The Best Apple Pie Recipe

The BEST Apple Pie recipe to ever grace your Thanksgiving dessert table! This pie is made with my favorite easy pie crust, plenty of tart apples, and a crumbly, buttery walnut topping. 

The Ultimate Apple Pie

So, you’ve had apple pie before, right? And, I mean, it’s good, right? Especially this time of year with freshly harvested apples, spiced with cinnamon, served in a flaky crust and served warm, topped with vanilla ice cream? Doesn’t get more classic than that, does it?

But what if I told you we could take that classic apple pie recipe and make it even better? Like, so, so much better.

This apple pie has absolutely ruined me for every other apple pie recipe out there. I can hardly bring myself to lift a fork to any other slice because it’s just downright disappointing compared to this one. This pie has ruined me in the same way these chocolate chip cookies have made me a cookie elitist.

It’s not really *my* recipe, though.  Most of the recipes I share here are based off of prior experience, billions of bouts of trial and error, and a hodge-podge of dozens and dozens of other recipes I’ve tried.  This one, however, is a very close adaptation of a recipe my Mom has been making for decades.  The recipe was clipped from a Women’s Day magazine that was published in 1996 and in the past 20 years it’s been copied over and over, spilled and scribbled on, but it’s persevered as the favorite pie in my household.

And that’s compared against some tough contenders, like my popular Chocolate Pie, Blueberry Pie, and Pecan Pie.

OK, So what is it that makes this Apple Pie so great?

Well, for starters…

• A flaky, buttery, flavorful, homemade, easy pie crust. Oh and did I mention that it’s essentially foolproof and can be made in your food processor?
• A full, perfectly spiced filling. Any time you bake an apple pie the apples will shrink as they cook. But we’re using 3 hefty pounds of sliced tart apples for plenty of apple in every bite. Oh, and the filling is also made with sour cream (which is a key ingredient in our crust, too). This gives our apple pie an incredible flavor (one that doesn’t actually taste like sour cream) and keeps our apple pie filling from being runny or weepy.
• A buttery, crumbly, streusel-like topping. This is my favorite, and what sets this pie apart from any other. That crispy crumb paired with the tender apples and flaky crust… every bite is heaven.

What is the Best Apple to Use in Apple Pie?

I recommend using a firm, tart apple for this pie recipe. My personal preference is Granny Smith, which I like using for most of my baked apple recipes (like my Apple Crisp or Apple Dumplings).

Should You Cook Your Apples Before Making Apple Pie?

I do not recommend pre-cooking your apples for this recipe. Some recipes recommend this either to prevent the apples from shrinking in the oven or to keep the pie from becoming runny.

We’re using quite a bit of apples in this recipe, and the crumble topping on top will neatly shrink down with them (instead of staying raised and leaving a large air pocket like many traditional apple pie recipes do).

This pie also does not yield a runny filling, thanks to the ingredients we’ll be tossing our apple slices in. Thanks to some flour and some sour cream, the filling is much less liquidy than you might expect.

How to Store Apple Pie:

Apple pie can be stored at room temperature for up to two days. Be sure to cover with foil.

This pie will last longer if stored in the refrigerator (keep covered to prevent it from drying out), up to 6 days.

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! If you try it out please comment and let me know how you like it!

More Apple Recipes You Might Like:

• Apple Crumb Cake
• Apple Turnovers
• Apple Butter
• Apple Crumble Muffins
• Apple Fritters

Let’s bake together! Follow me on my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 150 recipe videos that you can watch for free!

The Best Apple Pie

This BEST Apple Pie recipe is made over my easy homemade pie crust, filled with layers of tender, perfectly spiced apples, and topped off with a buttery crumble walnut topping.

Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO below the recipe!

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

1 hour 40 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 407kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

Crust

• ▢ 1 batch homemade pie crust (click link for recipe) not baked, you may substitute one storebought pie crust instead.

Filling

• ▢ ¼ cup sugar (50g)
• ▢ ¼ cup brown sugar tightly packed (50g)
• ▢ ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (45g)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢ ⅓ cup sour cream (85g)
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 pounds tart apples Peeled, cored, and sliced thinner than ¼". I use Granny Smith (1.36kg)

Crumble Topping

• ▢ 1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter cold (113g)
• ▢ ½ cup chopped walnuts (65g)
• ▢ ⅔ cup brown sugar firmly packed (145g)

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  Food Processor
• ▢
  Pie plate

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Instructions

Crust

• Prepare pie crust according to recipe instructions. As per recipe, prepare, chill, roll out, and arrange into a 9 ½" pie plate (do not bake). Return to refrigerator to chill while you prepare apple pie filling.
• Preheat oven to 425F (220C)

Filling

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugars, flour, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
• Add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and stir well until completely combined (mixture will be like a loose paste).
• Add apple slices and stir until all apples are coated with mixture.
• Pour apple filling into prepared pie crust, mounding the apples in the center of the pie. Set aside while you prepare crumble topping.

Crumble Topping

• Combine flour and brown sugar in the basin of a food processor¹ and pulse to combine. 
• Sprinkle butter pieces over the mixture. Pulse until coarse crumbs form.
• Add walnuts and pulse briefly (don't overdo it or the mixture will lose its crumbliness and clump together)
• Take your crumble topping and sprinkle it evenly over the pie filling.  Use your hands to gently pat down the topping.
• Bake on 425F (220C) for 15 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce heat to 350F (175C) and continue to bake another 40 minutes, or until apples are tender (use a skewer to pierce the pie and check the apples).  Keep an eye on your pie crust as it bakes, the crust is prone to browning faster than the pie is finished, and if the crust is becoming too dark you should remove the pie from the oven and cover the crust with foil before returning to oven to finish baking.
• Enjoy warm, preferably topped with vanilla ice cream.

Notes

¹If you don't have a food processor you can still make this crumble topping! To prepare, whisk together flour and sugar. Use a pastry cutter or grater or knives to cut butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Chop your walnuts and stir them into the mixture, then follow recipe as instructed.

The recipe was very closely adapted from a magazine clipping from a 1996 edition of a Women's Day magazine. My mom has been making it for the past 20 years and it's persevered as the favorite pie in my household.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 407kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 73mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 7IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

This perfect Apple Pie Recipe was originally published on 10/19/2016, republished with more information, better photos, a more clearly-written recipe and a video on 10/16/2019.