Easy Apple Pie Recipe (Using Fresh Apples)
on Nov 15, 2017, Updated Sep 27, 2023
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Your go-to Apple Pie Recipe using fresh apples in a homemade crust with very little added sugar.
This recipe is so simple that even the most basic cook can master this recipe the firs time. You can use any fresh apples you have and any crust you like. It’s so easy you’ll be making it every night for dinner.
Table of Contents
Classic Apple Pie Recipe
A basic apple pie recipe is simple and the end results are just plain tasty. It’s a recipe that everyone should have in their collection. This apple pie doesn’t use a lot of added sugar and you don’t have to cook the apples before adding them to the crust.
This pie has about an inch or inch-and-a-half of sliced apples inside the crust, which I think is a nice amount. I think apple pies that are 3 or 4 inches high and stuffed with apples are gorgeous, but I like a more even crust-to-apple ratio myself. When you don’t have that many apples in the crust, you don’t have to precook the apples because there are a lot less in there to shrink and put out extra liquid.
Need a crust recipe to make your apple pie? I got you covered!
I wrote a huge post all about pie crust! This basic apple pie recipe is a staple in our house and I hope you love it. You can find this recipe plus SEVEN other pie recipes in one post if you are looking around for something that looks perfect for your Thanksgiving table.
There’s something magical about pulling a pie made from scratch out of the oven. It seems to take you back to a time when life was simpler and homemade pie was standard fare in American kitchens.
Plan to take an afternoon to bake and you just might love how grounding the whole process is for you. And you’ll have a beautiful pie to enjoy after dinner or to share with friends, and that’s a pretty great reward, too.
How many apples do you need for apple pie?
You need 10 medium sized apples to make this apple pie. It has a great apple pie filling to crust ratio (not too many apples but not too few at the same time). You’ll need about 5 cups of apples total once they are sliced.
What are the best apples to use for pies?
Try to find a firm apple to use in this recipe. I like a mix between sweet and sour apples. You can use Granny Smith, Jonathan, Jonagold, Winesap, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Gala, or Rome Beauty. I used a mix between Golden Delicious and some kind of tart firm apples from our trees for this pie, and it was great. It’s very forgiving, so experiment!
- Granny Smith – Tart, green, flavorful, and perfect for apple pie
- Jonathan – red on yellow, bright flavor, and juicy
- Golden Delicious – Softer, sweet, and yellow in color
- Gala – light red, crispy, and mildly sweet
Should I let the apple pie cool before I serve it?
If you want this pie to slice nicely (and not have some of the fruit ooze out onto the pie plate after you remove a slice), then let it cool to room temperature before serving. Hot apple pie is delicious but the apples will slice and stay inside your pie if you wait. It’s up to you. Sometimes I cut into hot pie and just scoop some of the apples out of the pie plate, and sometimes I wait. It’s up to you.
Can I use a store bought pie crust?
If you don’t want to make a Perfect Pie Crust at home, a packaged pie crust will work just fine. Just brush the top with one egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon of water and give it a little sprinkle of sugar (extra chubby or sparkling sugar is really fun if you have it!)
Ingredients in apple pie:
- granulated sugar, only 3 tablespoons for the whole pie!
- thinly sliced apples, it’ll take about 8-10 medium apples and you can use whatever you like or have on hand! Granny Smith apples are always a popular choice and I have wonderful Golden Delicious apples in my orchard I always use
- just a bit of butter and cinnamon
- Double pie crust
- granulated or chubby sparkling sugar if you want the top to be extra pretty
How to make an apple pie from scratch:
- Mix first 5 ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Roll out and place an uncooked pie crust in the bottom of a deep 9-inch pie plate.
- Place the apple mixture in the uncooked pie shell. Place small pieces of butter on top of apple mixture.
- Top with second pie crust, crimp the edges, and then cut a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to vent.
- Mix the egg white and 1 tablespoon of water together in a small bowl and then brush the top with water and sprinkle with sugar before baking.
- Bake at 450 for the first 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and continue cooking for an additional 30 to 40 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Storing Leftovers:
If you have leftovers you can store them covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. The crust gets a little soft when it sits but I like to heat up a slice in the microwave before eating it. And my kids LOVE apple pie for breakfast so if I don’t have too much leftover I’ll just store it covered on the counter to be eaten the next morning for breakfast, sugar is a great preservative, I have no issues leaving it out overnight.
More Pie Recipes:
- How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust
- Pumpkin Pie Recipe
- Easy Homemade Cherry Pie Recipe
- Old Fashioned Buttermilk Pie
- North Carolina Lemon Pie
If you’ve tried this homemade apple pie recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories AND add your photo to your comment so that other can see your creation.
Here’s a video on how to make apple pie from scratch:
Basic Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- about 5 cups thinly sliced apples, peeled and cored, 8-10 medium apples
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
- Double pie crust
- 1 egg white + 1 tablespoon water
- granulated or chubby sparkling sugar, optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl add the sliced apples. Sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt and toss gently to combine well.
- Roll out and place an uncooked pie crust in the bottom of a deep 9-inch pie plate.
- Place the apple mixture in the uncooked pie shell. Place the small pieces of butter on top of apple mixture.
