall recipe. Perfectly sweetened and flavored with spices, vanilla, and dark rum, this pie will become your family favorite.
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What apples to choose
Two things that you should consider when you choose apples for your homemade apple pie are taste and texture. The apples shouldn't be soft and mealy while still fresh. Those apples will become mushy during baking. We also want our apples to be mild-sweet and tart. A lack of acidity usually results in an overly-sweet pie with too little apple flavor. That being said, I'm not a big fan of Red Delicious apples because they're too sweet and turn out too mushy in baking goods.
The apples that I would recommend, however, for your pie filling are Golden Delicious, Gala, Pink Lady, Braeburn, and Granny Smith Apples. I'm sure that there are many more apple varieties out there that are great for pies, so you have an opportunity to experiment in your kitchen as well.
Ingredients you will need
For the apple pie filling
Gala apples - No matter what apples you use, you'll need to peel, core, and slice them.
Lemon juice - It adds acidity and protects your apples from oxidation (browning).
Salt - Adding salt will make our apples produce more juices that we will later reduce. Salt is also important for flavor development in any baking goods.
Sugar - I use dark brown sugar and white granulated sugar, but you can use white sugar only.
Honey – I like how honey complements the apple flavor. Wildflower honey or clove honey will work great here!
Vanilla extract and spices - Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla are the spices that I use for my pie. Additionally, you can add allspice and/or ground ginger.
Dark rum - Don't worry about alcohol, it will evaporate completely during simmering and baking. But if don’t want to add it, skip it. You can also use bourbon instead of rum.
Corn starch - Without starch, your pie filling will be too runny and your pie crust will become soggy during baking. You can replace corn starch with potato starch.
Butter - Unsalted butter thickens the filling and gives it a smooth mouthfeel and nice, buttery flavor.
For the easy apple pie crust recipe
Flour - I use all-purpose flour, but you can replace it with pastry flour.
Butter - Use cold unsalted butter.
Salt and sugar – These two act as flavorings for our crust. You can adjust the amount of sugar to your taste.
Water – The water should be ice-cold.
Vinegar – Some people add vodka, but I prefer adding acid to my pie crust dough. The acid prevents the formation of gluten, giving you a flakier pie crust. I use white wine vinegar, but apple cider vinegar or distilled vinegar will work as well.
Cooking tips
Use cold butter. Cube your butter and freeze for 5-10 minutes while you're preparing the dry ingredients. The colder the butter is, the better it will blend with the flour and the flakier the crust you'll get.
Use ice-cold water. Same as with the butter, measure the water, add the vinegar to it, and place it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
Don't pulse the flour with the butter too much. You want to pulse your ingredients in a food processor until the butter has broken into pea-sized chunks or slightly bigger. The larger the pieces of butter you seal in the dough, the larger the air pockets are going to form in your crust during baking, making for a flakier pie crust.
Bake on a lower rack. Baking on a lower rack will cook through the bottom of your pie while not burning the top.
Make the dough the day before or use store-bought pie dough. To save time, you can make the dough for the crust a day or two before you want to bake it. This dough will be okay in the fridge for a couple of days, just make sure you cover it tightly with plastic wrap. If you don't feel like making the dough from scratch, you can always buy it from a store.
Place a piece of foil on the bottom of your oven. Sometimes, the pie filling will bubble over and drip down onto the bottom of the oven. By placing a piece of foil on the bottom, you will spare yourself cleaning your oven.
Step by step directions
For the apple pie crust
1. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to combine. Then, add the cold butter and pulse until the butter bits are pea-sized.
2. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and start adding the cold water mixed with vinegar a little at a time while stirring with a fork or a rubber spatula. Add the water just until it’s possible to form a ball. The dough should look a bit crumbly but if you take and pinch a small portion of it, it should stay together. Finish bringing the dough together into a ball with your hands, but don’t knead it.
3. Split it into two portions, form a disk out of each, and wrap them separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 40 minutes, overnight, or for up to two days.
For the apple pie filling
1. In a large bowl, combine sliced apples, lemon juice, salt, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Leave at room temperature for 20 minutes to sweat.
2. Drain the juice and pour it into a large frying pan. Add vanilla extract and honey, then bring to simmer. Then add dark rum and simmer for 3-5 minutes over medium heat to reduce the liquids by half.
3. Meanwhile toss the apples with starch.
4. When the apple juice mixture has reduced, add the butter and stir until melted and incorporated.
5. Add the apple slices and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened from the starch.
6. When done, remove from the heat and pour the apple pie filling into a large dish and place it in the fridge, so it cools down faster.
