Classic lattice crust apple pie, with homemade buttery, flaky crust and sweet, spiced apple filling. This is the perfect dessert for your Thanksgiving gathering!
If you're looking for other apple desserts check out my apple cider donuts, apple cider cupcakes or salted caramel apple pie cheesecake .
This post is sponsored by Minerva Dairy. Thank you for supporting the brands that make In Bloom Bakery possible!
Why You'll Love Lattice Crust Apple Pie
It's has a perfect flaky all butter pie crust. The crust totally makes the pie. It uses all butter for the best flavor. You can swap vodka or bourbon for the water to make it even more flaky.
It has a sweet, spiced apple filling. The filling is just sweet enough and full of warm fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. It's also precooked which helps the bottom crust to stay flaky, not soggy.
It's pretty! Don't get me wrong, I love a good Dutch apple pie, but you can't deny that lattice crust is so much prettier, especially for Thanksgiving!
Ingredients for Lattice Crust Apple Pie:
- Apples- I recommend Honeycrisp, Gala or Granny Smith apples as they have the best flavor and hold their bite
- Granulated Sugar- used to sweeten the apple filling and crust
- Turbinado Sugar- gets sprinkled over the crust
- Egg- one egg is used for an egg wash over the crust
- Fall Spices- cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves are used in the apple filling
- Cornstarch- helps thicken the apple filling
- Salt- just a little helps to bring out all the flavors in the apple filling and crust
- Flour- all purpose flour is used to make the crusts
- Butter- cold butter gets cut into the flour to make the crusts, I used Minerva Dairy
- Water, Bourbon or Vodka- choose one and make sure it's ice cold, binds the crust dough together (bourbon or vodka will give you an extra flaky crust)
- 9 inch Pie Pan
- Rolling Pin
- Pie Crust Cutter/Pizza Cutter- to cut the lattice strips
- Leaf Cookie Cutter- optional but makes the pie so cute!
Step by Step Instructions
Please see recipe below for complete measurements.
STEP ONE: Make the crust.
Add flour, salt and sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine. Slowly add in cold butter a little a at time. Add cold water/bourbon/vodka in a tablespoon at a time just until the dough pulls together. Divide the dough into two equal portions. Form into disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill the dough for 2 hours or overnight.
STEP TWO: Make the apple filling.
Peel and cut apples in small pieces. Add the apples to a large pot and toss them with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Let sit for five minutes to release juice.
Add cornstarch to the apples and stir. Heat the apples over medium low heat until the juice has thickened a lot and resembles caramel when drizzled off of a spoon. The apples should be tender with a slight bite still. Remove the apples from the heat and allow them to cool completely.
STEP THREE: Roll out first crust and arrange into pie pan.
Remove the pie crusts from the fridge and allow them to sit out for 15-20 minutes to soften a bit. Roll the first crust into a 10 inch circle. Carefully transfer the pie crust to a 9 inch pie plate.
Press the dough into the bottom of the pie pan. Roll the outside edges of the dough towards the edges of the pie pan and tuck it behind the rest of the dough so you have a double layer, and slightly press together. Press the edges of the dough together so they form a scalloped shape.
Poke a few holes with a fork on the bottom of the pie crust and then place the prepared pie crust in the fridge while working on the other crust.
STEP FOUR: Roll out second crust and cut into strips. (Leave some dough to cut leaves out of.)
Roll the second crust out into a 10 inch circle. Using a dough/pizza cutter, cut the crust into strips. You can do skinny or very thick strips. I chose to make mine about 1 inch thick, and I cut 8 strips in total. Again, you can cut more or less depending on how thick you make them. Save dough around the edges for cutting leaves.
STEP FIVE: Assemble the pie.
Pour the cooled filling into the prepared pie shell. Arrange dough strips across the top of the pie vertically towards you. (I did 4 vertical strips). The strips will be longer than necessary, but will get cut and folded in once the lattice pattern is complete.
Next braid one strip going horizontally across the top of the pie. Lift up every other vertical strip and begin the pattern. Continue with the next horizontal dough strip lifting the other vertical pieces you did not lift previously. Continue down the pie until you reach the opposite end. (I did 4 horizontal strips).
Pinch the extra bits of the strips into the outer rim of the crust to hold everything together. (You may have to trim the strips if they are really long).
Brush the top and edges of the pie crust with egg was and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
STEP SIX: Bake the pie and let it cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place assembled pie on a baking sheet and bake the pie uncovered for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 375 degrees and cover the edges of the pie crust if they're getting too brown. Continue baking for an additional 45 minutes. (If you see the entire top crust getting too brown, place a loose sheet of tin foil over the pie).
