Apple pie is the quintessential fall dessert. My version features an extra flaky crust (the secret is less water in the dough than most conventional pie crust recipes call for), and a tender, not-too-sweet apple filling. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s perfectly balanced!
Rethinking Pie Crust
A traditional double crust pie dough recipe generally calls for about 2 ½ cups of flour, ½ pound of butter and/or shortening, and 6-8 tablespoons of water.
This pie crust recipe calls for the same ratio of flour/fat, but it calls for much less water (4½ tablespoons, as opposed to 6 to 8 tablespoons).
I learned this from Petra Paradez of Petee’s Pie Company in NYC, who makes some of the best pie I’ve ever had. Their crust is impossibly flaky and delicious. Originally, I assumed they used lard or shortening to achieve that flakiness.
(I personally don’t use shortening in my pie crust, because while it does add flakiness, it’s also partially hydrogenated oil, and I would prefer to use all natural ingredients, which is why I like to use only butter.)
However, I soon found out that Petee’s uses only grass-fed butter in all of their pie crusts. I had to know their secret! This led me to watching this video of Paradez talking about how to make perfect pie crust at home, and several key revelations:
- Most pie crust recipes call for too much water: Adding more water helps the dough come together and become easier to work with, but it also activates the gluten in the flour, making the crust tough instead of flaky.
- Using frozen butter: While most recipes call for “very cold butter,” Paradez calls for butter that has been frozen for at least 30 minutes. However, I used butter that’s frozen solid! I find it easier to grate (more on that later), and it stays cold longer. Plus, I store butter in the freezer, so it’s easy for me to just take out a couple sticks of frozen butter anytime I need it.
- Dissolving the sugar/salt before adding to the dough: A brilliant tip! This allows the sugar and salt to evenly incorporate throughout the dough, without sinking to the bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Grating the butter: While I usually use a pastry cutter, to incorporate my butter into the flour, grating the butter first made this process easier, and also helped the dough come together despite using less water! A food processor with a grating attachment makes this step less painful.
The result is a super flaky delicious crust that melts in your mouth, with plenty of buttery flavor!
My Problem with Most Apple Pie Filling
I’m not a fan of apple pies where the filling is partially cooked and/or still crunchy. I find that no matter how thinly I slice my apples, if I just put raw apples directly into a pie shell, they’re usually still crunchy after baking for an hour.
That’s why I’m pre-cooking my filling for this apple pie recipe to yield tender apples.
It’s also a bit less sweet than most traditional apple pie recipes, as I think too much sugar can overpower the apple cinnamon flavor. I also add a tablespoon of lemon juice to offset the sweetness and add a little extra tartness.
If you can, use a blend of different apples for a more complex flavor. I used Macouns and Golden Delicious apples, because that’s what was ripe at our local orchard. You can also use a blend of Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, McIntosh, and/or Braeburn apples.
Apple Pie Recipe Instructions
Dissolve 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in 2 tablespoons of hot water, and then add an additional 2 ½ tablespoons of cold water. Transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes.
Carefully grate the frozen butter using a box grater or the grating attachment on your food processor. You can also very finely chop it, taking care to minimize contact with your warm hands.
Add 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour to a mixing bowl, along with the grated butter.
Combine the butter and flour quickly with your hands for a few seconds.
Drizzle the cold water solution evenly over the flour and butter, and work it with your hands quickly to squeeze it together into 2 balls roughly the same size. It will be a little dry and a tad challenging to ball together, but do your best. Place the dough in airtight reusable silicone bags (or wrap in plastic), and press the balls down into discs.
Transfer the dough discs to the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour (you can also make the dough a day in advance or freeze it if you’d like to make it further in advance).
While the pie crust is resting, make the filling. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the apples, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking.
Add the cinnamon, lemon juice, and ½ cup of sugar.
Cook for 5 minutes, until the apples are somewhat softened. Turn off the heat.
Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water, and off the heat, pour it into the apple mixture. Stir to thicken. Allow to cool completely—the filling shouldn’t be warm when you add it to the pie shell!
