Perfect Homemade Apple Pie

Perfect homemade apple pie and one of my favourite recipes, it makes for an incredibly comforting dessert. Layers of sweet apples mixed with cinnamon and vanilla, baked to perfection in a buttery sweet shortcrust pastry.

Don’t be discouraged about making this recipe if it’s your first time. Beginner or pro, the sweet shortcrust pastry is easy to make by hand or in a food processor and the filling comes together really quickly. Plus, I have included some step-by-step instructions and pictures for both recipe posts.

I personally love to combine different varieties of apples when making this pie. I look for varieties with a firm flesh that will hold up during baking, there is nothing worse than a mushy filling. Here are a few of my favourites: Granny Smiths have a slight tartness, while Gala, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn and Pink Lady all have a sweet bite to them giving a balance of acidity and sweetness.

For some weeks now, I have really been looking forward to making a pastry dessert to try out my new embossed rolling pin that was given to me by some lovely friends from Germany. I used it to decorate the lattice topping of the pie, and I think it came out really well. What do you think?

Serve with some vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel for the ultimate dessert!

For some alternative flavour ideas check out my variations section for suggestions.

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing what you think! And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me @thegourmetlarder or hashtag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram or Facebook. I love seeing what you’ve been baking! 🙂

---

RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

• EASE: a little more advanced. Making pastry is time consuming, but a little care and patience and you will find it enjoyable. 
• FREE FROM: nut free. For dairy-free and sugar-free options please check my substitution section.
• GREAT FOR: Sunday lunch dessert, friends and family visiting, thanksgiving, Christmas time.
• TASTE & TEXTURE: sweet apples with warm cinnamon spice and vanilla, in buttery sweet shortcrust pastry.
• SERVING: delicious with cream or vanilla custard or ice cream and caramel sauce.
• QUANTITY: 12 slices.
• TIME: 2 hours 10 minutes, includes 1 hour chilling.

---

---

INGREDIENTS

For this recipe all you need are these ingredients:

• Sweet shortcrust pastry – is a sweet buttery pastry dough, that is crisp and matches perfectly with the tender apple filling. It’s easy to make at home. but if you are in a hurry, you can grab a ready-made packet at the shops.

• Apples – It’s best to use a variety of apples for this recipe. I recommend using half tart and half sweet.

• Lemon juice – helps stop the apples going brown during preparation and adds a little sharpness to the filling.

• Brown sugar – I like to use brown sugar as it adds a caramel note to the pie. You can also use caster or granulated sugar if you prefer. I also use it to sprinkle on the top of the pie to give the pastry a sweet crunch once baked.

• Pure vanilla extract or paste – really adds that extra flavour to the pie.

– Vanilla recommendations: pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste or vanilla pods.

• Flour – is used to help absorb the apple juices, stopping leaks and the pastry bottom getting soggy.

• Ground cinnamon – adds a delicious flavour, if you are not so keen on cinnamon check out my variations section for ideas.

• Egg – gives us that beautiful shine to the baked pastry and allows the sugar decoration to stick.

TIP: I highly recommend adding salt to your doughs and pastry. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bring out the best characteristics of any recipe. I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt.

---

SUBSTITUTIONS

While I am making recommendations for alternative ingredients, I haven’t necessarily tried them. If you try making any adaptions, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.

SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE OPTIONS

• Sugar-free or calorie reduced options: try alternatives such as coconut sugar, honey, natural erythritol, xylitol, stevia or fructooligosaccharide powder instead. There are also sweetener mixes available, that are 70% calorie reduced and low in carb.

• Brown sugar suggestions: Pure Via Baker’s soft brown sugar or Sukrin Gold’s natural brown sugar alternative.

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION

• Gluten free options: replace the gluten flour with a 1:1 alternative gluten free flour, such as Doves Farm Free plain gluten free flour.

VEGAN OPTIONS

• Egg-free version: the egg can be omitted or replaced with non-dairy milk.

---

WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

There is no harm in using this recipe as a guide and adapting it according to your own personal taste. Here are a few suggestions:

• Alternative fruit – try replacing some of the apples with pears or mix in some blackberries or cranberries.

• Spice variations – I also like cloves, nutmeg, ginger and allspice to add different characteristics to my pie. Try them individually or as a combination. Replace the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon in the recipe with your alternative spice or combine a 1/4 teaspoon of each.

• Adding dried fruit – sultanas, candied lemon and orange peel pieces make great additions to this pie. I like to soak the fruit in some calvados and water to rehydrate them before. Place 100g dried fruit into a small bowl with two shots of calvados and enough water to just cover them. If you don’t want to use calvados, simply use water only. Once your apple filling is ready, drain the fruit and stir the dried fruit into the apples.

• Caramel apple pie – Spoon 3 tablespoons of my caramel sauce on top the fruit filling in the pie.

---

NUTRITION

---

STORAGE

Store this apple pie covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. Simply reheat at a low oven temperature until warm.

Freezing: Unbaked or baked freeze up to 2 months. Partially thaw the pie at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, then bake as per the recipe. The pastry and filling can also be made in advance or frozen separately to make at a later date.

---

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Here are some kitchen tools that I use and recommend for this recipe.

• Earthenware Mixing Bowl Mason Cash, Cream 29 cm Chip Resistant.

I like the sturdiness of this bowl and its 4 litre capacity means I can use it for mixing just about everything in the kitchen. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe.

• Mixing Bowls Set of 5, Stainless Steel Nesting Bowls with Airtight Lids, 3 Grater Attachments, Size 5, 3, 2, 1.5, 0.63 QT

These different size mixing bowls are really useful depending on the amount of food you are preparing. They also have airtight lids that fit snugly to seal and keep food fresh, great for using as dry storage bowls with lids. The plastic lid of the largest bowl has a removable centre, where one of 3 graters can be used for grating cheese or vegetables.

• 3 Plastic Mixing Bowls, Non-Slip Base, Soft Grip Handle, Microwave and Dishwasher Safe, Compact, Stackable, Ideal for baking and cooking, off-white, 1.5 Litre, 2 Litre, 2.5 Litre.

I do own a plastic mixing bowl but I am personally not a big fan of them. These 3 bowls are on the smaller size but good for the odd cake making.

• Rolling Pin with Removable Silicone Thickness Guide Rings, Beech Wood (40 x 3.9 cm)

I love this rolling pin, its variable guide rings make rolling out biscuit doughs, pizzas, or flat breads so much easier!

• Bartleet & Sons Traditional Porcelain Round Flan Dish, 27cm – White

 Classic round flan mould is ideal for cooking, baking and serving quiches, fruit flans and tarts.

• Round Pie Dish, 23cm (9 inch)

Perfect pie pan for fruit pies.

Please check out my Shop for a curated collection of some of my favourite baking equipment. The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.

---

---

RECIPE TIPS

Pastry prep – Make sure to chill your eggs and place your butter in the freezer as per my recommendations on making sweet shortcrust pastry.

Don’t overwork the dough – when bringing all the ingredients together, this just activates the gluten and creates tough pastry.

Baking – To avoid your pie browning too quickly in the oven, place a piece of aluminium foil around the top of the baking dish or make a tent. A tent is simply the name given to folding a long sheet of foil in half and placing it over the top of your pie like a tent.

Advanced preparation – Both the pastry dough and the filling can be made a day or two in advance.

---