Easy Homemade Apple Pie
Made with tender-cooked, caramelised apple fruit filling and a buttery pie dough that always bakes up tender and flaky. This apple pie is wonderful eaten on its own, but super scrumptious with scoops of vanilla ice cream. It’s the perfect treat for any day or occasion!
Ingredients
For apple filling
- 8 apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 100 g brown sugar
- 50 g white sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 - 3 tbsp plain flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
For pie cust
- 340 g plain or all-purpose flour
- 250 g unsalted butter, very cold cut into cubes
- 2½ tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 - 3 tbsp iced water (you may need less or more, depending on the flour properties)
- some egg white, for brushing (save the yolk for egg wash)
For egg wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp heavy cream or milk
Instructions
Cook the apple filling
- In a large skillet or Dutch pan, combine apple slices with lemon juice, brown and white sugars, ground spices, salt and flour. Stir with a wooden spoon to coat thoroughly. Let the mixture sit for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Heat the mixture over medium heat. Stir occasionally to cook the apples evenly. Cook for about 10 minutes, until just softened and the juices have reduced. Stir in the butter. Taste and adjust. (Note: add more lemon juice if too sweet or more sugar if too tart. If the sauce is too runny, sprinkle a bit of flour over and stir to thicken).
- Take the skillet off the heat and let apples cool. To cool it super quick, pop the whole skillet into the chiller, or spread the mixture onto a baking tray and into the chiller.
Make pie crust
- In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the cold butter cubes with a pastry cutter or using your fingertips, rub in the butter until it resembles large, coarse breadcrumbs. It's okay to have large clumps of butter here and there, in fact, we want that!
- Combine iced water and vinegar. Add 1 tbsp to the flour-butter mixture, and gently knead in. Keep adding bit by bit, and stop once the dough comes together in a ball. You may need less or more, depending on the absorption properties of the flour. It's okay if the dough is a little sticky, but make sure it's not too dry.
- Divide the dough into two, one portion slightly more than the other. Shape into discs, cover with cling wrap and chill for at least 30 mins.
Assemble the pie
- Pre-heat oven to 190°C (375°F). Have a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie dish ready, do not grease.
- Dust the worktop and rolling pin liberally with flour. Roll out the larger disc to about an inch beyond the rim of your pie dish. Tip: use a metal scraper to run around the edges and under the dough to lift it off the woktop where needed.
- Roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin and off the worktop. Unroll it over the pie dish. Gently ease the dough into the dish, until it covers the base and up the sides of the pie dish with about an inch of over-hang.
- Brush the base and sides with egg white. Fill the pie shell with the cooled apple filling.
- Again, dust the worktop and rolling pin liberally with flour. Roll out the second pie disc till large enough to cover the top of the pie.
- For full cover top crust: Roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll over the top of the pie. Cut 4 - 6 slits or prick holes all over with a fork. For lattice top crust: After rolling out the dough, cut 12 strips of even width (1/2 - 3/4 inch), starting from one edge to the opposite edge. Proceed to make a lattice pattern as desired.
- Stir the egg yolk and heavy cream or milk together with a fork. Brush the top with egg wash.
- Place your pie on the center rack in the oven, and put a baking tray one rack down to catch any drippings.
- Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20 mins, then lower temperature to 175°C (347°F). Bake for another 45 to 55 minutes or until you see the filling bubbling around the edges and/or through the vents. Let the filling bubble for at least 5 minutes before removing the pie from the oven. Halfway through the baking time, tent the pie with a sheet of aluminium foil once the crust is nicely browned to prevent it from browning further.
Notes
Apple Pie Tips
- Combine different varieties of apples. By mixing them up, you're getting several flavour profiles and not just one. You'll get so much more breadth and depth, taste-wise.
- How tender should I cook the apples. This is a matter of preference, bear in mind that the apples will continue to bake in the oven. Generally, once the apples have softened but have still got a bit of bite to them, about 10 minutes of cooking and you’re done.
- Adjust sweetness and taste to your liking. Some apples are sweeter and juicier than others, and even a batch of tart Granny Smiths can be unusually sour. You may need to adjust the amount of sugars and thickener (flour) to your taste.
- How to cut in cold butter. Use a pastry cutter or stand mixer attached with a dough hook. Once the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, stop. You’ll want to have clumps of unmixed butter. You can also rub in with your fingertips, but be careful not over work the butter or else it will start to melt.
- How to add water. Always use ice-cold water and stir in the vinegar. Start with 1 tbsp, gently knead in. Then add 2 tsps at a time as you go along until the dough comes together. Pinch a small amount between your fingers. If it holds together and barely cracks at the edges, you’ve added enough. If it easily breaks apart or crumbles, it’s still dry and you can add more.
- Pie dough is a little sticky. It's okay if the dough gets a bit sticky, you can sprinkle flour when you roll it out. But make sure it's not too dry - it's hard to add water at that point and rolling the dough will be tough as it will break apart easily and crumble.
- Chill the pie crust as needed. Keep the crust as cold as possible, by chilling before and after rolling the dough out. If you are going to take more than 5 minutes to work on something else while the crust sits outside, then it’s a good idea to quickly pop it into the chiller.
- Shape the pie crust into discs. By shaping into discs before rolling, it will be easier for you to keep it circular when you roll it out. Also, you’ll get nice, neat edges.
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Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 536kcal, Carbohydrates: 67g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 421mg, Potassium: 228mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 33g, Vitamin A: 1235IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 38mg, Iron: 2mg
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