Basic Apple Pie - Sweet and tart apples are finely sliced, tossed with some flour and vanilla bean paste, then nestled inside a super easy pie crust and topped with a lattice and baked to perfection. This is the perfect fall pie, with a pie crust that is very quick and very easy to make - it is basically foolproof.
Basic Apple Pie
Hi hi! Happy Sunday! Things are finally kicking into Autumn here, which means it’s absolutely apple pie season (It’s always apple pie season IMO though). I had a some super fun visitors yesterday to my tiny wee NYC apartment, and we whipped this guy up, so I wanted to pop the recipe here for you!
Nz Chef Josh Emett and his lovely wife Helen are here in NYC at the moment, promoting Josh’s new book, ‘The Recipe’ (watch this space for a recipe from it coming your way v soon). It’s a collection of recipes from top chefs around the world - all the recipes look incredible, and the photography is so, so beautiful. Josh has some amazing restaurants back home in NZ, and does an incredible cooking segment on his IG stories, so we decided to join forces and make something together - an epic apple pie! My teeny NYC kitchen is a far cry from Josh’s insane kitchen back in Auckland, but we made it work!
Sometimes simple is best - the Best apple pie recipe!
We kept it simple and made a ‘basic’ apple pie - I say basic because we let the ingredients speak for themselves. I have a couple of other apple pie recipes here on the site, with caramel, cardamom, etc, but didn’t have just a plain old apple pie, so it was a great time to remedy that. We picked up some apples from the farmer’s market, then headed back to my apartment to make the pie. You really can’t go past a good apple pie and this one is just that - flaky pastry, and a packed apple filling. We went a little fancy on the lattice topping, which I love to make, but also love how it increases the ratio of the pastry to the filling, because as far as I’m concerned, the more crispy pastry the better. Enjoy! x
A few wee tips for Basic Apple Pie
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I love to use a mixture of apples to make apple pie. We used three - Mutsu, Honeycrisp and another green variety. The variation in flavour and texture makes for a super delicious pie - go for something a little sweeter, and something a little more tart. If you’re in NZ, a mixture of Braeburn and Gala would be great. Braeburn hold their shape nicely in the oven and provide the tartness, and gala is more sweet.
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I made the pie dough for this the morning that we made the pie, but the night before works well too. You can also make it and freeze it for up to 3 months - defrost overnight before using.
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I like using a wee tip that my friend Erin taught me to make the pie dough nice and smooth and easy to work with. I make the dough, shape it into two rectangles, rest it in the fridge wrapped for about an hour, then remove it and roll it out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. I then give it a letter fold (as you would a letter), roll out to a rectangle, letter fold again, then roll out slightly, and shape into a disc. I then re-wrap it, and leave it to rest overnight. This makes the dough more homogenous without compromising the flaky texture that you want in the pie dough, and it makes it a total dream to work with. For me, it’s a game changer.
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I like to divide the pie dough into ⅓ and ⅔ - shape the smaller one into a disc as it will be your bottom crust, and shape the top into a rectangle so it’s the right shape when it comes to cutting out lattices.
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We used pie stamps to cut out the shapes for the edge of the pie - I have collected a whole bunch over the years - I have this set and this set of leaves, and then this set is where the flowers are from. I think I also have this set!
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You want to ‘shingle’ in the apples when you are adding them to the pie, in order to have as few gaps as possible. Apples cook down in the oven, so layering them tightly ensures that they bake evenly.
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Don’t be afraid to bake this until it is a deep golden brown colour - I do 20 mins at 425°f / 220°c and then at least 40 mins at 375°f / 190 °c, but check it as you are going and take it as far as you like. Golden pastry is my fave, but this will also help avoid a soggy bottom on the pie and make sure that the pastry is cooked through.
For more recipes with Apples, Check out:
- Apple Slab Pie
- Apple and Cardamom Pie with Cardamom and Vanilla Bean Crust
- Salted Caramel And Apple Babka
- Apple Butter Macarons with Spiced Swiss Meringue Buttercream
"Basic" Apple Pie
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: One 9" pie - Serves 8 1x
- Category: Pie
- Cuisine: American
Description
Basic Apple Pie - Sweet and tart apples are finely sliced, tossed with some flour and vanilla bean paste, then nestled inside a super easy pie crust and topped with a lattice and baked to perfection. This is the perfect fall pie, with a pie crust that is very quick and very easy to make - it is basically foolproof.
Ingredients
Pie Dough
- 540g All-purpose Flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 Tbsp (13g) sugar
- 345g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup (240ml) cold water
- 1 cup ice
- 60g (¼ cup) Apple cider vinegar
Filling
- 1.5kg apples, peeled and thinly sliced (yields about 1200g sliced apple)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 45g all-purpose flour
- 85g raw sugar (increase this to taste if needed)
- big pinch of salt
- Egg wash - 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
- Raw sugar to finish
Instructions
PIE DOUGH
- Place flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Mix to combine. Cut butter into chunks, and add to the flour. Toss lightly to coat. Working quickly, using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are only pea-sized chunks left. You want a few lumps of butter remaining to keep the pastry nice and tender.
- Combine ice, water and cider vinegar in a bowl. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the ice water into the flour and butter mixture, and using a stiff spatula or your hands, mix in well. Continue adding water a tablespoon at a time ( I normally need about ½ to ¾ cup, but add slowly) until you have a dough that holds together well, but is not too wet. Squeeze together with your fingertips to make a homogenous dough. Divide the dough into two - I like to do a ⅓ to ⅔ split.
