All-American Apple Pie

The most delicious apple pie that isn’t overly sweet and has a hidden surprise of raisins inside!

When I was growing up we always used to get little recipe cards in the mail. I loved looking through them and would keep them for “one day when I was a grown up”.

Fast forward a bunch of years and I’m not a college student who loved “playing house” with my then boyfriend (now husband). I pulled out my recipes and the absolute best recipe I had was for an Apple Pie. To this day my husband still LOVES it and begs me to make it every fall when we go apple picking in the beautiful North Carolina mountains.

Today I’m going to share the goodness with you so you can woe your significant others! 🙂 You’ll thank me! {p.s. if you love all types of pies, check out my Homemade Fresh Purple Plum Pie, Bourbon Caramel Pecan Pie, Leftover Halloween Candy Pie and Homemade Cherry Pie recipes! You’ll love them!}

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What type of apples should you use?

Over the years, I have used probably every type of apple there is to bake an apple pie. I honestly don’t know which ones I prefer either. They all taste great!

I will say that I love to use apples that we picked ourselves and I usually mix and match the types of apples. For years, we had so much fun making amazing memories picking apples in the beautiful North Carolina mountains!

What type of crust is best?

This one will totally depend on how much time you have to spend baking your apple pie…and how badly you want to impress those who get to eat it! 🙂

I often times make a homemade pie crust using my Julia Child Pastry Dough recipe. It tastes amazing, is easy to make and is super flaky but thick at the same time. It’s truly amazing and while I would highly recommend making it at least once, you can certainly use store-bought pie crust to m make the pie take much less time to prepare.

Should you use peeled or not peeled apples?

I personally prefer to use peeled apples, however, I will say that I have baked this apple pie using apples that I did not peel and it was equally tasty. The only thing I would caution about is depending on the type of apple you use, the peel will likely “fall off” the apple. So you may have the apple peel/skins in the pie and that may not be super desirable by some.

What supplies do I need to make an apple pie?

If you’re looking for a way to make your life easier when making an apple pie, I would definitely suggest purchasing an apple peeler/corer. I have this one and it mounts to my counter top using a suction cup. I then place the washed apple on the peeler/corer and spin away! It’s actually super fun and my kids love taking on this role!

If you do not have an apple peeler/corer, I would suggest using a hand-held peeler (I use mine for peeling potatoes for mashed potatoes) or an apple slicer (my hubby loves to use this one!)

How to make an apple pie

The process is really rather easy. Gather your supplies and peel your apples.

In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, lemon peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well. Add apples to sugar mixture; stir until coated. Stir in raisins. While the raisins are optional, I would highly recommend you add them! This is what gives this pie a whole new flavor! Truth be told, this is the only apple pie I like!

Spoon the mixture into the pie crust and bake. Be sure to cut slivers in the top of the pie crust to allow the air to vent out. You can also cut strips to create a lattice pie crust.

Another fun option is to use these super fun pie crust punches to create fun embellishments to go on top of your pie.

All-American Apple Pie Recipe

More delicious apple recipes!

Here are some of my most favorite ways to use up apples that are different from an apple pie! Click the images below for the recipe.

Apple Pie Bread

Combine the wonderful flavors and smells of fall with this delicious homemade cinnamon apple bread. It’s rich with apples, cinnamon and pecans!

3 Ingredient Apple Turnovers

These apple turnover are easy to make and a great way to use up apples from your fall apple picking adventure. Simply dice the apples, toss them in brown sugar and fill them into a flaky puff pastry dough and bake! Add in caramel bites and other candies to make them extra delicious!

Mini Apple Pies For the Crust Lover!

These individual Mini Apple Pies are easy to make using homemade apple pie pilling and store bought pie crust. Fill a cupcake tin and they are the perfect treat for fall, lunchboxes, dessert platters and more! The extra bites of crust will be loved by the crust lover!