Homemade Apple Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should apples be cooked before making pie? ›

Baking the apple slices first. It's the magic key to a crispy base, superior flavour and perfectly-cooked-and-never-mushy filling. It's also how you get a generous amount of pie filling without the dreaded giant empty cavity under the lid.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

Apples – It's best to use a variety of apples in apple pie. Just like when we make apple cake, I recommend using half tart and half sweet. I love tart Granny Smith apples paired with a sweet variety such as Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Jazz, or Fuji.

peel your apples. While the debate on whether or not to peel your apples seems never-ending, it really comes down to a matter of personal choice. Unpeeled apples will add a bit of color and texture to your pie, but they may prevent the apples from melding together when baked.

Pectin is the biological glue that holds together plant cells, giving fruits and vegetables their shape and structure. When apples are cooked, this pectin breaks down, and the apples turn mushy.

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

Line the crust with foil, parchment, or a paper coffee filter. Fill it about two-thirds full with dried beans, uncooked rice (or other uncooked grain berries), pie weights, or granulated sugar. Bake the crust in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes, set on a baking stone or steel if you have one.

One of my very favorite kitchen tricks is to brush a bottom pie crust with an egg white wash before filling. This keeps the filling from seeping into the crust and creating a soggy bottom. I like to avoid soggy bottoms at all costs. Egg white and water is also perfect for sealing edges, like when making a pie.

We suspect the soggy bottom is being caused by juices from the apples in the pie, rather than the shortcrust recipe itself. Even with semolina in the bottom of the pie, to soak up the juices, there is still a risk that the juices will seep into the base.

What apples should not be used for apple pie? ›

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

The flesh and peel are packed with disease-fighting antioxidants and phytochemicals that may protect against breast and lung cancer. These disease-fighting nutrients work best when the peel and flesh are eaten together. Enjoy eating a delicious Honeycrisp apple plain or in this fall apple salad.

Here's the short version: The best way to prevent browning is to soak the cut fruit in a saltwater solution (half a teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of water) for 10 minutes, then drain and store until ready to use.

The brown apples and the fresh apples baked up equally tender and juicy and were similar in flavor, and—surprisingly—all had pretty much the same light golden color.

Why you should cook your fruit filling first. The two recurring issues with pie recipes that use a raw fruit filling are a soggy lower crust and the formation of a giant air pocket between the fruit and the upper crust.