Southern Apple Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Which apples make the best apple pie? ›

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed.

Peeled apples will give you a delicately soft pie with no tough surprises, but some people argue that you lose the apple's nutritional value once the peel is removed. Making sure you are using the correct apples – peeled or unpeeled – is a more important part of crafting the perfect apple pie.

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The short answer? For any standard 9-inch crust, you'll probably need no more or less than 6 to 8 average-sized apples. The long answer is that it really depends on what kinds of apples you're using for your apple pie filling.

Corn starch lends a glossy thickness and adds sheen to the filling while flour adds opacity and some mouthfeel so that it has a sort-of creaminess. With all corn starch the filling reminds me too much of store-bought pies with that gloopy clear gel-like texture and with all flour it can get too lumpy and stodgy.

Experiment with different thickeners

If you usually use flour to thicken your apple pie and it's not doing the job, try something different: cornstarch, tapioca, and arrowroot are other established fruit pie thickeners.

What you want for pie is flour that yields a tender, flaky crust, which means medium-protein all-purpose flour or low-protein pastry flour.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

A: First, don't just reach for more flour—too much extra flour will make the crust tough, and won't treat the real problem, which is that your butter is too soft. I recently read in Weller's cookbook A Good Bake that it should take no more than one to two minutes to roll out a pie crust.

Should apple pie crust be prebaked? ›

If you're making a traditional two-crust apple pie, the crust should not be pre-baked. If the bottom crust is baked, you won't be able to pinch it together with the top crust after adding the filling. Prebaking is only practical for single-crust pies.

Should you cook the apples before baking apple pie? You don't have to pre-cook the filling before spooning it into the pie crust, but it's a quick step I recommend. Just 5 minutes on the stove begins the softening process, and also helps the flavors start to mingle.

Apple pie differs from the others in that it's the only one with a double crust and a hidden filling, which can make guesswork of “doneness”. Underdone, and the apples are crunchy and the liquid is runny—the thickener doesn't have the chance to do its magic.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

You don't want some thick solid apples and some thin mushy apples. You want them all to be tender, while retaining some texture. Aim for about 1/4-inch-thick slices. If the apple slices are too thin, they'll just pack themselves down and you'll be on your way to making an applesauce pie.

Honeycrisp. One of the sweetest apples around, this Midwestern favorite is good for anything—including baking. It boasts a distinctive juicy crispness and is firm enough that it won't cook down much. It complements just about any other apple variety to make a stellar pie.