Name: Apple Pie
Prep time: 40 min
Total time: 360 min
Ingredients: 0.25 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling dough; 1 recipe (2 disks) Basic Pie Dough for Apple Pie; 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon); 4 pounds (8 to 10) apples, such as Empire, Granny Smith, Gala, Cortland, Winesap, or a mix; 0.75 cup sugar; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 0.5 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Prep Time:

40 mins

Total Time:

6 hrs

Servings:

8

Not only is apple pie the ultimate fall dessert, it's also a holiday favorite and one of our most popular recipes year round. This recipe is one you'll turn to any time you want to bake a classic apple pie. We start with an all-butter pastry crust and add a filling made with a combination of different types of sweet, crisp apples for complexity, and everyones favorite spice, cinnamon. It’s a streamlined approach to apple pie—maybe it’s how your grandma used to make it, or maybe not. Either way, we recommend adding it to your recipe collection.

slice of apple pie on white plate with fork, whole pie and blue napkin nearby — Rachel Marek

What You Need to Know About Baking Apple Pie

Preheating the oven: This is an essential step for baking anything. Put the dessert into an oven that is heated to the correct temperature for the recipe, rather than into a cooler oven that eventually heats up to the required temp.
Packing down the filling: While there is no need to press hard or mush the slices, make sure they are packed to avoid air pockets in the filling. We pile the filling slightly higher in the center because we like the way that looks.
Turning the outer edge over and crimping: Doing this gives you a thicker, even crust to crimp and helps to seal the pie. Crimping the crust deeply also anchors the rim to the dish, and prevents the outer edge from shrinking into the pie dish
Cutting vents in the top crust: Vents are essential to allow steam to escape from the filling as it cooks.

Ingredients

¼ cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling dough
1 recipe (2 disks) Basic Pie Dough for Apple Pie
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
4 pounds (8 to 10) apples, such as Empire, Granny Smith, Gala, Cortland, Winesap, or a mix
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

overhead view of apple pie ingredients, bowl of apples and spices, etc — Rachel Marek

Prep wax paper and add pie dough:

Lightly flour a large piece of waxed paper; place a disk of dough in center.

Rachel Marek
Roll out dough:

Rolling from center outward, form into a 12-inch circle. (Use paper to rotate dough, and flour rolling pin and paper as necessary to prevent sticking.) Transfer dough (still on paper) to a baking sheet; cover and refrigerate. Repeat with second disk of dough.

Rachel Marek
Preheat oven; fit a circle of dough into pie plate:

Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack set in lowest position. Remove first circle of dough from refrigerator; wrap around rolling pin (discarding paper), and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate. Gently lift edges and lower dough into the pie plate so it hugs bottom and sides. Avoid stretching the dough, which will make it shrink during baking. Refrigerate.

Rachel Marek
Prep apples:

Place lemon juice in a large bowl. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices; add to lemon juice (to keep them from turning brown) as you work.

Rachel Marek
Add sugar, flour, and cinnamon:

Add sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt; toss to combine.

Rachel Marek
Fill pie:

Remove dough-lined pie plate from refrigerator. Fill with apple mixture, gently packing apples and mounding slightly in center; dot with butter.

Rachel Marek
Add top crust and trim:

Lightly brush rim of pie shell with water. Remove remaining circle of dough from refrigerator. Lay over apples; press along moistened rim to seal. Using kitchen shears, trim overhang to 1 inch.

Rachel Marek
Fold crust rim:

With floured fingers, fold overhang under itself to form a thick rim; pinch between thumb and forefinger to form a uniform edge around the rim of the pie plate.

Rachel Marek
Crimp edges:

With thumb and index finger of one hand, gently press dough against knuckle of other hand; continue around pie.

Rachel Marek

Deep indentations in the crust anchor the dough on the rim and prevent it from sliding down the sides of the pie plate during baking.
Prepare pie for baking:

With a floured paring knife, cut 5 to 6 slits in top of pie, radiating from center; place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet.

Rachel Marek
Bake:

Bake 20 minutes; reduce heat to 375°F and bake until crust is golden and juices are bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes more. Cool completely, at least 6 hours, before serving.
- If the edges of the pie brown too quickly, cover them with aluminum foil.
- Six hours might seem excessive, but do not rush the cooling period; apple pies need that time to firm up.
Rachel Marek

Storing Leftover Pie

Lightly cover any leftover apple pie and store it at room temperature for up to two days. For longer storage, transfer the pie to the fridge for one to two more days. The quality of the pie will suffer with prolonged storage; the longer the pie sits, the more moisture the crust absorbs and the drier the edges become. The bottom may become soggy.

Reheating the Pie

We recommend reheating the pie before serving leftovers, this will bring back some of the freshly baked flavor. Tent the pie with foil to prevent further browning and reheat in a preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 15 minutes.