Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe
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Grandma’s old fashioned apple pie with latticed top is a Thanksgiving tradition. Grandma would fill a pie crust from scratch with homemade apple pie filling, then lattice the top with a second crust. Grandma was an expert at baking. She also made the best Libby’s pumpkin pie.
🥧 Why You’ll Love Grandma’s Recipe
- Grandma’s apple pie is perfectly sweet with warm, cozy fall flavors. It features an irresistible flaky pie crust, and a delicious apple filling that’s tender not mushy.
- It’s simple to make with basic ingredients and pantry staples.
- Grandma’s easy recipe bakes up perfectly every time. There are no common apple pie problems like a soggy crust, crunchy undercooked apples, an overly sweet filling, or a large empty cavity beneath the top crust. Just a beautiful Thanksgiving pie that slices well and tastes amazing.
- The lattice top makes this pie not only delicious, but gorgeous as well! It’s the perfect dessert for dinner parties, cookouts, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and get-togethers.
- It can be served warm as apple pie a la mode (with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream), or topped with fresh vanilla whipped cream plus a drizzle of salted caramel sauce.
🛒 Ingredients
- Deep-Dish Pie Crusts: For Grandma’s apple pie, I use my simple recipe for this deep dish pie crust from scratch. I highly recommend that you do too! It’s a tender, flaky crust made with butter and shortening – the perfect base for this old-fashioned apple pie. It’s the exact pie crust recipe Grandma would use. Note: Double the recipe for this 2-crust pie.
- Large Egg White: We use an egg wash to seal both crusts of the apple pie. Brushing the bottom crust with egg white before baking helps prevent a soggy crust. Brushing the top crust helps it brown nicely.
- Apples: We’re using a mix of Granny Smith apples and honeycrisp apples. They bake nicely (without turning into applesauce) and have the perfect balance of sweet and tart. We use 2 1/2 pounds of apples, or about 4 to 5 large apples. Thinly slice the apples between 1/8- and 1/4-inch thick, just like Grandma did. She was very specific about details like this.
- Melted Butter: For stovetop prep of the apple pie filling. It adds a rich buttery flavor.
- Light Brown Sugar: It adds the perfect amount of sweetness to Grandma’s apple pie. Granulated sugar will work too, but Grandma loved the depth of flavor brown sugar adds, along with a slightly caramel flavor.
- Cornstarch: It helps absorb extra moisture and thickens the pie filling so it will hold together nicely once baked.
- Lemon Juice: It adds freshness and acidity to brighten up the flavor of the apples.
- Water: For a bit of extra moisture while prepping the apple pie filling on stovetop.
- Apple Pie Spice: A combination of warm spices that gives this old-fashioned apple pie its classic cinnamon-spiced flavor. If you don’t have some on hand, use 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a pinch of ground allspice.
- Kosher Salt: Helps balance out the sweetness of the apple pie. After doing a taste test of the apple pie filling (before baking) add a pinch more if needed.
- Turbinado or Sanding Sugar: It’s optional, but it adds great texture and crunch to the top of the pie. Grandma would highly recommend you include it. And again, she was very specific about all her dessert recipes. That’s why they turned out amazing, every time.
📖 Recipe Steps
PREP THE PIE CRUSTS: Double this easy recipe 👉🏻 deep-dish pie crust. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Prep the apple pie filling: Add sliced apples to a large bowl. Pour melted butter, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon and salt over the apples. Toss to combine. Add them to a large, wide skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the apples are slightly tender (with a bit of firmness remaining). Remove the pan from heat. Add a splash of vanilla extract. Return apples to the bowl and let them shed heat.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch deep pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. Roll out 1 pie crust into a 12-inch circle. Carefully transfer it to the prepared pie pan. Press it gently into the bottom and sides. Fold under any excess crust and crimp the edges. Brush the bottom of the pie crust with egg white and transfer it to the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Save the remaining egg white for later!
- Transfer the room-temperature apple pie filling to the chilled crust. The key to an easily sliceable apple pie is to make sure the apples are in an even, compact layer – as much as possible. Wiggle and stuff the apple slices to get out as many of the gaps as you can. Transfer the pie to the fridge while you prepare the top crust.
- On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the remaining pie crust until it’s just barely 1/4-inch thick. Cut 6 (1″) wide strips, and 8 (1/3″) thin strips. Pull out the pie pan from the fridge. Place 3 wide strips of pie crust vertically on top of the apples. One on the left, one in the center, and one on the right. Place 2 thin strips in between each of the thick strips.
- Starting at the top, weave 1 thick strip of pie crust horizontally across the top of the pie – over the first thick strip, under 2 thin strips, over the middle thick strip, under 2 thin strips, and over the last thick strip. Next, weave 2 thin strips of pie crust horizontally across the top of the pie so they go under the first thick strip, over 2 thin strips, under the middle thick strip, over the last 2 thin strips, and under the last thick strip. Repeat this process with the remaining lattice strips. Trim any excess crust from the lattice.
- Brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg wash. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake Grandma’s apple pie for 65 to 70 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly around the edges. Check the pie halfway through baking – if the crust is browning too quickly, place a pie shield over the edges, or lightly wrap the edges of the crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent it from burning.
- Allow the pie to cool completely to room temperature before slicing.
- Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or with fresh whipped cream and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQ
These are the most commonly-asked questions when making Grandma’s old fashioned apple pie recipe, and the most helpful answers for recipe success.
Granny Smith, for its tart flavor and firm crunchy flesh. Braeburn Apples, a cousin of Granny Smith, for their tartness, crispness, and juicy but not mushy flesh. Honeycrisp Apples for their crunchy juicy texture; they become sweeter as they bake.
This reduces the liquid content of the apples so the pie crust doesn’t become soggy. It also ensures the apple layers within the pie are tender, not crisp and crunchy. It’s a bit of extra insurance – so Grandma’s apple pie will be absolutely perfect.
Yes, you can. Buy 2 refrigerated (9-inch) deep-dish pie crusts.
Combine 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon with 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice. Use it 1:1 to replace apple pie spice.
Pies are best when enjoyed the same day they’re baked. But they can be covered and stored at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. After that time, you can transfer them to the fridge an additional 1 to 2 days.
Reheat a baked (not frozen) apple pie in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes, or until lightly warmed through and no longer cold.
👩🏻🍳 How to Freeze Apple Pie
Prepare the apple pie for baking. But don’t bake it. Instead, slip the pie with metal pan into an all-purpose (plastic) bread loaf packing bag (10″ x 8″ x 24″) and freeze it. You can buy these bags online. They’re handy for freezing bread, pies, and other baked goods.
If you need your metal pie pan and don’t want it to stay frozen along with the pie, grease the bottom of the pie pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease the parchment. Assemble the pie in the pan. Cover and freeze until stiff.
Place the pie pan in a slightly larger pan filled with warm water. Just the underside should touch the water to thaw the bottom just a touch. Release the frozen pie from the pan. Peel off the parchment. Stick the pie back into the plastic bag and return it to the freezer.
🍎 How to Bake a Frozen Apple Pie
Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush the top of the frozen apple pie with cream, and then sprinkle it with turbinado or sparkling sugar. Bake the pie for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the crust is a light golden brown.
🍏 More Apple Desserts
Fall is apple season, when the flavor and texture of this fruit is at its best. Here are some tasty apple desserts to make this season. Put them on rotation along with Grandma’s apple pie.
Rate This Recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recipe testers were over-the-moon in love with Grandma’s old fashioned apple pie recipe. They said it was the best they’ve ever tasted. From the perfect, flaky, golden crust sprinkled with sugar, to the sweet, tender apple filling. They said the flavor and texture was amazing.
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Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe
- Total Time: 2 Hours
- Yield: 1 Pie 1x
Description
Grandma’s old fashioned apple pie recipe is a Thanksgiving tradition. It’s made with 2 crusts from scratch and homemade apple pie filling.
Ingredients
- 2 homemade pie crusts (made and chilled)
- 1 large egg white, for brushing
- 4 – 5 large apples* (2 1/2 lbs), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (1/8″ to 1/4″ thick)
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
PREP THE PIE CRUSTS: Double this easy recipe 👉🏻 deep-dish pie crust. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Prep the apple pie filling: Add sliced apples to a large bowl. Pour melted butter, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon and salt over the apples. Toss to combine. Add them to a large, wide skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the apples are just slightly tender (with a bit of firmness remaining). Remove the pan from heat. Add a splash of vanilla extract. Return apples to the bowl and let them shed heat.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch deep pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. Roll out 1 pie crust into a 12-inch circle. Carefully transfer it to the prepared pie pan. Press it gently into the bottom and sides. Fold under any excess crust and crimp the edges. Brush the bottom of the pie crust with egg white and transfer it to the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Save the remaining egg white for later!
- Transfer the room temperature apple pie filling to the chilled crust. The key to an easily sliceable apple pie is to make sure the apples are in an even, compact layer. Wiggle and stuff the apple slices to get out as many of the gaps as possible. Transfer the pie to the fridge while you prepare the top crust.
- On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the remaining pie crust until it’s just barely 1/4-inch thick. Cut 6 (1″) wide strips, and 8 (1/3″) thin strips. Pull out the pie pan from the fridge. Place 3 wide strips of pie crust vertically on top of the apples. One on the left, one in the center, and one on the right. Place 2 thin strips in between each of the thick strips.
- Starting at the top, weave 1 thick strip of pie crust horizontally across the top of the pie – over the first thick strip, under 2 thin strips, over the middle thick strip, under 2 thin strips, and over the last thick strip. Next, weave 2 thin strips of pie crust horizontally across the top of the pie so they go under the first thick strip, over 2 thin strips, under the middle thick strip, over the last 2 thin strips, and under the last thick strip. Repeat this process with the remaining lattice strips. Trim any excess crust from the lattice.
- Brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg wash. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake Grandma’s apple pie for 65 to 70 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly around the edges. Check the pie halfway through baking – if the crust is browning too quickly, place a pie shield over the edges, or lightly wrap the edges of the crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent it from burning.
- Allow the pie to cool completely to room temperature before slicing. Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or with fresh whipped cream and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
*Which apples for pie? We use a combination of Granny Smith apples and Honeycrisp. But if you can’t find Honeycrisp, Braeburn is also a good choice.
- Prep Time: 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 1 1/2 Hours
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Pie 👉🏻 Join the Convo
Are you excited to make Grandma’s apple pie from scratch? Will you make it from apples you picked at an orchard? Share your thoughts on this nostalgic recipe in the comments.
