Best Apple Pie with Flaky Butter Crust

Amethyst · November 11, 2025, 10:05pm

Best Apple Pie with Flaky Butter Crust

Prep Time: 45 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

For double crust dough:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt, fine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup butter, chilled and diced
½ cup very cold ice water

For the filling:

3 lbs Granny Smith apples
½ cup butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
⅓ cup apple juice or cider
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

Other:

coarse sugar, for topping
cinnamon, for topping

Directions:

Prepare the Dough: In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Using a pastry cutter or clean hands, cut in butter until the dough mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with small pea-sized butter chunks in the dough.

Add 1/4 cup of the ice-cold water, and gently knead until the dough comes together - if needed, add 1 TB at a time of additional cold water as needed, just until the mixture is pliable and when you pinch the dough, it holds together - not crumbly nor too sticky. Work dough as sparingly as possible. Small chunks of butter should still be visible in the dough.

Divide into 2 even dough balls. Press them into discs with smooth edges, wrap them in plastic, and chill until ready to use (preferably at least an hour, up to overnight.)

Take dough discs out of fridge; if it’s too firm to roll, let it rest at room temperature 5-10 minutes or until it’s malleable but still cold. On a lightly floured surface, roll the first disc to fit the bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan, with 1/2" overhang evenly beyond pan edges, trimming as needed. Roll the other disc to fit over the top of the pie pan with 1" overhang all around edges. Cover with cling wrap and place both crusts in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 425°F, with rack in lower middle position. Peel and cut apples into 1/4" slices. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour. Add juice, both sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a low boil, stir well, and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine apple slices with most of the warm butter-sugar sauce, reserving about 1/4 cup for brushing over the top crust.

Gently transfer the apple pie filling into the prepared pie pan, forming a mound. Place the top crust over the filling and tuck the excess edges of the top crust under the excess edges of the bottom crust. Pinch or use a fork to crimp very tightly all around edges to ensure a tight seal. Cut several slits in the top crust.

If needed, add a little water or apple juice to the reserved 1/4 cup butter-sugar sauce to thin it out just a bit. Brush evenly over entire top crust. Sprinkle coarse sugar generously in an even layer over the crust.

Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon on top, if desired.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven to 350°F and bake about 50-55 minutes, or until the top crust is golden brown and crisp. Check halfway through bake time - if edges are browning too quickly, use a pie crust shield or tent loosely with foil.

Cool completely before serving. Cooling on the counter overnight is best. Enjoy…it is totally worth your work!

Notes:

When measuring flour and dry ingredients, it’s essential to measure accurately.

You can use either salted or unsalted butter; the flavor difference is negligible.

Use a pastry cutter to cut cold butter into the flour; if it’s hard to do, use clean hands to combine butter with flour. Be sure to leave some pea-sized bits of butter in the dough.
The key to a flaky crust is retaining small chunks of cold butter intact within the dough at all times and not overworking it.

Apples can be peeled and sliced up to a couple of hours ahead of time and tossed with 2 TB lemon juice to prevent browning.

Serve with Easy Vanilla Ice Cream or 4-Ingredient Salted Caramel Sauce or Stabilized Whipped Cream.

Variations and Substitutions:

This American apple pie is as good as it gets, but if you want to switch things up, here are a few ideas:
Make a lattice pie crust for a decorative top, as we do with our La href=https://www.chewoutloud.com/blueberry-pie-flaky-butter-crust/>Best Blueberry Pie.

Opt for a crumble pie with a crumb topping. See our mouthwatering Dutch Apple Pie.

Use a variety of hearty baking apples, along with Granny Smith apples, such as Honeycrisp or Braeburn.

Prep-Ahead Tips:

The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead of time when wrapped tightly and chilled in the fridge. It will need to soften a bit at room temperature before you can roll it out.

You’ll love that this apple pie can be totally made ahead of time. In fact, it’s best after it’s had some time to sit and set.

Bake it and let it cool overnight or at least several hours, so the filling has time to set and thicken. Do not cut into it until it’s cooled to room temperature.

Though we do not recommend freezing, leftover pie reheats beautifully, especially if you’re going for a’ la mode. Vanilla bean ice cream + warm pie = bliss.

Nutritonal Facts:

Recipe courtesy of Chew Out Loud.com