The Best Apple Pie Recipe

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I am sharing with you today my FAVORITE apple pie recipe.  I have been making this recipe for several years and I still think it is the best apple pie recipe EVER!

Granted, in general, fresh homemade apple pie is usually always good, but this one seems to be better.  I think it has to do with precooking the apples.

Doesn’t it just look delicious and put you in a Fall mood? Now imagine yourself enjoying the pie… do you like yours with ice cream or whipped cream?

The BEST apple pie recipe: (printable version here)

For the dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 to 4 Tbsp. ice water

For the filling:

• 2 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch
•   thick
• 2 lb. Honey Crisp apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. water
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar

Directions:

To make the dough  (Now, if you are going to do as many cutouts as I did, you will want to double the dough recipe): In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, and granulated sugar together until combined, about 5 pulses. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Add 3 Tbs. of the ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 tsp. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap the disks separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half of the dough into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough in half and then into quarters and transfer it to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish. Unfold and gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a large sheet of lightly floured parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough disk into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Using leaf pie cutters, cut out as many leaves as your heart desires. Refrigerate the cutouts for 30 minutes (I actually did not do this step this time and instead cut them out and immediately put them on top of the apples).

Meanwhile, make the filling: In a large Dutch oven, stir together the apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cornstarch. Set over medium heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid has thickened and become glossy, 5 to 7 minutes more. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven, place a baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 400°F.

Let the pie shell, lattice top and leaf cutouts stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Transfer the apple filling to the pie shell, then gently invert the lattice top over the pie. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish and press the top and bottom crusts together to seal. Brush the underside of the leaf cutouts with egg wash and gently press them onto the edges of the piecrust, overlapping the leaves slightly. Decorate as desired with the remaining leaves. Brush the entire top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 1 hour, covering the edges with aluminum foil if they become too dark. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours before serving. Serves 8.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

 

Here’s a look at the pie just before it headed into the oven…

…and here it is fresh out of the oven! The smell is intoxicating.

I actually shared this recipe on the blog several years ago, but I thought I’d give it a little photoshoot refresh.  However at that time I did a lattice top with these leaf cutouts. The cutouts in the pictures in the post are much easier to do than the cutouts in the pictures of the old post.  In the old way the dough would rip when trying to transfer it to the top of the pie.

 

Oh yum, just before eating… hot apple goodness oozing out… I like my apple pie with a touch of vanilla ice cream.  Or homemade cinnamon ice cream. My mom votes next time we try it with homemade salted caramel ice cream. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

One last look at the pie, yum yum!

If you are interested in the piecrust cutters, I used these ones here from an earlier year.  These ones here are similar and cheaper.

 

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