Once the pie is down baking remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely before serving so the filling doesn't run. Cover leftovers and store for up to 3 days.
Please see recipe below for complete measurements.
FAQs
Can I use store bought pie crust? Absolutely! Follow the same baking time and temperatures.
Can this be made ahead? The filling and crust can be made up to three days before baking the pie. Refrigerate the apple filling and pie crust dough until ready to use.
Pro Tips
Try using vodka or bourbon in the pie crust dough. Instead of water try alcohol in the pie crust dough for an even flakier pie crust. Alcohol, unlike water, evaporates completely while baking which gives the crust an even flakier bite.
Make sure your butter is really cold. You can grate your butter with a cheese grater and pop it into the freezer for a few minutes to get it really cold before using in the crust.
Use a rolling pin to transfer your dough to your pie pan. You can "roll" the dough onto your rolling pin and then unfold it onto the pie pan. This helps to get it to the pie pan in one piece without having to fold it.
If you make this pie, please leave a star review. It is so helpful for me! Also, tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ so I can see! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Other Apple Recipes to Try:
Salted Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake
📖 Recipe
Lattice Crust Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the Flaky Pie Crust
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 2-4 tablespoon vodka, water or bourbon, cold
- 1 egg, whisked for the egg wash
- 1-2 tablespoon turbinado sugar for sprinkling
For the Apple Filling
- 8 cups peeled, cored and diced apples (7-8 apples) Honeycrisp, Gala or Granny Smith work best
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the Pie Crust
- Add flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine.
- While the food processor is running, add in cold butter a few pieces at a time until all is combined.
- While the food processor is running, add in the cold vodka, water or bourbon. (See recipe notes). Start with two tablespoons and increase from there just until you see the dough pull away from the sides and come together.
- Divide the dough in two, form into disks and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for at least two hours and work on the apple filling
For the Apple Filling
- Peel, core and slice apples, and then dice into ½ inch pieces. Measure out 8 cups of apple pieces.
- Add the apples to a large pot and toss them with granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Let sit for five minutes to release juice.
- Add cornstarch to the apples and stir.
- Heat the apples over medium low heat and stir frequently. Simmer the apples until the juice has thickened a lot and resembles caramel when drizzled off of a spoon.This usually takes 15 minutes. The apples should be tender with a slight bite still.
- Remove the apples from the heat and allow them to cool completely.
Assembling the Pie
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven while it is preheating.
- Once the dough has chilled, remove both disks form the fridge and allow them to sit out of the fridge for 15-20 minutes until they are soft but still cold.
- Roll out the first dough disk on a floured surface until you have a 10 inch circle.
- Carefully transfer the dough to a 9 inch pie pan.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the pie pan. Roll the outside edges of the dough towards the edges of the pie pan and tuck it behind the rest of the dough so you have a double layer, and slightly press together. Press the edges of the dough together so they form a scalloped shape.
- Poke a few holes with a fork on the bottom of the pie crust and then place the prepared pie crust in the fridge for at least 20 minutes while working on the other crust.
- Roll out the second dough disk on a floured surface until you have a 10 inch circle.
- Cut into strips with a pizza cutter. I chose to cut out 8 strips, and use the rest of the dough for leaf cut outs. (You can cut the strips thicker or thinner to get more or less depending on the design you want to do.)
- Remove the prepared pie shell from the fridge and pour in the cooled apple filling.
- Arrange 4 strips across the top of the pie vertically towards you. The strips will be longer than necessary, but will get folded in once the lattice pattern is complete.
- Next braid one strip going horizontally across the top of the pie. Lift up every other vertical strip and begin the pattern.
- Continue with the next horizontal dough strip lifting the other vertical pieces you did not lift previously.
- Continue down the pie with the horizontal strips until you reach the opposite end.
- Pinch the extra bits of the strips into the outer rim of the crust to hold everything together. (You may have to trim the strips if they are really long.) Arrange decorative leaf cutouts on top of the pie if you wish.
- Brush the top and edges of the crust with egg wash, and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the crust.
Baking the Pie
- Place the assembled pie on the baking sheet in the oven and bake the pie uncovered for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
- After 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 375 degrees and cover the edges of the pie crust. Continue baking for an additional 45 minutes. (If you see the entire top crust getting too brown, place a loose sheet of tin foil over the pie).
- Once the pie is done baking remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely before serving.
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