Old Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe

This comforting, wonderfully old-fashioned apple pie comes from baker AJ Perry, previously the owner of the beloved, now-closed Sassafras Bakery in Columbus, Ohio. Containing an impressive three pounds of sweet-tart apples, this fruit-forward dessert is a pie for purists: It tastes of nothing but apples and just the slightest hint of spice, all encased in a tender, buttery double crust. For a traditional and homey Thanksgiving pie, look no further. If you’re in the market for a classic dessert, this old-fashioned apple pie can’t be beat.

The best apples for pie

We recommend using an assortment of baking apples for varied flavors. Good apple varieties for pie include Pink Lady, Cortland, and Jonathan, which all have a sweet-tart flavor that is especially nice in an apple dessert. Another option is to mix tart (like Granny Smith) and sweet (like Golden Delicious) to get that same balanced flavor. All of these varieties are on the firm side, which is important — they will hold their shape and won’t turn into mush in the oven.

Should you cook apples before putting them in a pie?

Some bakers like to precook apples so they shrink slightly and release excess liquid before filling the pie. Certain recipes are designed specifically for this method — but here, precooking the apples is not necessary. Instead, you’ll toss your apples in a combination of sugar and lemon juice and let them sit for 10 minutes, which allows the fruit to macerate quickly and draws out some of the moisture to prevent a runny filling. As a bonus, the lemon juice will bring a light, bright tartness to the finished pie.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

• Cutting the apples into quarter-inch slices promotes even cooking. Plus, they’re easy to layer into the pie plate. While you can achieve thin slices with a sharp knife, it’s faster and more consistent with a mandoline. For safety, be sure to use the mandoline’s accompanying hand guard (if it comes with one) or invest in a cut-resistant glove.
• In addition to the standard white sugar in the filling, this recipe calls for turbinado sugar, aka raw sugar, which you’ll sprinkle over the egg-washed top crust before putting the pie in the oven. Turbinado sugar is a brown sugar with large, chunky crystals that’s often used to finish baked goods and add a bit of crunch.
• To achieve the beautiful high dome on the top crust, Perry starts the pie at a higher heat — 425°F — so the pastry sets and keeps its shape before the filling begins to soften, then lowers the temperature to 365°F for the remainder of the bake.