This is the Best Homemade Apple Pie Recipe you will ever taste! It has been in our family for generations and it’s sure to please your family and friends!
The Best Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
This homemade apple pie recipe has been in our family for 75 years or more and still takes the #1 spot at any meal when served.
My mom bakes unbelievably good pies. Even her crust is delicious and this is her apple pie recipe. I have made it for years and now Tawra makes it, too. Even though I tease my daughter about her cooking at times, she has certainly learned how to make a mean apple pie with this homemade apple pie recipe!
Here are a couple of tips before you start making your homemade apple pie:
- No recipe is set in stone. You can make some modifications to the ingredients in this apple pie recipe to adjust to your tastes. For example, you might add more or less cinnamon or you might use all white sugar or less sugar. For your first try, though, I suggest that you make this apple pie recipe exactly as it is written and then adjust to your tastes the next time you make one. When people adjust things before making the apple pie recipe the way it is, I often hear, “My pie didn’t turn out well but I made it just like you said. I only changed this and this and this…” and by the time she has finished explaining, I discover that she has only used one of the original ingredients. : )
- What kind of apples do I use? Some people are dogmatic about what kind of apples they use and will only use baking apples for pies. I’m not so fussy and I use whatever apples are on sale or that I happen to have on hand. I personally don’t like the super tart taste from baking apples and I always needed to add more sugar when I used them. It also seems to take longer to bake using baking apples. My favorite thing to do with this homemade apple pie recipe is to use a couple of different kinds of apples. Don’t have a heart attack but, yes, I have used Delicious apples before.
- One of the best things I have discovered after years of baking pies is to cook my fruit pie filling in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and then pour it into the crust. Two of my pet peeves about pies are soggy crusts and partially cooked apples in a pie. If you don’t partially cook the pie filling ahead of time, the crust will sometimes start turning too brown before the apples are done cooking. Pre-cooking the pie filling prevents overbrowning the crust.
- Here is another post that can help you with your pie baking, along with a recipe for a delicious homemade pie crust: Homemade Pie Crust
Here is my best apple pie recipe and as a bonus I will give you a recipe for French apple pie. You use the French apple pie when you have only 1 crust for the bottom and need something to top it with. It is a cross between a pie and apple crisp.
Grandma’s Apple Pie Recipe
6-7 cups of medium apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. butter
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except the butter. Microwave this filling mixture 2-3 minutes. Then pour into the pie crust. Dot with chunks of the butter and top with the other crust. Cut steam slits in the top crust and sprinkle the top with sugar. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then turn down to 350 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes, until apples are tender and juices are bubbling nicely out of the steam slits.
French Apple Pie Topping
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
Mix ingredients until crumble-like and sprinkle over the top of the apples. Bake as usual.
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MissyJean says
My recipe is almost exactly the same–I’ll have to try it with the brown sugar, though. To avoid over-browned crusts and still finish the filling, I lower cooking temp and cook a little longer (I typically bake apple pie at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, pumpkin for 15 minutes at 375 then 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, etc).
Kerri says
Indeed THE BEST Apple Pie!!! I love apple pie and eat it every chance I get; however never made one until last night. Followed your recipe exactly and wouldn’t change one thing! Not only was it easy to make but it’s by FAR one of the best tasting pies I’ve ever had!!! We had fuji, gala, and jonagold apples on hand so I used all three.
Ashley Sentell says
I made this pie twice and used Gala Apples. I love how easy the and delicious the recipe is the only problem is that when I cut the pie it has a lot of liquid in it. Is i suppose to be thicker? It almost falls apart when I cut into it. I did cook it on 450 for 15 min then 35 minutes on 350.
Jill says
Some apples are a little juicier than others so all your need to do is add an extra tablespoon or two to the filling and it will thicken right up.
Sandy says
A tsp or 2 of what. More flour?? I have gala and hope to make this today. It sounds delicious.
Jill says
Yes flour
Brenda Myers says
this is absolutely the best apple pie I have made.
Stephanie says
Does this make one pie or 2?
Jill says
This makes one pie
Vivian says
Hi,
Sorry to bother! I was wondering what texture does the apples must be after the micro, Im asking because I’ll be cooking them in the stove and can I freeze the pie and bake it fresh the day it will be served?
Tks
Jill says
Yes you can freeze it. Put it in the oven frozen and bake at 450 degrees for about 15-20 mins then turn down the oven to 350 degrees for 20-30 mins or until crust is brown and you see slight bubbling from the steam slits. If you cook the apples on the stove just cook until they are starting to get slightly tender. It doesn’t have to be exact because the cooking them in the microwave is just to get the apples slightly cooked so you don’t need to bake the pie quite as long which sometimes in some ovens can cause the crust to get to brown.
Barbara Kulik says
Our family went apple picking last week in north Georgia. I had several bags of a variety of apples and wanted to make some pies. I had misplaced my tried and true recipe so I went online and found this recipe. I liked that this recipe said I could use whatever apples I had, including a variety of different apples. I made this recipe exactly like it was written except that I doubled averything to make a really really tall deep dish pie!!! Oh my goodness!! This pie was pure heaven!! So delicious!! This is the only recipe I will ever use from now on. If you like apple pies, you will absolutely LOVE this recipe!!!
