The BEST Classic Apple Pie

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Christina Marsigliese, Food Scientist MSc.

This is my recipe for the BEST apple pie with a tender and flaky pastry that is filled to the brim with juicy spiced apple filling! I love to make this in the Fall and it is the ideal dessert for Thanksgiving.

4.89 from 9 votes

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Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1 10

Servings 10

Ingredients

For the pie crust:

1 x recipe for Flaky Pie Crust

For the filling:

3 lbs (1.36kg) tart apples such as Granny Smith or Northern Spy (about 7 apples)
¼ cup (55g) packed light brown sugar
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon (8g) corn starch
1 tablespoon (9g) all-purpose flour

For the topping:

1 egg well beaten
2 teaspoon granulated sugar

Instructions

Make the pie crust according the instructions in this post here.
Preheat your oven to 425°F and place a baking sheet on the bottom rack.
Peel, core and chop the apples and slice into ⅛-inch pieces. Place them in a large bowl. In a small bowl, blend together both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, corn starch and flour so there are no lumps. Add this to the bowl with the apples and toss until evenly combined.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll the larger half into a 12 to 13-inch circle, rotating the dough and adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Carefully drape the dough over an 8-inch glass pie dish. Gently press the dough into the bottom edges and up the sides of the dish. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes, while making the filling and rolling out the top crust. This allows the rolled layers of gluten and fat to relax and firm up, creating a more flakey crust.
Once the bottom crust is chilled, begin to roll out the other portion of dough into a 10 to 11-inch wide round. Lightly brush the rim of the bottom crust with beaten egg and pour the apple mixture into it, gently pressing and tucking the fruit in so it fits snuggly – this will help to reduce the gap between the fruit and top crust of the pie once baked since the fruit will shrink as it bakes. Carefully drape chilled top crust over the filled pie. Press edges of top crust against bottom crust edges to seal. Trim off excess dough around the edges leaving about ½-inch overhang and then fold and roll it over itself (the top and bottom crust together) so that it sits against the edge of the pie dish. This ensures a tight seal on your pie. Crimp decoratively if desired. using three fingers - your thumb and index finger on one hand and the index finger of the other hand. Place the pie in the freezer for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon for topping. Brush top and edges of pie lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Make three 1-inch incisions in the center of the top crust to let steam escape during baking.
Place pie on baking sheet on bottom rack of oven and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 50 minutes longer until juices have been bubbling for at least 5 minutes. Loosely cover the edges with aluminum foil midway through baking to protect them from overbrowning if necessary. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.