- Shape the smaller portion into a disc and the larger into a rectangle. If desired, roll out and perform letter folds after an hour of resting (see notes - I do this every time now and it makes such a difference). Rest in the fridge for at least two hours, or preferably overnight.
FILLING AND ASSEMBLY
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the disc into a circle slightly larger than your pie dish. You want it to be approximately ⅛ inch (3mm) in thickness. Line a 9" pie dish, leaving the extra dough overhanging. Trim the dough so there is about 1 inch overlapping the edge of your dish. Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling and lattice.
- Roll out the second piece of dough (the rectangle) into a rough rectangle approximately ⅛ inch thick. Use a pastry cutter to cut strips for your lattice. If you would like to make a braid, roll a piece of pie dough into a long thin rectangle, cut thin strips, and braid.
- Place your strips and braids onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and store in the fridge until ready to use. Press together the scraps and re-roll, these are good for extra lattice strips or for using pie stamps to cut out for the border - freeze for 10 minutes or so before stamping out to help the stamps hold their shape.
- Place the sliced apples in a large bowl. Add the vanilla bean paste. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl, then add to the apples and toss well to combine. Transfer the filling to the lined pie dish a little at a time, packing the slices of apple in tightly, and mounding in the middle. Remember that it will bake down a little, so it is ok for the pie to seem a bit full.
- Arrange the strips of pie dough on the top of the pie, weaving into your desired lattice. If you are adding stamps, trim any overlapping pie dough and lattice strips so that they are flush with the edge of the pie dish, then glue on the stamps with a little egg wash. If you are crimping, trim the crust with a little overhang and then crimp as desired.
- Rest the pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. While the pie is resting in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425°f/ 220°c. Place a baking tray on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Brush the pie with egg wash, and sprinkle liberally with raw sugar. Bake at 425˚f / 220˚c for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is set and beginning to go golden. Reduce the temperature 375°f / 190°c, and bake until the pastry is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, ideally with a scoop of ice cream.
- Store leftovers wrapped in foil at room temperature and re-warm slightly when serving.
This was so helpful, you are the boom . I would like to try these they’re so wonderful
You are so welcome!
I made this apple pie over the weekend. It was amazing! I still have some left and I can’t stop eating it. This was my first time making pie crust from scratch and you made it so easy to follow along!
Hi! Ahhhh yay I am so glad that you liked it! I also made it over the weekend! 🙂
Hi I’m going to try the pie this weekend. Do you cook the pie crust before you fill it. Or you fill and then bake?
Hi! Yay! Nope you don't bake it first, you just make it as written - no par-baking with this one!
Also, 540 grams translates to 2.25 cups of flour? I got different conversions Thank you
I make this by weight. Typically 'my' cup of measured flour weighs 150g so conversions will be different. If you take 1 cup as 150g, this will be 3 2/3 cups. I really suggest investing in a kitchen scale though! Happy to recommend one if you need.
I’ll have a scale and I will try it. Thank you.
Something is definitely wrong with this recipe... 540 gr flour with 240 ml water plus one cup of ice... I got the pancake dough - not apple pie crust! So angry that I followed this recipe. Wanted to try something new... and regretted it!
Hi! Did you read the method part of the recipe? You don't add all of the water and you don't add any of the ice - you only add enough to form a dough. I usually need about 3/4 cup of the ice water. The recipe reads - Continue adding water a tablespoon at a time ( I normally need about 1/2 to 3/4 cup, but add slowly) until you have a dough that holds together well, but is not too wet. There is a video at the top of the post which shows me making the dough if that is helpful to see the process 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I can make this a day ahead and then bake it the next day. If not, is the dough fine if I make it a day ahead?
Hi! yep, you can! You can also make the dough up to 3 days ahead and chill it, or freeze for up to a month!
To say this crust is foolproof is an understatement (if you follow the method that is). I come from an Amish and Mennonite family and let me tell you - they know pie. But this crust has been the most amazing to work with! I also love how easily you can adapt it. I will say, I prefer my apple pie with a crumb top but regardless I’ll be using this pie crust for all of my pies!
My mom rolled her eyes at me when I told her we need to stop using measuring cups and work with a scale but she’s totally converted now!
★★★★★
Holy crap this is the ultimate compliment! The pie crust is my fave tooooo! I also love an apple crumb pie - there's one on the site that I am making tomorrow! x
Pastry worked perfectly! Thanks for always writing with such perfect detail. 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Erin,
I'm a little confused if I want to keep my pie dough in the fridge overnight , should I do the letter fold and then keep it overnight ?
Also you mentioned that after you make the dough it needs to be in the fridge for an hour and then do the letter fold.
Can you help me a little here?
Thank you so much,
Mayanka
Hi! Yep you make the dough, rest for an hour, then do the fold, then rest again overnight and you can use it the next day! The letter fold always happens an hour after, the second rest period can be at least 2 hours or overnight, or you can freeze it from there!
Erin,
Can you send this in ounces instead of grams?
Would love it...
Thks D
Hi, I don't have it in ounces sorry. You are welcome to convert it via google but I don't have the conversions as I only test in grams. If you mean weight ounces, you should be able to hit the 'unit' button on your scale 🙂
I can't wait to try this method for making pie crust! Just out of curiosity, what does the apple cider vinegar do in the pie crust? I've never used it!
Hi! It tenderises it 🙂