Position a rack in the center of your oven and place a baking sheet on the rack. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes to soften slightly, so it’s easier to work with.
If one of your dough discs looks larger than the other, take the larger of the two, and roll it out into an 11-12 inch (30 cm) circle.
Fold gently in half, and transfer to the pie shell. The dough may not be perfectly round, and might break easily, and that’s ok.
Redistribute dough, patch it, and press it back together if needed.
Place the pie shell in the refrigerator while you roll out the top crust. Roll the top crust into a 10-inch circle. Take the pie shell back out of the fridge, and add the cooled filling in an evenly layer.
Cover with the top crust…
And flute the edges or crimp the edges with a fork.
Brush the crust with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water).
Cut vent holes in the top.
Place the pie on the heated baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Then rotate the baking sheet 180°, reduce the heat to 375°F/190°C, and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes.
Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Flaky Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cold water
- 8 ounces unsalted butter (8 ounces/225g = 2 sticks)
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
For the filling:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 7-8 medium apples (about 2 ½ pounds/1130g; peeled, cored, and sliced into ½-inch thick slices)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Egg wash:
- 1 egg (beaten with 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
Prepare the crust:
- Dissolve 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in 2 tablespoons of hot water, and then add an additional 2 ½ tablespoons of cold water. Transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Carefully grate the frozen butter using a box grater or the grating attachment on your food processor. You can also very finely chop it, taking care to minimize contact with your warm hands.
- Add 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour to a mixing bowl, along with the grated butter. Combine the butter and flour quickly with your hands for a few seconds.
- Drizzle the cold water solution evenly over the flour and butter, and work it with your hands quickly to squeeze it together into 2 balls roughly the same size. It will be a little dry and a tad challenging to ball together, but do your best. Place the dough in airtight reusable silicone bags (or wrap in plastic), and press the balls down into discs.
- Transfer the dough discs to the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour (you can also make the dough a day in advance or freeze it if you’d like to make it further in advance).
Make the filling:
- While the pie crust is resting, make the filling. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the apples, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking.
- Add the cinnamon, lemon juice, and ½ cup of sugar. Cook for 5 minutes, until the apples are somewhat softened. Turn off the heat.
- Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water, and off the heat, pour it into the apple mixture. Stir to thicken. Allow to cool completely—the filling shouldn’t be warm when you add it to the pie shell!
Assemble & bake:
- Position a rack in the center of your oven and place a baking sheet on the rack. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes to soften slightly, so it’s easier to work with. If one of your dough discs looks larger than the other, take the larger of the two, and roll it out into an 11-12 inch (30 cm) circle. Fold gently in half, and transfer to the pie shell. The dough will break easily, and that’s ok. Patch it and press it back together if needed.
- Place the pie shell in the refrigerator while you roll out the top crust. Roll the top crust into a 10-inch circle. Take the pie shell back out of the fridge, and add the cooled filling in an evenly layer. Cover with the top crust, and flute the edges or crimp the edges with a fork.
- Brush the crust with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water), and cut vent holes in the top. Place the pie on the heated baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Then rotate the baking sheet 180°, reduce the heat to 375°F/190°C, and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes. Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Very good recipe. Easy to make even by hand. Question can I use thw crust recipe also for chicken pot pie?
Thank you Anja! And yes, you totally could!
Just made this for the second time. Made it first a month ago for a picnic lunch and my friends loved it. Made it today for my grandkids and it was a big hit. Thank you for this lovely recipe and detailed instructions
You’re welcome, Maya! :)
This pie crust since it’s only butter and very little water yet contains other odd un-needed ingredients such as sugar, is known as either as Shortcrust pastry or Pate Brisee although not pure as it has too many additives. This recipe as written is also not the best crust recipe for fruit pies which is obvious from the photographs that have been supplied because of the un-needed extra ingredients that altered the purity of the shortcrust/pate brisee.
