Great Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe
Bring a taste of nostalgia to your table with Great Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe, a timeless dessert inspired by her legendary made-from-scratch pies baked right on the family farm. Filled with tender apples, warm cinnamon, and a flaky homemade crust, this classic holiday pie recipe is pure comfort in every bite.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- butter
- all purpose flour
- granulated cane sugar
- light brown sugar
- Granny Smith apples
- ground cinnamon
- fine baking salt
- ground nutmeg
- cold water
- apple cider vinegar
- lemon
How to Prep Homemade Pies in Advance:
Save time and reduce holiday stress by preparing your pies ahead of time! Here are my favorite methods to prepping homemade pies for the holidays.
- Pre-shape and freeze pie crusts so they’re ready to be baked straight from the freezer (you may just need to add few extra minutes to help crisper them up before adding fillings).
- Pre-bake and freeze the pies. This is my personal favorite, because when properly stored in the freezer, you can prep the pies 2-3 weeks in advance. Just let them thaw on the counter overnight and reheat in the oven at 300F covered for 20 minutes.
why is it important to let Homemade Apple Pies rest before slicing?
It’s important to let homemade apple pies rest at room temperature after baking/before slicing because the filling needs time to set as it cools. Cutting too soon can cause the warm, juicy filling to spill out, but allowing the pie to rest helps the thickened juices redistribute—resulting in clean slices and the perfect texture in every bite.
Bake with me!
Great Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the Homemade Pie Crust:
- 16 tbsp. COLD Unsalted Butter
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 tbsp. Granulated Cane Sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Fine Baking Salt
- 2 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 cup COLD Water
For the Apple Pie Filling:
- 7 large Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced into 1/4″ pieces
- 1/2 cup Granulated Cane Sugar
- 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. Fine Baking Salt
- Juice and zest of 1 Lemon
- 1 Egg beaten, for baking
Instructions
For the Homemade Pie Crust:
- In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine.
- Add the cubed butter and apple cider vinegar to pulse until crumb-like texture.
- On LOW speed, slowly drizzle in the cold water JUST until the dough comes together. Work towards only using 1/2 cup cold water, but you can add up to 3/4 cup cold water as needed. It’s okay if it’s still a little crumbly!
- Transfer the dough to plastic wrap, flatten into a ½” thick disc. Divide the disc into two parts, then reshape into two 1/2″ thick discs. Wrap each tightly in the saran wrap to chill in the fridge 1-2 hours (two hours is best).
- Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 9” pie plate.
- Lightly flour your surface to roll out one disc to ¼” thick. Place in the grease pie plate. Trim and crimp the edges so they extend over the pie plate. It’s okay if the crust here doesn’t look most aesthetic since you’ll be adding a top layer of crust! Poke all over the bottom of the pie plate with a fork.
- Add pie weights or dried beans to spread evenly out in the crust.
- Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Brush the edges of the pie with an egg wash or olive oil then sprinkle with granulated cane sugar. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the beans to bake another 8 minutes to help crispen up the bottom crust.
- Let cool at least 10 minutes before adding the filling.
For the Apple Pie Filling:
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss until very well combined. Let sit as you prepare and pre-bake the pie crust, about 15-20 minutes. This will help release the water from the apples – which we don’t want in the pie to help keep the bottom crust flaky.
- Once you pre-bake the bottom pie crust and let cool for 10 minutes, use a slotted spoon to transfer the apple filling into the pie plate. Try not to transfer over any juices! The apples will cook down so it’s okay if they exceed the pie plate height.
- Roll out the remaining pie dough disc to 1/4″ thick and slice into 1 1/2″ thick strips. Layer them in a lattice shape on top.
- To Layer a Lattice Pie: Lay half the strips vertically and evenly spaced on top of the filled pie. Use the longer strips for the center and shorter strips for the ends. Fold every other strip all the way back so they're almost falling off. Lay on of the unused strips perpendicular on top. Unfold the strips so they lay over the new addition. Repeat this process until you have a lattice design on top of the pie.
- Trim the edges and crimp them to the bottom pie crust.
- Brush with an egg wash and garnish with additional sugar.
- Bake at 400F for 25 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350F to bake 15 minutes, then cover with foil to finish baking 20-30 minutes. The filling should be juicy and bubbling, and the crust on top should be a deep golden brown. If not, remove the foil to bake an additional 5-10 minutes. The foil is to mainly prevent the top crust from burning.
- Let cool at room temperature for at 1-2 hours.
I truly hope you all enjoy this treasured recipe that has nestled its way into our hearts here in the ABM kitchen! ’till next time… xxL
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
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Follow along for more great A Bright Moment recipes.
Help me understand how the top crust adheres to the to the pre baked bottom crust?
Hi Cheryl! Yes, you’ll pinch the edges of the top crust to adhere to the edges of the pre-baked bottom pie crust!
I did not have a pie pan so I couldn’t use all the apples, but it still turned out wonderful! The video helped and was easy to follow along. The crust is perfectly flakey and I like that the taste isn’t horribly sweat. Very well balanced pie and perfect for the holidays! I love all your recipes, thank you for sharing them all!
This means so much! Thank you, Alexis!!
Hi Lauren, I am trying this recipe today! You said if you bake the apple pie ahead of time and freeze it that you would thaw it on the counter overnight? Not the refrigerator? I just want to make sure I thaw it out correctly before we eat it next week. Thanks!
Hi Rebekah! Yes, so I thaw on the counter overnight to help the pie crust not to get soggy in the fridge. I would also recommend reheating at 350F for 8-10 minutes before serving so it’s warm. Happy baking! 🙂
Can you prep the pie ahead of time and bake the day of Thanksgiving?
Yes! I would recommend prepping the day before then once fully cooled, cover tightly with foil to keep out on the counter away from direct sunlight or heat! You could also bake, cool, then store properly in the freezer to thaw on the counter the night before serving. 🙂
This was my first time making apple pie and it was fantastic! But i think my apple ratio was off, do you know approximately how many grams of peeled sliced apples you used?
Hi, I was just wondering how you suggest reheating the pie? And if you keep it in the fridge or in a container at room temp?
Hi Lucia! You can always reheat the pie at 350F for 8-10 minutes to help warm it up for ice cream 😉 But also, I keep at room temp covered with foil the night before serving!