Easy Apple Pie Recipe
October 29, 2024
This super easy apple pie recipe makes a warm and irresistible fall dessert!
The apple pie comes out 'perfect' every time.
With its crumbly crust, there is no soggy bottom, which compliments the sweet, sour, and tangy apple pie filling.
I could finish the whole apple pie myself!
The apple pie ingredients are your basic baking ingredients.
Soft brown sugar
Ground cinnamon
Corn flour and water, to make corn flour slurry.
Butter
An orange
Salt
Icing sugar / powdered sugar
Cold butter
Egg yolks
Cold water
However, I will walk you through the process and share my tips on baking your best apple pie with these step-by-step photos.
In a mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, powdered sugar (icing sugar), a pinch of salt, and cold butter.
I use a mixer to mix.
You can mix by hand, but I try not to 'heat up' butter hence I used a mixer.
Mix until the mixture looks like 'Sable' or sand.
Make sure no chunks of butter left.
Add lightly beaten egg yolks to the sable mixture.
Return to the kitchen mixer and mix again until the flour-egg mixture comes together to form a dough.
This is what the apple pie crust looks like after adding egg yolks.
However, if the dough does not look as in the photo above, add 1 tablespoon of cold water to the mixture.
Note: Shrinkage will happen if too much water is added to make the dough!
Divide the dough into 2/3 and 1/3.
2/3 of the dough is for the bottom of the apple pie and 1/3 is to cover the pie.
Transfer the dough onto a cling wrap or zip-lock bag.
I used cling wrap to wrap my dough.
I used a rolling pin to gently roll out the dough to a rectangular shape.
Refrigerate the dough for about 20 to 30 minutes.
2) chilling helps harden the fat (from the butter), help and strengthen the crust to maintain its shape when baking.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Let the dough rest again for 5 minutes (or more if you are in cold countries).
Start pressing the dough from the mid-section upwards (away from you)
Repeat the above step, pressing the dough from the mid-section and moving towards you.
Roll out the dough to about 3 mm to 4 mm thickness.
I used an 8-inch deep pan for my pie.
That is the only pan I have at the moment.
I used the rolling pin to help me with this task!
Gently place the pastry over the baking pan.
Make sure the pastry and the side of the pan fit snuggly.
I used my hands and tried to work as fast as I could.
Patch up any 'broken' pastry.
Trim off pastry.
make some 'ventilation holes' using a fork.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes before baking.
In order to have a nice crisp pastry base, we blind-bake the base for at least 10 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator.
Place a baking paper on top of the pastry.
Add some pie weight onto the paper.
I used mung beans.
Alternatively, you can use rice grains as your pie weight!
Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the pie weight and continue baking for another 8 to 10 minutes.
To avoid the apple from turning brown (oxidized), I add a pinch of salt to the water.
Lemon juice is another good alternative!
Cut apples into cubes (or large chunks)
Zest of an orange.
Juice of an orange.
Any orange will do, not necessarily blood orange.
It is just that I had a blood orange in my fridge :)
Add soft brown sugar to a heavy-base bottom pan.
Add orange zest.
Add orange juice.
Stir on low heat until sugar dissolves.
Add cut-up apples.
Cook the apples until they are slightly soft but too soft.
Add a pinch of salt.
Add corn slurry.
This step is optional but I like to thicken my apple pie filling with corn slurry.
I often find out that if I were to miss this step my apple pie filling tends to be runny!
Add butter.
Stir and set the apple pie filling aside.
After the second blind baking (in Step 1 above), fill up the baking pan with apple pie filling.
Repeat the same steps as above (roll out the base pastry) to 3mm (4mm) thickness.
Place the pastry on top of the apple pie filling covering the baking pan.
Create ventilation holes by using a fork.
Brush the top of the pie with milk.
Decorate the pie with excess pastry.
Bake until golden in colour.
This could take 40 to 50 minutes, depending on your oven.
Baked apple pie.
Leave the pie to completely cool down before slicing.
Best serve with warm custard or vanilla ice cream.
I used Granny Smiths or green apples.
However, if you have leftovers, it is best to refrigerate them.
You can re-heat the apple pie in an oven (160C for 5 minutes) or you can re-heat in an air-fryer for 8 minutes.
Baking has always been my passion since young... and my first attempt ~ was an apple pie. My cousin who was studying in Manchester in the late 70's brought home a baking cookbook with lovely photos ... I was fascinated, smitten, and drooling all over the pages... and apple pie caught my attention... I was determined to bake an apple pie...
Those days... to have an electric oven was a luxury... and my mom's precious oven was the black box known as the Butterfly oven (picture on the left ~fr Google)... placed on a kerosene stove... the temperature was not consistent.. nevertheless.. I baked my first Apple Pie... it was a disaster... too young to understand what it takes to bake and most of the ingredients sounded alien to a young teenager...:) but that experience did not deter me from trying again...
My quest to bake a good apple pie has led me to this recipe from an old book 'Traditional Home Baking'.
This apple pie is definitely our all-time favorite... I baked this version of apple pie umpteen times... and every time everyone would ask for more.
My best apple pie recipe!
This apple pie recipe is a keeper!The apple pie comes out 'perfect' every time.
With its crumbly crust, there is no soggy bottom, which compliments the sweet, sour, and tangy apple pie filling.
I could finish the whole apple pie myself!
The ingredients for making the best apple pie.
The apple pie ingredients are your basic baking ingredients.
For the apple pie filling:
Green apples are the hero in this humble dessert.Soft brown sugar
Ground cinnamon
Corn flour and water, to make corn flour slurry.
