Name: Basic Apple Pie Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 8-10 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons sugar; 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon; Dash of salt; About 5 cups thinly sliced apples (peeled and cored), 8-10 medium apples; 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces; Double pie crust; 1 egg white + 1 tablespoon water; granulated or chubby sparkling sugar, optional

Your go-to basic apple pie recipe using fresh apples in a homemade crust with very little added sugar.

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. It 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. Today, amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life, taking time to make pie is almost therapeutic. It’s a slower process than opening a box of brownie mix, but there’s so much satisfaction in it. Butter, flour, and sugar are the building blocks of all things good, and making a homemade pie is a pretty great way to use them. 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.

Tips and Tricks for Making this Basic Apple Pie Recipe

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!
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.
This apple pie recipe is very easy to customize. You can add more sugar, replace the sugar with brown sugar, add a drizzle of caramel sauce to the filling, use apple pie spice, or up the amount of cinnamon and add a little nutmeg and allspice. Taste the filling before it goes into the crust and adjust it to your taste.
Spoiler alert! 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!)
A regular sized pie plate will work for this recipe, just place the pie on a cookie sheet while baking so that if the filling bubbles over a bit while baking it won’t drip to the bottom of the oven.

Craving more? Subscribe to Bless this Mess to get new recipes, meal plans, and a newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #blessthismesseats on Instagram. I love to see your kitchen skills in action!