If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you probably saw that a couple of days ago, I decided to whip together a homemade apple pie after going apple picking earlier this week. I’ve always enjoyed baking, but for some reason I always push myself to try making everything from scratch… realistically, it’s probably something I just want to be able to say I did. That being said, I’ve made pies in the past with store-bought crusts, and they’re just so lacklustre in flavour & texture; so when we went to the apple orchard, I knew I wanted to bake a pie with these apples, so I thought “let’s attempt a pie crust from scratch too”, and honestly… it turned out better than I expected!

All of this to say, I want to share the two recipes that I used to create the pie crust, the filling and then the process I followed to bake the pie with you! I’m definitely in the beginner stages of my baking journey, so this blog is for anyone else who is as well. There are a lot of steps, but I promise you don’t need be overwhelmed. If you take your time, follow the instructions and clean up as you go, it makes the process much easier.

Before I jump into the recipe breakdown, I obviously have to give credit where credit is due. I by no means came up with these recipes (beginner baker, remember?), therefore I want to properly credit those who I did find these recipes from!

The crust recipe you’ll see below is from Five Heart Home, who I’m so thankful created a really simple recipe to follow. However, I did have to adjust a few things since I didn’t have a big enough food processor, so you’ll notice I added a “by hand” method with directions. Just note that a mini food processor that a lot of us already have is not going to be big enough for the measurements in this recipe. But don’t worry – the hand method is simple too!

The filling recipe I used is from Savoury Nothings, which I will definitely be going back to again in the future! I can easily see this recipe being amazing as an addition in homemade pancakes and oatmeals for the fall months. Plus, I still have tons of apples to make my way through, so why not?

Double Pie Crust

Yields Dough for One 9" Apple Pie

Original recipe from Five Heart Home

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter (Cut into ¼-inch cubes and chilled)
2¼ cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
8 to 10 tablespoons of ice water

Directions: using a food processor

Pulse the butter, flour, and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse sand, with some small lumps of butter (no larger than pea-sized) remaining.
Feed one tablespoon of ice water at a time through the feed tube of the food processor, pulsing 4 to 5 times after each addition. Stop adding water when the mixture begins to form large clumps and pulls away from sides of the food processor bowl.

Directions: by Hand

If you don't have a food processor, or don't have one big enough, you can do this by hand (which is what I did!). Using your fingertips and thumbs, take small amounts of your butter and flour mixture, rubbing them together to incorporate.
Slowly add one tablespoon of your ice water at a time until the dough is well combined, but don't overwork it as you don't want the butter to get too warm.

Last steps: Applicable to Both Methods

Dump the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and push the dough together into a ball using your hands. Evenly divide the dough in half. As quickly as possible, form your two halves into balls and flatten them into 4-inch disks. Wrap each of your dough disks in food-safe plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and up to 4 days.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator 3 to 4 minutes ahead of time so that it just starts to soften and is easier to roll.

Apple Pie Filling

Yields Filling for One 9" Apple Pie

Original recipe from Savoury Nothings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 cups peeled apples (cored and thinly sliced. I used Lobos.)
¾ cup brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon apple pie spice
⅛ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cornstarch
2 ½ cups water
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions

Add butter and apples to large, wide skillet over medium heat. Toss until apples are coated with melted butter.
Stir in both sugars, spices and salt. Bring to a simmer, then cook until apples are starting to soften, about 4-5 minutes.
In the meantime, combine water, cornstarch and apple cider vinegar in a measuring jug until no lumps remain.
Pour cornstarch mixture over the softened apples and carefully stir. Bring to a simmer, then simmer until filling has thickened and apples are tender. Cool before using in your favorite 9-inch pie crust (see notes below for baking tips).

Easy Apple Pie for Beginners

Yields One 9" Apple Pie

Assemble & Bake Your Pie

Start by using a small knob of butter to grease the bottom and side of your pie dish, and pre-heat your oven to 375ºF. Once your dough disks have warmed up slightly, flour your work surface and rolling pin well. Roll out your dough, starting from the middle and working your way out until it's about 4 inches larger than your pie dish. You want some overhang to be able to seal your pie crust.
When your dough is rolled out evenly, carefully roll your dough up on your rolling pin, and gently unroll it over your pie plate and ensure your dough is touching the bottom of the dish.
Using a fork, poke a few vent holes in the button and sides of your crust to let steam escape.
Add your pie filling, smoothing it out so it's evenly placed in your dough.
Repeat step 1 with your second dough disk, and decide how you'd like to top your pie. I went with a lattice, cutting thin strips of the rolled out dough and criss-crossing them. If you want to just place the flattened dough across, ensure you cut vent holes to allow steam to escape.
Seal the edges of your pie, folding the overhang of the bottom layer over the top layer. You can seal using a fork, or create a crimped edge using your fingers.
Beat one egg, and using a food-safe brush, lightly brush the egg wash over your crust to help it crisp up in the oven.
Place in the 375ºF oven, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown. After this point, turn the oven down to 350ºF, and bake for about 1-1.5 hours, or when the filling is bubbling.
When the pie is done, remove from the oven & allow it to cool completely before wrapping in saran wrap, tin foil or in a pie storage container.

I know that’s a ton of information and a lot of steps to follow. My biggest suggestion is do not do what I did and attempt to make all of these things, PLUS make a homemade soup for dinner at the same time. Though it did work out… I was cooking, baking and cleaning for about 4 hours; it’s best to just focus on one task at a time! If you’re looking for the pie dish that I have, this is the Emile Henry 9” Pie Dish, and it’s definitely an investment, but great quality cookware is always worth it if you ask me. If you give the recipe a try, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

* Note: Links and linked products featured in this blog post are commissionable links. Should you purchase a product with these links, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you.