Each time fall came around, the apples on Grandma’s trees started to ripen. We grabbed the biggest tin pail we could find and filled it to the brim with apples. After picking the apples, we ran into the pantry and grabbed a large step stool to watch Grandma bake apple pie.
Grandma started by taking her paring knife and peeling the apples at lightning speed. In one motion, she peeled the entire apple. Each motion left behind a perfectly white apple and long, spiraling peel. By the time she peeled 15, we were lucky to get through one apple. We stood eagerly on our step stools beside her, but our little hands and vegetable peelers could never keep up with her perfected paring knife technique.
She then took the freshly peeled apples and sliced them thinly, tossing them with lemon juice to ensure they didn’t turn brown. Next she pulled open a drawer filled to the brim with sugar. Grandma baked so often that each of her kitchen drawers was filled with baking ingredients with scoops inside. She grabbed a scoop of sugar and sprinkled it over the apples along with spices and flour. When she turned around to grab the pie crust, we tried to discreetly grab a few apples from the bowl. We are sure she always saw us, but she never said a word about the little apple thieves.
She poured the spiced apples into the pie crust and laid pie dough on top. Each time she put on the top dough, she reminded us to use egg wash and sprinkle it with sugar for a sparkling pie. As she put the pie in the oven, we waited on our stools for the next creation to unfold. Grandma was always working and creating something. Her kitchen was continually filled with pies, crisps, biscuits, and anything anyone requested.
Over the years, we stood on our step stools and watched her effortlessly create so many dishes from memory. She taught us how to make almost everything from fried chicken to pies to bread. In her kitchen, everything was from scratch, everything was for others, and everything was from the heart. She is one of our greatest influences and standing on those step stools in her kitchen is one of our fondest memories.
This apple pie is done Grandma’s way. It’s simple, delicious, and something everyone will enjoy. It’s the best apple pie as it’s lightly spiced and lets the flavor of the apples shine. The crust is golden and sprinkled with sugar for a beautiful finish, just like grandma taught us.
Apple Pie Notes:
- Apples: You want to use an apple that is not too sweet and provides some tartness. We like Pipens or Granny Smiths or Jonagolds. We also like to mix apples for even more flavor. Any combination of the ones listed or similar apples with similar flavors will be delicious in the pie.
- Pre-Baking Bottom Crust**: This step isn’t necessary but we strongly recommend baking the bottom of the pie. This ensures the bottom crust will be flaky and stand up to the apple filling. It’s an extra step we like to take with fruit pies to make sure each part is perfect. For details on blind baking see this post we love.
- Butter: Grandma added butter to just about everything. It was her favorite ingredient and we feel the same way. Butter gives richness to the pie and filling. We add a few tablespoons of butter across the top. Don’t leave this off! It gives it almost a caramelization with the sugar and the apples and is part of what makes this pie so delicious.
- Top crust: In this recipe we used a lattice top but you can also use a full crust with a hole in the top or crumble topping. To give the lattice a slightly shiny look, we use a combination of both egg wash and sugar.
- Let it set: If you can, let it set for a couple hours. The pie will still be warm but the juices will have firmed up. We know it is painful but this is key to getting the pie to have clean slices. If it is cut into immediately, it will still taste delicious, but the juices will not have set yet. Cooling will not only make more beautiful slices, but letting it sit does make taste even better.
Grandma’s Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 2 Pie Crusts top cut into strips and bottom par baked**
For filling:
- 8-10 apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- Juice of 2 small lemon we use meyer lemons (or 1 large)
- Zest of 1 small lemon we use meyer lemons (or 1/2 large)
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon mace
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 5 tablespoons butter
For egg wash:
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon milk cream, or water
- Extra sugar to sprinkle over top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375
- Par Baking the Bottom: Roll out the bottom crust and place into a 9" pie pan. Poke with a fork across the bottom ~10 times. Line with a piece of parchment paper and place pie weights (or dry beans/rice) until the pie is filled. Bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from the oven, remove the weights and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden.) Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Add sliced apples to a large bowl
- Add lemon juice, zest, sugar, salt, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and vanilla
- Stir apples and spices until combined
- Add apples into pre-baked pie shell** (see above)
- Dot with 5 tablespoons of butter
- Lay on the top crust, pinching edges together or using a fork and cut a hole in the center (at this stage you can also do lattice work like is pictured or a crumb topping)
- Make your egg wash by adding an egg and tablespoon of water or cream to a bowl
- Brush the top crust with egg and sprinkle with sugar
- Place in the oven and cook at 400 for 30 min then turn down the oven to 350 and cook for another 45-60 mins until bubbling in center (if the top starts getting too dark tent the pie with foil)
Notes
Entertainer’s Note
You can make it ahead and slip the pie into the oven on 300 for a few minutes in order to have warm pie a la mode for your guests. Yes, we say a la mode because it must be served with ice cream! We love to serve the apple pie with either a classic vanilla bean or a cinnamon ice cream.