Jill says
Thank you Barbara, so glad you like it. This recipe has been in our family for years. I really love using the different apples (I started doing this years ago because I could not afford to go buy special “granny smith” apples and had to use just what I was given) and loved the flavor so much better with the different sweetness, tartness and texture in the pie. If you like pecan pie too you might try my pecan pie recipe. It is really different and most people really love it. After my husband left us he traveled a lot and went to a place that is known all over for having the best pecan pie in the world and he said it didn’t even compare to my pecan pie so you might want to try it. Hope you like it as much.
Jan says
Best apple pie ever!!
Jill says
So glad you liked it Jan. Thank you
Natalie says
I’ve never made pie before but I want to attempt this recipe. Since I’m new to this, what do we do for pie crust?
Jill says
Natalie you can use store bought pie crust if you want but we usually make our own and it really is good and flaky. You can tell it is a good pie crust because most of the time when people eat a pie they eat the filling and leave the crust but I have never known anyone to leave a crumb of this pie crust recipe on their plate. You may need to practice a couple of times but it really is no harder than making something like sugar cookies. We have 3 videos on how to do it and I will give you one of them but I think Tawra said then are making another easy short one today. Not sure when it will be posted though but this old one will get you started if you want to go that way.
Hofterzielbeek says
Wow! Seems so delicious and yummy. Thank you so much for sharing such a great recipe!
Ronaye says
This was an excellent pie recipe and I will use it again and share with friends. Thank you for it. I hardly ever have sugar in the house, but I bought and used granulated brown sugar instead of white sugar. Next time I will experiment with sugar alternatives, like xylitol. I used a butter pie crust recipe I found online with this filling and got rave reviews on both.
Deborah says
Love this apple pie recipe. My husband asks me to make it for him all the time. Thanks for sharing.
Jaclyn says
I am so excited to make this delicious apple pie this week. Do you have any recommendations or ideas on how to make this a little healthier? Are they any ingredients I can substitute, or choose a different kind?
Jill says
I always chuckle when people want to substitute things in a recipe because it reminds of a poem where the gal had cake at her friends and it was so delicious she asked for the recipe but when she made it she didn’t have this so she substituted that and she was out of this so she added something else. At the end of the poem she sat down to eat her cake and could not figure out why it tasted nothing like her friends. :):)
For me the secret to eating healthy is portion control. There is nothing unhealthy about eating a piece of apple pie once in a great while. It is when you sit down and eat 2-3 pieces of huge slices that it gets unhealthy. I have watched people eat mounds of so called healthy food, not realizing they are consuming hundreds of calories causing them to be way over weight and then they can’t figure out what they are doing wrong.
You can maybe do a sugar substitute if that helps but really there are certain things that just don’t taste the same when you start changing the recipe out.
Ron Pooler Sr. says
I’m a 72 year old retired Firefighter and always looking for something yummy to cook for my lovely bride of 52 years and her Mom. Making sweets for my sweeties is a worthy endeavor. Here it is just before Valentine’s day and made this pie of yours for them and they went bonkers. Even my daughter, a real health nut, raved about this pie. So sorry for failing to acknowledge you as the creator of this wonderful recipe as I hogged all the glory for myself. My wonderful mother in law is the champion pie maker in the family and I am going to have to share this recipe with her before she hurts me. She was shocked that I used a variety of other than Granny Smith apples and it turned out so good. Thanks so much for helping me make Valentine’s day special for my sweeties.
Jill says
Lol Ron you may take all the credit that is fine – a man has to do what a man has to do to keep on the good side of the ladies in his life. :):) Glad to be of help in this endeavor. Yes so many people always stick with granny smith because that is what they are told to always use but I personally like my pie to be sweet and no crunchy apples so using other apples besides granny smith work best for me. Thanks so much for your comment and for being a sweet guy to your ladies.
Mariah says
Hello Jill! Hoping to make this pie Thursday for my boyfriend’s birthday! Apple pie is his favorite and thhe reviews of how this turned out has me sold! I saw that you were telling someone about a pie crust recipe, could I possibly get that from you?
Thank you so much!
Jill says
Here you go Mariah. This is the one I use all the time. We get a lot of raves about it so hope you like it too. Pie Crust
Mariah says
Oh my goodness! I just found your pie crust recipe on youtube! Can’t wait to try this!
Sharlene says
I made this apple pie with my preschoolers for a summer intern, who likes apple pie. I do a lot of baking and let me tell you, this is the best apple pie I’ve ever tasted. I used McIntosh apples (they’re my favorite…so sweet)! I made a separate apple pie for my intern to take home to have with her family, along with the recipe, attached with cellophane and a ribbon. She loved it. I used the Trader Joe’s frozen pie crusts, because they taste more like homemade, without doing all the work. I would DEFINITELY recommend this recipe. It’s fantastic and I wouldn’t change a thing!!!! 😋🥧
Jill says
Oh thank you Sharlene. So very glad you liked it.
