Cinnamon Apple Pie

This Cinnamon Apple Pie has a brown sugar cinnamon apple filling baked to perfection inside a flakey all-butter pie crust!

If you follow me on the Gram you already know that I broke my toe a few weeks ago. I stubbornly believed that it couldn’t be broken if I didn’t go to the doctor. So I limped around on a broken foot for 2 whole weeks before I had to admit that the level of pain wasn’t normal.

I also filmed this cinnamon apple pie video on said broken foot. Blame my Dad’s tough lessons growing up or years working on the hotline with a bunch of rough-around-the-edges men, but I believe in being stronger than the pain.

Also, no pain is going to keep me from apple pie! And that is the truth.

I’d like to think that the perfect bite of apple pie would cure just about anything. Except a broken toe. Trust me, I tried! ?

I like a balance of sweet and tart (and sometime salty) in my desserts. If a dessert is so sweet that you can only eat two bites, then it is too damn sweet. With that in mind I chose moderately tart apples (Braeburn, pink lady, Cortland, Macoun, and Ginger Gold), tossed them in granulated and brown sugar, and balanced the sweetness with lemon juice.

Lemon zest adds a nice floral dimension plus you already have the lemons for juice! The cinnamon just makes it a party.

I used my latest pie crust obsession but you could also use this all-butter recipe or this one. I have all the pie crust tutorials you could ever need on YouTube because I believe a flaky pie crust is in everyone’s wheelhouse. [That is such a strange expression, no? ?]

You’ve got this! I made it with a broken toe after all!

Recipe

Cinnamon Apple Pie

5 from 3 ratings

5 from 3 ratings

Chef Lindsey

This Cinnamon Apple Pie has a brown sugar cinnamon apple filling baked to perfection inside a flakey all-butter pie crust!

PRINT RECIPE Pin Recipe

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 people

Calories 319 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

For the all-butter pie crusts:

• ▢ 2 ¼ cups pastry flour (measured by fluffing the flour then spooning it in)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sugar
• ▢ 9 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold, cubed into ½ inch cubes )
• ▢ 2 ¼ oz cold water (or as much or as little as needed)

For the apple filling:

• ▢ 3 lbs apples (variety or just all honey-crisp if you want)
• ▢ 1 medium lemon
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar (packed)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (cubed)
• ▢ heavy cream
• ▢ turbinado / sanding sugar

Makes: 9inch9 x 9inch round

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

 

Prepare Pie Crusts:

• Whisk together pastry flour, salt and sugar. Using your stand mixer, cut in the butter until you have slightly larger than pea sized pieces.
• Slowly begin to add your ice water a tablespoon at a time. At this point be very careful with the amount of water that you add because it only needs a few teaspoons more.
• When your dough is shaggy, which means it looks like shards or strands of pastry, and there is still some loose flour, turn out your dough from the mixer and work the dough together by gathering it and pressing away from you with the heal of your hand. Do this JUST until it comes together. If it is crumbling, then dip your hand in a little ice water and pat it on the pastry dough. Seriously, that’s it. Remember the gluten!
• Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight. If you chill your dough overnight, you will need to let it rest a bit before rolling or it will be too cold and it will crack.
• Working one at a time, roll out pie crusts to about ⅛th inch. Keep in mind the shape of your dish. Mine was round, so I kept my pie dough as round as possible. After rolling each piece of dough, place on parchment lined baking dish and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. While crusts are chilling I prepare my filling

Prepare Filling:

• Preheat oven to 425°F convection.
• Peel, core and slice apples to about ⅛th inch thick. Try to make sure they are all roughly the same size or you have an unevenly baked filling.
• Place apples in a large bowl. Zest lemon over apples then squeeze the juice into the bowl of apples.
• Add sugars and cinnamon. Mix well with a spoon. Taste a piece of apple and add more sugar if desired. Apple sweetness varies so much that I find tasting my filling and making final adjustments better than blinding sticking to a recipe. After you have made any adjustments add the flour and mix well.
• I let my apples sit for about 30 minutes but this is optional. It helps draw out some of the moisture from the apples and gives you a juicier pie filling later on.

Assemble & Bake:

• Remove one pie crust from the refrigerator and line a pie dish allowing the excess crust to hang over the edges. This recipes will work for any dish between 9-10 inches. Pour all the apples into the lined dish and mound them up slightly in the center. Dot the cubed butter around the filling.
• Remove top crust from the refrigerator and lay over the filling. Trim any excess crust over 1 inch from the sides using kitchen shears. Gather the top and bottom crust together and roll inwards. Crimp decoratively and then cut steam vents in the top of the crust. Be sure not to cut too close to the edges or the juices will just run out of your pie and into your oven. Double sadness.
• Place pie dish on a baking sheet (to catch any wayward juices) and bake in preheated oven. Brush the top crust lightly with heavy cream (being careful not to let it pool) and sprinkle the top with the turbinado or sanding sugar. Working quickly so that the crust does not get too warm.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, rotate, and then reduce temperature to 350°F. Continue cooking for 45-60 minutes or until the filling is bubbling, the apples are tender when poked with a paring knife or cake tester, and the top crust is a dark golden brown. If the edges begin to burn, tent them with strips of aluminum foil and continue baking.
• All to cool before serving. Can also refrigerate for up to 7 days.

Video Instructions

Notes

Let’s get into it like a PROFESSIONAL CHEF:

Presentation - Bonus points for serving this pie with a mound of vanilla bean ice cream or a generous spoonful of vanilla bean anglaise. You could even drizzle some extra caramel sauce on top–it’s just delicious! I also love the lattice top I baked on my blueberry pie, so I made you a lattice top tutorial video!

Flavor Tips - If a dessert is so sweet that you can only eat two bites, then it is too damn sweet. With that in mind I chose moderately tart apples (Braeburn, pink lady, Cortland, Macoun, and Ginger Gold), tossed them in granulated and brown sugar, and balanced the sweetness with lemon juice. Lemon zest adds a nice floral dimension plus you already have the lemons for juice! The cinnamon just makes it a party. 

Technique - The pie crust can be made using any of the 5 ways in my video tutorials! I like to leave my filling melding for at least 30 minutes to draw out some of the moisture from the apples.

Helpful Tools - The stand mixer is your best friend for this recipe, but I promise you could also make it by hand with a pastry blender! I find it very helpful to have all my ingredients and tools cooled for making pie crust. I also generously flour my surface when rolling out my crust!

Variations - You could make this in a Vodka Pie Crust or even a store-bought {tear} crust. You could add some different warming spices based on your preferences! Homemade Apple Pie Spice Mix would be lovely!

Storage - Store baked apple pie in a covered dish at room temperature or tightly wrapped in the refrigerator or freezer. Baked apple pie will keep for 3 days at room temperature, 10 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months tightly wrapped in the freezer.

Keyword all butter pie crust, holiday desserts, old fashioned apple pie, thanksgiving

Tried this recipe?Mention @cheflindseyfarr