In the comment section You have complaint after complaint from readers who did not have success in getting the crust to work without having to add more water. That extra water addition of which even a budding new baker would know, is an important notation you failed to add to your odd pastry recipe. An important step that even Master chef Thomas Keller who makes the most amazing pastries states, as in, add extra ice water in small amounts as needed until dough holds together enough to be able to roll after chilling. You’ll see the same from other Master chefs, pastry chefs, home chefs and successful
bake shop owners instruct their staff or class they’re teaching as there is nothing worse than wasting ingredients thrown out in frustration or taking far too much time to make a simple fruit pie. We have two bakeries in our area one being sweet and savory pies and tarts of every flavour one could think of only. The pie bakery graciously offers one of their pie recipes every couple of months including the all butter pie crust recipe they use for all their pies.
All in all, It leave one wondering why with your comment section having complaints about your all butter and other odd ingredients crust not coming together, ( which by the way consists of flour, chilled unsalted butter, small amount of salt & 1/4 cup of ice water or more if needed ) you continue to insist this is the best pie crust ever when there’s so many commenters telling you it is not unless more ice water is used and even then it did not work like pastry should.
. And yes, it’s important one blind bakes an all butter short crust/pate brisee.
Hi Joycelyn, thank you for sharing your perspective, but I’m confused as to what you mean by “complaint after complaint.” While there was one comment about the dough being harder to work with (which is definitely a reality of using less water and is highlighted in the recipe), we had more comments from readers who loved the recipe.
Wow, this is the best flaky crust recipe I’ve ever made! It was still very flaky and crunchy upon heating up 3 days later. It was indeed hard to handle, so I did end up ending like a few extra drops to knead it together. I did semi-blind baked it just because that’s what I’m told in the past. I’ll try baking it straight up next time –it save alot of time if it works. I’m using this crust from now on for all my pies.
I did change the apple filling sightly to be more adventurous by adding some pink peppercorn (a few is plenty — it gets stronger as the pie sit longer in the fridge) and five spice powder . But definitely like the idea of precooking the apple before baking it into the pie. Lastly, I did half white sugar and half honey.
Thanks for sharing, Kathy! So glad you enjoyed this pie, and that it’s going to be your go-to crust going forward!
does the pie crust not require blind baking??
It is not required, Kathy, but you certainly can blind bake!
Best pie crust and recipe! Btw what and where did you buy your reusable silicon ziploc bags? Thank you Sarah!
You’re welcome, Christine! They’re called “Stashers,” and we love them. We rarely use regular plastic bags anymore, and never buy plastic wrap either! Here’s a link on amazon: https://amzn.to/3mskdxd. We’ve tried other reusable bags that have plastic bars to seal the tops, but the stashers work much like regular zip lock bags, and are MUCH easier to use.
just made it. best pie ever.
Wow, thank you so much Dylan!
I liked the concept of less water for the crust. But it was hard to execute. I ended up having to add more water in order to roll out the dough. Overall, the crust did come out light and flaky. I decided to add a touch more sugar to the apples during precook because our family likes it a little more sweet. Will need to keep experimenting with the pie crust. It really takes some skill to get it right. Wish I could attach a photo!!
It’s true that the pie crust can be harder to work with when there’s less water added. I find that grating the butter really helps with this, as the flour has more butter surface area to “hold onto,” without as much water. To share a photo, you can always tag us or DM us on Instagram!
You should use weight measurement for your ingredients. For example. 2.5c flour can vary based on the season and humidity. Real bakers use weight, never volume. The tip about using less water and water impact on flour was very good and how gluten toughens dough!!
Hi Joe, I included US customary measurements for home bakers who are unused to using scales in their baking (i.e. most American home bakers), but we did include metric weight measurements as well—did you see the toggle below the ingredients list in the recipe card?
This was my first time making apple pie and it was so delicious! I absolutely loved how flaky the crust was and the sweetness level was perfect (apple pies are usually too sweet for me). My roommate and I devoured over half the pie in one sitting!
So glad to hear your first go was a success! Thanks for giving my recipe a try, and for coming back to leave a comment and review. :)