Classic American Apple Pie
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 14 Steps 9
A classic apple pie is a double-crusted pie filled with sweetened and spiced apples. The exact spices vary by recipe, but cinnamon is traditional.
Ingredients
Dough
- 12 ounces all-purpose flour
- 8 ounces cold butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 5–7 tbsp applejack (apple brandy) or hard cider
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
Filling
- 6 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 12ths
- ½ cup granulated sugar, divided
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly-ground grains of paradise
- ¾ tsp freshly-ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup apple jelly
- 1 tbsp apple cider
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 2 tsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Steps
- Combine dough ingredients to a mealy dough. Split in half by weight. Shape into 2 disks. Chill 1 hour.
- Toss apples with ¼ cup sugar. Drain in colander over large bowl, 1 ½ hours.
- Transfer liquid to saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tbsp. Set aside.
- Toss apples with remaining filling ingredients. Set aside.
- Roll both disks into rough circles. Place one in 9 ½–10-inch tart pan and attach.
- Add apples in a concentric circle from outside inwards, center slightly taller than outside. Pour liquid from bowl bottom over apples.
- Top with second dough sheet. Seal edges. Crimp if desired. Snip 3 incisions in center. Brush top with reduced apple liquid.
- Bake at 425°F on oven floor in half sheet pan lined with parchment, 30 min. Move to lower rack. Bake 20 min more.
- Cool 4 hours. Serve.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Classic American Apple Pie” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-02-08, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.