Classic Apple Pie with Cooked Filling - A Step by Step Guide

Hi hi! I am popping in to share this recipe for my classic apple pie! I love all things apple pie, and if I may say so myself, this is a particularly good one. Not only is is easy to make, it is a great make-ahead option, and my perfect pie crust and easy apple pie filling recipe makes assembly a breeze. No more fussing with how many apples you can fit in the pan or a lattice that won't behave - my apple pie recipe won't do that to you. If you don't want to make a lattice top, try my Dutch Apple Pie which has a crumble top and is also so delicious!

I'll talk you through all the steps on how to make and assemble an absolute banger of an apple pie, along with step-by-step photos.

Why a cooked filling for apple pie?

There are lots of ways to make apple pie and the two main ones are fresh apples, or a pre-cooked filling. If you're after a fresh apple pie filling my basic apple pie is just that. However, pre cooking the filling makes your life a lot easier. Apples have a lot of water in them, which means that they cook down a lot in the oven and it can be hard to work out exactly how much starch to use in the filling as different apples have different moisture levels. To get around this you have to stack the pie full of sliced apple, and you might end up with a gap between the crust and the filling. This isn't the end of the world at all!

By using a cooked apple pie filling, you have already done the reducing stage on the stove, and so you know that the filling isn't going to reduce any more in the oven. It has already been thickened, so it is much more predictable when it comes to how the pie will turn out.

My apple pie filling is also great to make ahead - you can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to a month.

Great Pie starts with a Great Pie Crust

There's nothing worse than spending time making pie crust and apple pie filling just for it to all fall apart on you when you go to assemble it.

I have a theory why people find pie intimidating: They aren't making good pie crust. Pie crust that is hard to work with makes your life so much more stressful than it needs to be. My Pie Crust recipe won't do that to you. It has a series of turns to the pie crust after mixing it, which makes it super homogenous and easy to work with, but still nice and flaky. It means that it is perfect for latticing and decorating a pie as it is a dream to roll out and cut.

When I am making pie for a double crust pie like this apple pie, I like to shape one portion of the dough into a disc for rolling out the base of the pie, and the other piece into a rectangle which makes rolling it out for a lattice top nice and easy. If you want to do a detailed lattice, I recommend making a double batch of my pie crust, just to give yourself some wiggle room when it comes to cutting out pieces.

A step by step guide to assembling apple pie

There are a few steps to making apple pie. I'm going to break it all down for you, and have taken photos of my process along the way to really make things nice and clear. I promise making a double crusted pie isn't as hard as you might think, and my easy pie crust recipe is super forgiving and will make the process much easier for you!

Add your filling. The Apple Pie Filling can be made ahead, and either frozen or chilled until ready to use.

Roll out the second piece of dough - you can see that I choose to do it in a rectangle as I find it easier to make strips. Others prefer to do this in a circle, you do you. Remember that this will be forming the lattice so will have some overlap so it is ok to roll this one a little thinner than the base.

Cut Strips. I use a ruler to cut my strips as it makes it really easy - for this pie I just made them the thickness of the ruler, and used a fluted cutter to cut them. If you find that your crust isn't cutting cleanly, pop the pieces into the fridge on a parchment paper lined baking sheet to firm up before continuing to cut.

Lattice. You can do whatever you like here - I went for a classic lattice, but offset some of the strips rather than keeping them perpendicular to the vertical strips. Remember that you will be folding the edge over onto itself so it is ok if you don't get the lattice right the way to the edges.

Chill it if it gets tricky to work with. If at any time the pie crust feels like it is getting tricky to work with, just pop it back into the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Trim. You want to trim the edge of the crust and the lattice so that they are flush and you don't have bits poking out.

Fold over the edge. I find this part kind of tricky but with my pie crust it is going to probably puff up in the oven because of how flaky it is and because of the crust being thicker, the puff is going to distort the edge crust so don't stress this part too much. Fold the crust toward the middle of the pie, using the bottom crust to tuck in any edges of the lattice strips. I like to then chill it again here before crimping.

Crimp as you like. Again, this is going to probably get a bit wonky in the oven so don't stress it. I just did a basic thumb and finger crimp. If you don't want to crimp at all, you can trim the edge of the pie flush with the edge of the pan.

That's it, you just assembled a lattice top pie! It does take some practice, but it is very fun and delicious practice!