Patty says
Can the filling be frozen? I made a pie with this recipe before but would like to make it for Christmas with the apples I have now. This makes an amazing pie.
Jill says
Yes I loved freezing it. You can just put it in freezer bags. If you aren’t sure how much you will need for your pie pan just pour it in the pie pan and the you will have the exact amount you need and can then freeze it.
Robert lockett says
Best apple pie ever this will be the only one we make from now on .
Laurie says
To freeze the filling, would you cook slightly in the microwave before freezing or before using in a pie?
Jill says
It doesn’t matter too much which way you do it but I would do it before because the apples would be slightly cooked and that would keep their color better and it would be one less step you need to mess with when you pop it out of the freezer to bake it. In other words I would get as much of the work done ahead of time.
Marisa Fetchin says
Hi! Do I bake the pie on the middle rack and do I need to cover the crust at all? Hoping to make this pie this week 🙂 sounds delicious!!
Jill says
Yes I try to bake most things on the middle of the rack. I would just watch it and part way through see if the crust is browning too quickly then cover it. When you cook the filling in the microwave for 2-3 mins. this helps to heat it up and partially cook the apples which means that unlike normal pie baking that has to keep cooking until the center of the pie with the apples gets cooked which causes the outside to brown faster, the inside of the pie is already partially cooked so inside and out cook about the same so the crust doesn’t burn as easily. I hope that made sense. 🙂
Stephanie Thomas says
Wonderful recipe. A family favorite!
Ruth says
This pie is delicious!! Very simple to make too. My Mom always made the BEST Apple pie and this recipe is so close to hers. Thank you for sharing, brings back some good old memories! I think that cooking the apples in the microwave first and adding the brown sugar makes this a perfect Apple pie!!
Taylor says
What size pie dish do you recommend using?
Jill says
You can use an 8-9 in. pan. In the smaller pan the apples may be heaped a little higher and some people like their apple pies more like that. No matter what size you use for any pie baking though be sure to put foil under the pan because it seems like half the time they will bubble over some and this helps to keep your oven clean.
Maureen Fleming says
This recipe worked out great. I would do a little less sugar…as I used even more apples and it was a little on the too sweet side. I bet 1/4 granulated sugar and 1/4 and a pinch more brown sugar would be perfect. I also used twice as much flour due to lots of juice, but the microwave trick was good. We had tons of apples so I made one double crust pie as above and two other pies w/ the crumb crust..the crumb recipe was enough to split on top of both. Thank you!!!
Jill says
You might what to use the amount of sugar the recipe calls for and flour the first time you make it. Some apples are sweeter and juicier than others so you may have had sweeter and juicier ones so always try the recipe the way it is written first everyone before making adjustments. Also peoples taste buds are very different. Some love tart and others can’t get enough sweet so like I say use the recipe once the way it is written before you start changing it.
Linda says
Wow! Thank you so much for the microwave tip! Just brilliant! It made everything so much easier and faster. I am always looking for tips that will help the whole baking process! Thanks again!
Janet St Agathe says
I made this pie tonight and it is delicious!
It was easy to make and my family enjoyed it.
Thank you for sharing!
Ammar says
Hi Jill, I’d like to make the filling without the pie crust to use it somewhere else. Two questions: Do I follow the same baking times? Do I need to cover it with foil? Thanks!
Jill says
Ammar you can make it separate. I do all the time when I don’t want to mess with a pie crust. You don’t need to bake for quite as long. Maybe about 30 mins. especially if you microwave it for the 2-3 mins. first. Just until it is bubble and the apples are tender. You don’t need to cover it with foil. It is basically an apple crisp this way without the crispy topping is all.
Deem says
How long can i store the entire pie in the fridge before baking it? Or should i store into the freezer? Because i ran out of time today and am planning on baking it tomorrow, is that okay?
Jill says
Deem it might be better to freeze it. If it sits in the fridge the juices will make the pie crust get very soggy so if you don’t put it in the freezer or bake it right away it could mess up the crust.
Sherri says
Jill, can you please share how to make this pie using canned apples?
Jill says
Yes Sherri. My mom always made the best pies and she only ever used canned apples. Very easy. Just put the bottom crust in the pie pan, dump in the cans of pie filling. Then cover with another crust or sprinkle with the French crumb topping that is in this recipe. The temperature is the same and all you may not have to bake it quite as long – just watch it and when the crust starts turning a golden brown and/or the filling is bubbling nicely out of the steam holes in the center of the crust or topping then it is done.
The main difference is that usually if you use fresh apples you have to keep cooking it until the apples are cooked but when using canned the apples are already cooked so you just need to bake it until the filling is good and hot and the crust is brown. Hope this helps.
Mary says
I have been baking apple pies over the years and this is good. Followed exactly but disappointed in flavor that maybe because I’m from the south. It wasn’t just the apple choices I made but will amp up the spices a bit. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Jill says
Yes you can always add more or less spices or sugar. I usually adjust all my pies till I get it the way I like it. Also the apples can make a huge difference in the flavor of a pie.