Assembling and baking
1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C) and prepare a 9" pie pan.
2. Roll the first piece of the dough out into a circle on the lightly floured surface, so it’s approximately 11 inches in diameter.
3. Place the dough into the pie dish (roll it loosely around your rolling pin and unroll it right into your pie dish), then gently press to attach the dough to the bottom and sides of the dish but do not stretch it. Freeze for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, roll the second piece of the dough so you can cut out 10 even 10"-long strips. Cut out the strips with a pizza cutter or a knife.
5. Take the frozen pie crust and fill it with the chilled apple filling.
6. Arrange the strips in a woven lattice pattern on top. Trim, seal, and crimp the edges of the pie.
7. Whisk the egg and water in a small bowl and brush it over the crust. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top, if desired.
8. Bake on a lower rack for 20 mins, then lower the heat to 375F (190C) and bake for another 40-50 minutes or until the pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the crust browns too fast during the baking, cover loosely with a piece of foil to slow down the browning.
Serving variations
Ice cream - We all know how good vanilla ice cream and apple pie are together. You can always take one step further and make your own ice cream, like this Condensed milk ice cream.
Whipped heavy cream - You can sweeten it with some powdered sugar and add vanilla extract. Whip it to soft peaks and serve with a piece of pie.
Salted caramel - To make our simple apple pie recipe more exciting, drizzle some homemade Salted caramel on top.
FAQ
Store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store right in a pie dish loosely covered with plastic wrap.
Bake your pie in a disposable aluminum pie dish and cool it down to room temperature. Then place it in the freezer. Once frozen, wrap it in plastic wrap and then a piece of foil and keep it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Place the dough for the bottom crust in a disposable aluminum pie pan, trim, and refrigerate until well chilled but still possible to seal. Then, pour in cold apple pie filling and cover with the top crust. Trim the edges and seal the top and bottom pie crusts. First, place in the freezer uncovered to freeze. Then, wrap with plastic wrap and a piece of foil and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
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Recipe card
Homemade apple pie
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- 9-inch (23 cm) pie dish
Ingredients
For the crust
- 340 g all-purpose flour plus for dusting
- 18 g white granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 250 g unsalted butter cold
- 115 ml ice-cold water more as needed
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
For the apple filling
- 1.3 kg Gala apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 80 g dark brown sugar
- 80 g white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon dark rum optional
- 25 g corn starch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 20 g unsalted butter
Egg wash
- 1 small egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Granulated sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
For the crust
- Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to combine. Then, add the cold butter and pulse until the butter bits are pea-sized.
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and start adding the cold water mixed with vinegar a little at a time while stirring with a fork or a rubber spatula. Add the water just until it’s possible to form a ball. The dough should look a bit crumbly but if you take and pinch a small portion of it, it should stay together. Finish bringing the dough together into a ball with your hands but don’t knead it.
- Split it into two portions, form a disk out of each, and wrap them separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 40 minutes, overnight, or for up to two days.
For the pie filling
- In a large bowl, combine sliced apples, lemon juice, salt, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg. Leave at room temperature for 20 minutes to sweat.
- Drain the juice and pour it into a large frying pan. Add vanilla extract and honey, then bring to simmer. Then add dark rum and simmer for 3-5 minutes over medium heat to reduce the liquids by half.
- Meanwhile, toss the apples with starch.
- When the apple juice mixture has reduced, add the butter and stir until melted and incorporated.
- Add the apple slices and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened from the starch.
- When done, remove from the heat and pour the apple pie filling into a large dish and place it in the fridge, so it cools down faster.
Assembling the pie
- Preheat the oven to 425F (220C) and prepare a 9" pie pan.
- Roll the first piece of the dough out into a circle on the lightly floured surface, so it’s approximately 11 inches in diameter.
- Place the dough into the pie dish (roll it loosely around your rolling pin and unroll it right into your pie dish), then gently press to attach the dough to the bottom and sides of the dish but do not stretch it. Freeze for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, roll the second piece of the dough so you can cut out 10 even 10"-long strips. Cut out the strips with a pizza cutter or a knife.
- Take the frozen pie crust and fill it with the chilled apple filling.
- Arrange the strips in a woven lattice pattern on top. Trim, seal, and crimp the edges of the pie.
- Whisk the egg and water in a small bowl and brush it over the crust. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top, if desired.
- Bake on a lower rack for 20 mins, then lower the heat to 375F (190C) and bake for another 40-50 minutes or until the pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the crust browns too fast during the baking, cover loosely with a piece of foil to slow down the browning.
- Let the pie cool down at room temperature for at least 4 hours before serving.
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