- Top with second pie crust, crimp the edges, and then cut a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to vent.
- Mix the egg white and 1 tablespoon of water together in a small bowl and then brush the top with water and sprinkle with sugar before baking.
- Bake at 450 degrees F. for the first 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. and continue cooking for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
- If the edge of the crust starts to brown more quickly than the center, carefully cover the edge with foil for the last 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning.
- Let the pie cool for 10 minutes before serving. Can be made ahead of time and served at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- You’ll want to cut these apples about 1/4 inch thick.
- Want to make a pretty lattice pie crust? Here’s how to do that!
- Try to find a firm apple to use in this recipe. I like a mix between a sweet and sour apple. You can use Granny Smith, Jonathan, Jonagold, Winesap, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Gala, or Rome Beauty. I used Golden Delicious from our trees for this pie and it was great.
- In the world of pies, this one has a very low amount of added sugar. If you are using tart apples you might need to double the amount of sugar. Just taste and see. Feel free to add up to 1/3 cup of sugar to this recipe.
- You can use apple pie spice in place of the cinnamon if you’d like.
Nutrition
If you love apple pie, you might also like these recipes:
- 4 Recipes for a Perfect Pie Crust (my guide on all things pie crust!)
- Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie
- The Best Pecan Pie Recipe
- Easy Chicken Pumpkin Pot Pie (spoiler alert – it uses pre-made puff pastry instead of a pie crust!)
- The Best Easy Apple Cake
- No Bake Peanut Butter Pie Recipe
- Blueberry Pie Cookie Bars
- Dutch Apple Pie Recipe
- Homemade Coconut Cream Pie
- North Carolina Lemon Pie
- America’s Test Kitchen’s Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Caramel Apple Dip
Nothing says welcome home like a fresh pie on the counter, and this Apple Pie Recipe is just the one to try! You are going to love how easy it is to customize and how quickly it comes together. Happy pie making, friends, from my kitchen to yours!
Delicious & easy. Gone in less than a day. Making another as I type. I used 3 Granny Smiths and 3 Fuji— perfect. Not overly sweet. And perfect w ice cream!
Delicious and easy! Always my goal. So glad you liked it and thank you so much for coming back to tell us what worked for you!
I’m a apple pie lover but I have’nt make one ever so i want to make this recipe and see too if i can do it.
Give it a try! Let me know how it turns out.
Melissa i just reread ur instructions and didnt find them confusing at all . On my way to the kitchen to make this pie. Will let u know how it turns out?
Well i just finished the pie. woW girl this pie was so ez and my husband just loves it . I made it yesterday and its half gone already and there is only two of us thanks for ur help
Woohoo! So glad that it turned out well and that you all love it!
Sorry I forgot to answer.. device is Samsung tablet, using vertical orientation. Good luck
I think the confusion comes from the fact that step 1 is almost completely overlaid with an internet ad. It only shows the 4 characters af a time, chopping the sentences to a jarbled mess .. You may need to check the rendering on various devices (mobile, tablets, etc.) Prior to publishing
Thank you for letting me know. I just got a new web design last week and we are still working on ad layout and placement, I’ll let my team know. I don’t want things to be hard to read for sure!
Also, do you know what browser you were using and what device? It’s a lot easy to find things that are wrong when I know those two things. THANK YOU!
Hi!
What kind of foil would you reccomend using for step 7?
Thanks!
Any kind of food-grade foil you get near the other plastic baggies and parchment paper should work great.
Just tested this out for my Thanksgiving dessert table. It’s so easy to understand & very delicious. Shared some with my neighbor, she’s loved it & passed your recipe along. Thanks ?
Thank you so much Jackie! It’s on my menu for Thanksgiving too! I’m so glad you liked it enough to share, that means a whole lot to me.
Hi Melissa,
This looks great and will hopefully be making tonight! I’m a first time pie maker and I wonder as a rule of thumb do you cook the bottom of your pie crusts first? like 10-15 mins?
Nope, no need to prebake this pie crust, it’ll cook through just perfectly all at once! I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
at what point do you put in the first 5 ingredients?? you don’t mention it. how can I trust a recipe that leaves out important info?
It says in #3 of the directions to add the apple mixture to the pie crust… not sure where the confusion lies? It’s a great solid recipe that we make over and over again!
Hi Melissa,
I came to the comments section to see if the answer to this question was here. So it’s not entirely clear! Having made apple pie many times I assume there is a step missing that should say “add the sugar and spice mixture to the apple slices.”
It says to mix the first 5 ingredients together and that includes the spices and the apples!
YES oh my gosh, sorry! It sure does! I’m used to mixing the spices and sugar, THEN adding that to the apples. Anyway this pie was delicious and I’m making another one tonight!
Only three tablespoons of sugar? And it’ll be sweet enough? Plan to bake this weekend.
Yep! You might want to double it if you are using all sour apples but if you are using a pretty normal firm sweet apple, it’s perfect!
it says right in the recipe. after putting in the bottom crust add the APPLE MIXTURE.
Hello! i really liked your post. Please share some more
Haven’t tried the recipe yet but want to, I’m new to pies and baking in general and I’m wondering if I need a cake pan, thanks!
Just a deep pie plate but in a pinch you could totally use a round cake pan, use what you have…