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Kitchen Tips

The Only Apple Pie Recipe You'll Ever Need

We mastered the classic apple pie—and you can too.
The Only Apple Pie Recipe You'll Ever Need

Our classic apple pie. Photo, Erik Putz.

Apple pie should have a golden-brown, tender, flaky crust, a filling with good structure and just the right amount of balanced sweetness. We tested, tasted and tweaked 13 variations before landing on the ultimate apple pie recipe. (As it turns out, “easy as pie” is a bit of a paradox.)

What are our takeaways from this pursuit of perfection? Mastering our perfect apple pie recipe comes down to four essential factors:

1. Flaky Crust

Apple pie crust must be flaky, golden and cooked all the way through. Our dough is a combination of lard for flakiness, and butter for flavour. Baking the pie on a preheated baking sheet on the lowest level ensures the bottom crust cooks through, starting the pie at 425F for the first 20 minutes achieves a perfectly browned crust, and finishing off at 375F guarantees the apples are tender.

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2. Flavourful Apples

The right apples equal the right flavour. (Several types of apples bake up nicely in a pie, so it can become a matter of preference.)

The best apples for an apple pie recipe

Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. Golden Delicious provide sweetness, but on their own break down and become mush (not good). Granny Smiths are crisp and tart, but maintain their shape when baked. Together, the two balance each other and make apple magic. (And no pie filling is complete without a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of salt to round out the flavours.)

Worst apples for an apple pie recipe

Northern Spy, Braeburn, Gala And Cortland: All of these apples could have worked well, but are fairly one-dimensional in flavour on their own (and harder to find in some grocers).

McIntosh: These apples can’t take the long baking time (and usually turn to apple sauce).

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Red Delicious: They're overly sweet, and have a mealy texture not suitable for pie.

3. The Method

Our goal for a perfect apple pie recipe was to avoid a gap forming between the domed top crust and the apple filling. The answer turned out to be partially cooking the apples first. While it may seem counter-intuitive, heat during sautéing activates pectinase, an enzyme that makes pectin more heat stable, helping the apples keep their shape when baked. We tried using raw apples, soaking the apples in boiling water, and sautéing the apples with the cornstarch; we played with the amount of sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch, we tried cutting the apples to different thicknesses, and we tweaked the baking temperature and baking time. We tried it all. The bottom line? Cook the apples first for the best results.

4. The Cool-Down

Resist the temptation to cut into that warm apple pie. Waiting at least 2 hours—3 or 4 is better—prevents the pie from turning into a runny mess.

Pro tips: Fend off the dessert fiends until it has cooled, and always have vanilla ice cream on hand!

Originally published November 2017; Updated September 2021.

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