Our mums and grannies have probably perfected the skill of making pies. Whether it’s an apple pie, cherry or raspberry pie, it all comes down to learning how to make the pie crust. You don’t have to bother much with the filling, just toss chopped apples or other fruit and sprinkle some sugar. After many tested recipes and mediocre results I have finally made the best pie crust ever. I present you my apple pie easy recipe that’s perfect for beginners or those who are eager to try new recipes.
Here’s what you will get with this recipe:
- Apple pie without soggy bottom
- Pie without cooking apples
- An apple pie without puff pastry
- Apple pie with shortcrust pastry
Apple pie vs apple tart
The difference between an apple pie and apple tart is that apple tart doesn’t have a top crust. You can use this apple pie easy recipe to make apple tart as well, just use half of the measure for the dough.
The other difference between apple pie and apple tart is that you need to add more sugar to the apple filling. You will also need to cook apples for the tart.
Which pastry for apple pie
The best pastry to use when making apple pie is shortcrust pastry. It is flaky, buttery, somewhat crispy and it melts in your mouth. This type of pastry doesn’t call for much kneading.
Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and use the hand mixer or a food processor to beat the butter. When the butter has been dissolved into tiny pieces, knead the dough to make a ball from it. I am going to explain this even further in the section below.
How to make an apple pie
Making an apple pie sounds easy – just make the pie crust and pour in the pie filling. But even easy dishes can be tricky too. With the wrong ingredients or a wrong amount of ingredients, sometimes many things can go wrong. Not to mention the part where you need to knead and shape the dough for the pie crust.
This is an easy recipe for apple pie as it doesn’t require cooking apples and you don’t need much kneading to do.
Make the pie crust. In a deep bowl, add flour, salt, butter, one egg yolk and brown sugar. Mix everything together, as much as you can, and then knead the dough. It’s more like squeezing than kneading. Just press the dough firmly with your palms to make one homogeneous ball. Wrap it up into plastic foil or bag and refrigerate it for one hour, or at least half an hour.
Prepare the apple pie filling. Peel and chop the apples. Later on when you pour the apples over pie crust, sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon according to your preferences and mix well with the spoon to spread the sugar evenly. I add about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of brown sugar. Sometimes, I add 3 tbsp of vanilla pudding powder.
Shape the pie crust. Remove the plastic foil, cut the dough ball in halves. With a rolling pin, roll the first half of the dough and place it in a baking dish. If the rolled dough is not a bit bigger than your baking dish, reshape the dough with your hands. If it is too small, roll it a few more times to get the crust that will correspond to your 9 inch pan.
Bake the pie. Bake the bottom crust for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, roll the second half of the dough. Add chopped apples, sugar and cinnamon and cover the pie with the second half of the dough. Make eight cuts on the top dough, like pizza slices.
Making the cuts is a very important step as it will prevent your pie crust to turn out soggy. Beat the egg white with some tap water and brush the top pie crust. Bake for one hour at 180 degrees Celsius or 350 F. Leave it to rest for about 30 minutes.
Do you cook apples before putting them in the pie?
What I like about this recipe is that the pie filling doesn’t have to be cooked. It saves a lot of time. The reason why the pie filling is usually cooked is to avoid the apples releasing a lot of juiceness.
However, if you cut the slits on your top crust, the steam will be released. Also, the pie filling will additionally thicken if you leave it to cool off a bit after baking.
What are the best apples for a pie?
This apple pie recipe features three types of apples:
- Fuji apple (sweet apple)
- Granny Smith (tart apple)
- Golden delicious (sweet apple)
I sometimes add honeycrisp or pink lady as well. They are sweet/tart apples. Generally, when making an apple pie choose at least one type of tart apple and one of sweet apple.
My apple pie is dry. What to do?
It’s almost impossible that your apple pie turns out dry with this recipe. Two main rules are:
- Don’t reduce the amount of butter.
- Leave the dough to rest for one hour in the fridge.
Leaving the dough to rest is essential in most of the baking recipes. In this case, flour needs time to soak butter the butter up.
My pie is watery. How to fix it?
The general rule is that apple pie will thicken as it cools. Leave the pie to rest at room temperature about 30 minutes and have a look at it. If the apple filling is still watery, you leave it in the fridge for another hour or so.
As for this recipe, I have never had a problem with watery pie filling. I don’t cook apples, just toss them on the pie crust and spread them evenly. I don’t add sugar too early, because apples will release liquids. Just prior to baking,
I put the chopped apples on the crust and sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on them. You can also add some vanilla pudding powder but that is optional. It doesn’t give a strong vanilla flavor but it can thicken the filling a bit.
What else to add to apple pie filling?
Apples and cinnamon are the classic combination. If you want to spice up your apple pie, here are some ideas what you can add:
- Nutmeg or its sister spice, Sri Lankan mace blade
- Vanilla extract or powder
- Vanilla pudding
- Cardamom
- Sugar alternatives such as coconut sugar
- Caramel sauce
- Other fruit like cherries, peaches
- Dried fruits like raisins
- Walnuts
How to serve apple pie?
You can serve apple pie for breakfast, with a cup of coffee, milk or matcha tea. If you serve it as an afternoon dessert, a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream or a heaping tablespoon of vanilla pudding would be a perfect combo. For chocolate lovers, you can garnish the plate with dark or white chocolate ganache.
Equipment and utensils
Here’s what you’l need to make this perfect apple pie:
Apple Pie Easy Recipe for Beginners
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- 260 g butter
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- a pinch of salt
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
For the pie filling and topping:
- 6-8 apples (at least two different types of apples)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 egg white
Instructions
- In a deep bowl, add flour, salt, butter, one egg yolk and brown sugar. Mix everything together, as much as you can, and then knead the dough. It's more like squeezing than kneading. Just press the dough firmly with your palms to make one homogeneous ball. Wrap it up into plastic foil or bag and refrigerate it for one hour, or at least half an hour.
- Peel and chop the apples. Later on when you pour the apples over pie crust, sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon according to your preferences and mix well with the spoon to spread the sugar evenly. I add about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of brown sugar. Sometimes, I add 3 tbsp of vanilla pudding powder.
- Remove the plastic foil, cut the dough ball in halves. With a rolling pin, roll the first half of the dough and place it in a baking dish. If the rolled dough is not a bit bigger than your baking dish, reshape the dough with your hands. If it is too small, roll it a few more times to get the crust that will correspond to your 9 inch pan.
- Bake the bottom crust for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, roll the second half of the dough. Add chopped apples, sugar and cinnamon and cover the pie with the second half of the dough. Make eight cuts on the top dough, like pizza slices. This is a very important step as it will prevent your pie crust to turn out soggy. Beat the egg white with some tap water and brush the top pie crust. Bake for one hour at 180 degrees Celsius or 350 F. Leave it to rest for about 30 minutes.