Butter
An orange
Salt
For apple pie pastry/ crust
Plain flour or all-purpose flourIcing sugar / powdered sugar
Cold butter
Egg yolks
Cold water
How to make Apple pie from scratch
A list of ingredients and methods can be found in the recipe card below.However, I will walk you through the process and share my tips on baking your best apple pie with these step-by-step photos.
Step 1: Prepare the apple pie crust
In a mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, powdered sugar (icing sugar), a pinch of salt, and cold butter.
I use a mixer to mix.
You can mix by hand, but I try not to 'heat up' butter hence I used a mixer.
Mix until the mixture looks like 'Sable' or sand.
Make sure no chunks of butter left.
Add lightly beaten egg yolks to the sable mixture.
Return to the kitchen mixer and mix again until the flour-egg mixture comes together to form a dough.
This is what the apple pie crust looks like after adding egg yolks.
However, if the dough does not look as in the photo above, add 1 tablespoon of cold water to the mixture.
Note: Shrinkage will happen if too much water is added to make the dough!
Refrigerate the dough
Divide the dough into 2/3 and 1/3.
2/3 of the dough is for the bottom of the apple pie and 1/3 is to cover the pie.
Transfer the dough onto a cling wrap or zip-lock bag.
I used cling wrap to wrap my dough.
I used a rolling pin to gently roll out the dough to a rectangular shape.
Refrigerate the dough for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Why do we need to refrigerate the dough?
1) to relax the dough2) chilling helps harden the fat (from the butter), help and strengthen the crust to maintain its shape when baking.
How to make Apple pie base crust
Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Let the dough rest again for 5 minutes (or more if you are in cold countries).
Start pressing the dough from the mid-section upwards (away from you)
Repeat the above step, pressing the dough from the mid-section and moving towards you.
Why is this necessary?
The dough is still cold and the chances of breaking or splitting the dough are high.
Roll out the dough to about 3 mm to 4 mm thickness.
I used an 8-inch deep pan for my pie.
That is the only pan I have at the moment.
I used the rolling pin to help me with this task!
Gently place the pastry over the baking pan.
Make sure the pastry and the side of the pan fit snuggly.
I used my hands and tried to work as fast as I could.
Patch up any 'broken' pastry.
Trim off pastry.
make some 'ventilation holes' using a fork.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes before baking.
How to blind bake?
Why blind bake?In order to have a nice crisp pastry base, we blind-bake the base for at least 10 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator.
Place a baking paper on top of the pastry.
Add some pie weight onto the paper.
I used mung beans.
Alternatively, you can use rice grains as your pie weight!
Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the pie weight and continue baking for another 8 to 10 minutes.
Step 2: How to make apple pie filling
You can make apple pie filling a day earlier or when you are resting the dough in the refrigerator.
To avoid the apple from turning brown (oxidized), I add a pinch of salt to the water.
Lemon juice is another good alternative!
Cut apples into cubes (or large chunks)
Zest of an orange.
Juice of an orange.
Any orange will do, not necessarily blood orange.
It is just that I had a blood orange in my fridge :)
Add soft brown sugar to a heavy-base bottom pan.
Add orange zest.
Add orange juice.
Stir on low heat until sugar dissolves.
Add cut-up apples.
Cook the apples until they are slightly soft but too soft.
Add a pinch of salt.
Add corn slurry.
This step is optional but I like to thicken my apple pie filling with corn slurry.
I often find out that if I were to miss this step my apple pie filling tends to be runny!
Add butter.
Stir and set the apple pie filling aside.
Step 3: My Perfect Apple Pie!
The last step is to bake the whole apple pie.
After the second blind baking (in Step 1 above), fill up the baking pan with apple pie filling.
Repeat the same steps as above (roll out the base pastry) to 3mm (4mm) thickness.
Place the pastry on top of the apple pie filling covering the baking pan.
Create ventilation holes by using a fork.
Brush the top of the pie with milk.
Decorate the pie with excess pastry.
Bake until golden in colour.
This could take 40 to 50 minutes, depending on your oven.
Baked apple pie.
Leave the pie to completely cool down before slicing.
Best serve with warm custard or vanilla ice cream.
FAQ on Apple pie
What are the best apples to make apple pie?
Any tart and sour apples would be perfect for apple pie and cake.I used Granny Smiths or green apples.
Does apple pie need to be refrigerated?
Apple pie is best eaten on the day that it is baked.However, if you have leftovers, it is best to refrigerate them.
Can I freeze apple pie?
Yes, you can freeze your apple pie.How to reheat apple pie?
remove apple pie from the freezer and keep it overnight in the fridge section.You can re-heat the apple pie in an oven (160C for 5 minutes) or you can re-heat in an air-fryer for 8 minutes.
Video: Watch How to Make Apple Pie
Posted on 5th June 2010
Baking has always been my passion since young... and my first attempt ~ was an apple pie. My cousin who was studying in Manchester in the late 70's brought home a baking cookbook with lovely photos ... I was fascinated, smitten, and drooling all over the pages... and apple pie caught my attention... I was determined to bake an apple pie...
Those days... to have an electric oven was a luxury... and my mom's precious oven was the black box known as the Butterfly oven (picture on the left ~fr Google)... placed on a kerosene stove... the temperature was not consistent.. nevertheless.. I baked my first Apple Pie... it was a disaster... too young to understand what it takes to bake and most of the ingredients sounded alien to a young teenager...:) but that experience did not deter me from trying again...
My quest to bake a good apple pie has led me to this recipe from an old book 'Traditional Home Baking'.
This apple pie is definitely our all-time favorite... I baked this version of apple pie umpteen times... and every time everyone would ask for more.
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