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slice of apple pie on white plate with vanilla ice cream

The Best Classic Apple Pie

Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pie:

  • 1 double pie crust
  • 6 large apples, about 2 1/2 pounds/1134 grams, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/8-inch thick for about 7 cups total (I use half Honeycrisp, half Granny Smith)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash (optional)

Sauce:

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup packed light or dark brown sugar

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place an oven rack in the middle or lower middle position of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with foil and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice and cinnamon. Set aside.
  • For the sauce: in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and whisk constantly until smooth and well-combined. Cook for a minute or two. Add the water, granulated sugar and brown sugar and cook at a simmer, whisking or stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
  • Immediately pour the mixture over the apples. Toss to combine. The sauce mixture may clump up a bit but it will thin out the more it is stirred together (or the longer it sits). It doesn't have to be perfect.
  • Roll out bottom crust and place evenly in a 9.5-inch deep pie plate (see note). (The filling might be too much for a regular 9-inch pie plate). Trim the crust, leaving a 1- or 2-inch border all the way around the pie plate.
  • Scrape the apple filling evenly into the pie plate (get all of the caramel mixture!).
  • Roll out the top crust. You can either cut strips and arrange it in a lattice crust OR place the entire crust over the filling and cut four slits in the top with a sharp paring knife.
  • Trim the top crust evenly with the bottom crust (leaving about 1/2-inch overhang all the way around). Fold the bottom crust up and over evenly with edge of pie plate and press/pinch to seal. Flute the edges of the pie crust.
  • Optional: whisk together the egg and water for the egg wash. Brush over the top crust. (Using an egg wash can help the crust develop a golden shine while baking.)
  • Place the pie on the foil-lined baking sheet (important! the filling may bubble over a bit) and bake for 65-75 minutes until the crust is golden and filling is bubbling (tent the top of the pie with foil if it is browning too much partway through baking). If you are using a glass pie plate, the bottom crust should be lightly browned.
  • Remove the pie from the oven and let cool completely. This is important so the pie isn't soupy. If you like warm pie, individual pieces can be warmed in the microwave or the pie can be served warm, the filling just might be less set up.

Notes

Pie Plate: this is the 9.5-inch pie plate I use {aff. link}. It is about 1.75-inches deep. 
Apples: as noted above in the ingredients, I usually use half Honeycrisp and half Granny Smith apples. You can use a different variety of apples; this pie works best with crisp, sweet-tart apples. If using all Granny Smith apples, you might want to increase the sugars just a bit.