Deep Dish Apple Pie Recipe

This deep dish apple pie recipe features layers upon layers of sweet spiced apples nestled in a buttery flaky pie crust. Top with vanilla ice cream for the ultimate homestyle dessert.

Apple pie is my favorite pie on the planet. I’ve been making this deep dish apple pie recipe for years and easily consider it to be the best apple pie on the planet. That is, of course, if we’re not counting salted caramel apple pie. The recipes are pretty similar, but the other includes salted caramel. I’m ALL about that!

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Today we’re diving deep… and I mean super deep… into homemade apple pie. Deep dish style should be the only pie style. The higher the layers of apples, the better. If apple pie doesn’t tower over the pie dish edge, it’s just not worth it. But did you know that there’s a craft to deep dish apple pie? You can’t simply add more apples to any apple pie recipe.

And let’s take some time to discuss that.

Start with Quality Pie Crust

You need a sturdy crust to sandwich all those apples. Whether you’re a pie crust beginner or pro, I encourage you to read through my pie crust recipe. There is nothing quite like homemade pie crust and my grandmother’s recipe has consistently proven its authority over the past several decades. It’s our family’s favorite and I’ve been using it ever since I could lift a rolling pin.

This recipe uses a mixture of butter and shortening to provide a quality combination of sturdy, flaky, and buttery. I also have an all butter pie crust if you’re interested. But for best taste and texture, swear by using both shortening and butter. You can taste the difference.

Deep Dish Apple Pie Filling Ingredients

This deep dish apple pie has a deliciously gooey, sweet, spiced, and layered apple filling. These next few ingredients are my go-to ingredients for most apple pie recipes!

• Apples – It’s best to use a variety of apples in apple pie. I always recommend using half tart and half sweet. I love  tart Granny Smith apples paired with a sweet variety such as Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Jazz, and/or Fuji.


• Spices – Apple pie isn’t apple pie without warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It also isn’t apple pie without a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, but we’ll get to that in a second. Add ground cloves and allspice to the filling for a little something extra.


• Lemon – A touch of lemon is crucial in apple pies. Not enough to taste the lemon, but just enough to prevent the apples from browning and to keep the flavor bright.


• Sugar – Sugar sweetens the pie filling.


• Flour – Flour thickens the pie filling.

How to Make Deep Dish Apple Pie

1. Roll out the bottom pie dough. Tuck the dough into a deep dish pie pan. Refrigerate as you prepare the filling. Remember, cold pie dough is key to pie making.


2. Make the filling. Stir all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl.


3. Pile the filling into the pie dish. Don’t just pour the apples in. Instead, make sure the apple slices are compact inside. Tuck them in tightly so there’s hardly any air pockets.


4. Add the top pie crust. I have a whole tutorial on how to lattice pie crust, which is how I topped this pictured pie. Alternatively, you can make a double crust pie by laying the 2nd rolled out pie crust on top. Slit some vents on top with a sharp knife.


5. Flute the edges. If you’re unsure how, I show you how I flute edges in the video on my all butter pie crust page. You could also simply crimp the edges with a fork. I used to trim the edges of pie crust before fluting or crimping, but I don’t anymore. I like a thick-style pie crust edge!


6. Brush with egg wash. Egg wash is a combination of egg and milk and gives the pie crust its golden sheen. Pie crust looks very dull without it. For a little crunch and sparkle, I always add a touch of coarse sugar on top too.


7. Bake: Bake the deep dish apple pie until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents, about 1 hour. Baking the pie at an initial high temperature helps set the crust. After about 25 minutes, lower the oven temperature.


8. Cool: The longer you let apple pie cool, the more the filling will set. I recommend cooling for at least 3 full hours before slicing and serving.

3 Tips for Deep Dishing

1. Uniform Size Apples: Make sure your apple slices are uniform in size. Why? You don’t want some thick solid apples and some thin mushy apples. You want them all to be a deliciously crunchy-soft 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 lose all deep dishiness. –> the accurate term here.


2. Use a Ton of Apples: This sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many apple slices can fit into a pie crust. Pile them so high that it looks ridiculous.


3. Use the Correct Pan: My all-time favorite pie dish is deep-dish style, but perfect for regular (non deep dish style) pies as well. You want a pie dish at least 2 inches tall.

Each bite of this pie is stacked with sweet spiced apples. There’s clearly no shortage of apple slices, so if you’re crazy for apple pie, this is a must in your baking future. Top it with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel because you and I don’t mess around when it comes to dessert. 🙂

More Classic Pie Recipes

• Salted Caramel Apple Pie


• Lemon Meringue Pie


• Pecan Pie


• Coconut Cream Pie


• Key Lime Pie


• Pumpkin Pie

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Deep Dish Apple Pie

★★★★★
5 from 1 reviews

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  Author: Sally


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  Prep Time: 3 hours


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  Cook Time: 60 minutes


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  Total Time: 7 hours


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  Yield: 8-10 servings


• 
  Category: Pie


• 
  Method: Baking


• 
  Cuisine: American

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Description

Deep dish apple pie features layers and layers of delicious apple slices and a buttery flaky pie crust! 

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Ingredients

• Homemade Pie Crust (my recipe makes 2 crusts; 1 for bottom 1 for top)


• 6–7 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced into 1/4 inch slices (approx 11-12 cups total)*


• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar


• 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)


• zest and juice of 1 lemon (2 tsp zest + 2 Tbsp juice)


• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon each: ground allspice, ground cloves, & ground nutmeg


• egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk


• optional: coarse sugar for sprinkling on crust

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Instructions

1. The crust: Prepare my pie crust recipe through step 5.


2. Make the filling: In a large bowl, stir the apple slices, sugar, flour, lemon zest + juice, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg together until thoroughly combined. Set filling aside as the oven preheats. This gives the filling a chance to rest.


3. Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).


4. Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9×2 inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Spoon the filling into the crust and discard the leftover juices in the bottom of the bowl.


5. Finish assembling: Remove the other disc of chilled pie dough from the refrigerator. Roll the dough into a circle that is 12 inches diameter. Carefully lay the dough over the filling. Use a small paring knife to trim off excess dough from the sides. Cut slits in the top to form steam vents. Crimp or flute the edges to seal.


6. Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the egg wash. Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar, if using.


7. Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Keeping the pie in the oven, turn the temperature down to 375°F (190°C) and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I place a pie crust shield on top of the pie to prevent the edges from browning too quickly.


8. Allow the pie to cool for 3 full hours at room temperature before serving. This time allows the filling to thicken up. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead / Freezing Instructions: A couple ways to make ahead of time! Make 1 day in advance– after it cools, cover tightly and keep at room temperature. The pie crust dough can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked pie also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Prepared fillings can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.


2. Special Tools: Pastry Blender | Rolling Pin | Deep Dish Pie Dish | Pastry Brush | Pie Crust Shield

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