This Cinnamon Apple Pie recipe with homemade shortcrust pastry and sweet cinnamon filling with fresh apples is all you need in a perfect piece of the pie.
Are you looking for more easy-to-make desserts? Check my 3 Ingredient Ice Cream, Easy Turkish Baklava Recipe, or this Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar.
Why you'll love it
This is a super easy version of the classic apple pie recipe. Made from fresh homemade shortcrust pastry, and fresh green apples. Pie crust doesn't have to be difficult, but it can be. It only has a few basic items to make. Salt, cold water, butter, and flour. Pie crust can be made using either shortening or butter. Why is it shorter? Shortening contributes to flakiness. Crumb is flaky, soft, and melts on your lips. Butter has an unmatched, perfect flavor. Butter is the best.
Cinnamon Apple Pie Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients needed to make this apple pie recipe. The full ingredients and detailed instructions can be found down below in the recipe card.
One of my favorite desserts is homemade apple pie, both to consume and to prepare. The finished pie always appears and tastes as though there was a ton of laborious prep work involved, but there really isn't. If I can even call it that, peeling and slicing the apples is the trickiest step. But if you grab a friend who also likes apple pie, you'll be done in no time. You'll need to spend some time on the crust as well, but I strongly advise freezing homemade pie crust. Making a few batches of pie crust dough now will save you time (and your sanity!) when the holidays roll around.
The ingredients are pretty simple and available everywhere, it includes:
- Butter.
- Flour.
- Salt.
- Caster sugar.
- Ice water.
- Apples.
- Brown sugar.
- Ground cinnamon.
- Nutmeg.
- Egg.
How to make Cinnamon Apple Pie
To begin, pulse the butter, flour, and sugar in a food processor. Add the ice water, and process again until the dough just comes together. Make two balls out of the pie dough, one a little bigger than the other (the smaller ball of pie crust will be used for the lattice topping).
Before forming and pressing into a pie pan or plate, let the dough chill in the refrigerator. Apples called Granny Smiths are used in the filling. Apples should be peeled and thinly sliced before being combined with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice in a big saucepan. After letting the thinly sliced apples sit for 15 minutes to absorb extra moisture, whisk in the flour.
How to make a homemade apple pie filling
As simple as apple pie is how people often describe this dish.
- Apples are added to a skillet with some water, sugar, and cinnamon after being peeled, sliced, and chopped.
- When the ingredients are tender, I add a little cornstarch to the apple pie filling to thicken it. The "saucy" portion is made from any apple juice that has leaked out.
Variations
- Slice or chop the apples if you prefer.
- To give something a caramel flavor, switch out white sugar with brown sugar.
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice is added.
- I use ground cinnamon, but you may also use pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, nutmeg, or your own warm spice blend.
How to freeze apple pie filling
It is possible to use this delightful apple pie filling straight away. If I'm preparing an actual apple pie from scratch, I don't pre-cook the filling because we primarily prepare it to substitute cans of pie filling in recipes. Of course, if you do prepare this filling, you can freeze it.
Just prepare as stated, then cool. In a freezer bag, freeze. When ready to use, let the food defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using it.
More Easy and Quick Recipes:
- Instant Pot Red Lentil Soup
- Carrot and Celery Soup
- Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
- Air Fryer Breakfast Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tbsps cold water
Filling
- 5 whole apples
- ½ cup caster sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups water
Instructions
Filling
- Apples can be peeled, cored, chopped, or sliced.
- Melt cinnamon and butter over medium heat. Add apples, sugar, and water; stir.
- For 4-6 minutes, or until very little softened, cover the pan and cook while stirring from time to time.
- Combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water in a small dish. Add to the pan while stirring, and heat until the filling has thickened and the apples are tender but not mushy.
- 1 minute of bubble time. Cool.
Assembly
- While making the filling, prepare the pie dough according to the recipe and refrigerate. Set the oven to 425°F.
- In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Add 3 tablespoons of flour and stir continuously while simmering for 1 minute. Bring to a boil while whisking in ¼ cup water and 1 cup sugar. Reduce heat, simmer for an additional three minutes while whisking regularly, and then turn off the heat.
- Seven cups of apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced, should be put in a big basin. 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon should be sprinkled over the top and combined. After adding the sauce to the apples, toss them to evenly distribute the coating.
- Roll out the bottom pie crust to a circle of 12" in diameter after flouring your work surface. Transferring it to the 9" pie plate requires wrapping it around your rolling pin. A tiny mound should be created in the center of the apple mixture before adding it. Avoid getting filling on the edges as this will make it difficult to seal.
- Using a pizza cutter, roll the second crust into an 11" round and cut it into 10 evenly sized strips. Over the top, arrange the strips in a woven lattice pattern (see video tutorial). Brush the top with the egg mixture, which you'll have beaten with 1 Tbsp. water.
- For 15 minutes, bake in the center of a 425°F oven. Bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until the apples are tender and the filling is bubbling through the vents, after lowering the heat to 350 F. * Before serving, rest at room temperature for an hour.
Stephanie
I love how simple the ingredients are! So much better for you than the prebought pies with all the preservatives. I'll be making this one soon!
Erik
The cinnamon is such a great touch. Really enhances the flavor!
Liza
Such a tasty recipe! Love the combination of slightly spicy cinnamon with the tart-Sweet apples. Thanks for the tutorial about how to make the lattice crust, too.