Best Apple Pie Recipe

October again, the month that wraps around you like a favorite coat: warm enough for comfort, cool enough to remind you that change is coming. The trees along the Platte are turning, the fields are being harvested, and the air has that specific October smell of dry leaves and woodsmoke and something sweeter underneath, like the earth is exhaling after a long held breath.

I drove through harvest country this week, I-80 west of Grand Island, and the combines were out in force. Massive machines crawling across the fields, eating the corn row by row, the way my kids eat dinner row by row, and the dust rising behind them like a prayer going up. I love harvest. I love what it means: that the work was done, the season was survived, the crop came in. There is a lesson in harvest that truckers understand: you plant, you tend, you wait, you reap. And then you do it again.

I made a harvest dinner this week: roast chicken with root vegetables. A whole chicken, rubbed with butter, salt, pepper, and thyme, roasted at 425 on a bed of carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and onions. The vegetables cook in the chicken drippings and become caramelized and savory and are honestly better than the chicken itself, which is saying something because the chicken is very good. The whole meal costs about twelve dollars and feeds six people with enough left over for chicken salad sandwiches the next day. That is a harvest meal. That is the abundance of October made edible.

Justin had a good football game this week. Three tackles and an interception. I made it home in time for the fourth quarter and watched from the stands, screaming like a woman possessed, which I am when it comes to Justin on a football field. The aggression that worries me everywhere else is beautiful here, channeled and purposeful, and when Justin made that interception he ran with it like he was running from something and toward something at the same time, and the crowd cheered and I cried, which I hid behind my scarf because Brenda Novak does not cry at football games. Except when she does.

That roast chicken dinner felt like the whole season on a plate — the abundance of it, the simplicity, the way the whole house smelled like something worth coming home to. But after Justin’s interception and the drive back through harvest country with combines still crawling in the dark, I wanted to close the night with something sweet. October deserves a proper ending. So I made apple pie — the best one I know how to make — and we ate it warm at the kitchen table with the kind of quiet that only settles over a house after a very good day.

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 25 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6–8 tbsp ice water
For the filling:
6 cups peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples (about 6–7 medium; a mix of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp works well)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For finishing:
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water (egg wash)
1 tbsp coarse or granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

Make the crust. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add cold butter and work it in with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Drizzle in ice water one tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork, until the dough just comes together. Divide in half, flatten into discs, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Prepare the filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with both sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice until evenly coated. Let sit for 10 minutes while you roll out the crust.
Preheat oven. Preheat your oven to 425°F with a rack in the lower third. Place a foil-lined baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips.
Roll and fit the bottom crust. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish and press it gently into the bottom and sides, leaving any overhang in place.
Fill the pie. Spoon the apple filling into the crust, mounding it slightly in the center. Dot the top of the filling with the small pieces of cold butter.
Add the top crust. Roll the second dough disc into a 12-inch circle and lay it over the filling. Trim both layers of overhang to about 1 inch, then fold them under and crimp the edge firmly to seal. Cut 4–5 small vents in the top crust with a sharp knife. Brush the entire top with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking for 35–40 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the edges brown too fast, cover them loosely with foil or a pie shield after the first 20 minutes.
Cool before slicing. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool for at least 2 hours before cutting. The filling sets as it cools. Serve warm or at room temperature, plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Best Apple Pie Recipe — The Sweetest Close to a Harvest Day