Our 15 Best Apple Pie Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the number one apple for pie? ›

Granny Smith apples are considered by many to be the "pie apples." They are known for their snappy tartness and ability to maintain their shape and texture when cooked. These are, no doubt, a terrific choice for apple pie — especially when combined with a sweeter, softer apple like Braeberns or Crispins.

Should you cook the apples before baking apple pie? You don't have to pre-cook the filling before spooning it into the pie crust, but it's a quick step I recommend. Just 5 minutes on the stove begins the softening process, and also helps the flavors start to mingle.

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

Many pie fillings are made with a processed thickening agent that keeps the filling jelly-like and in place. But McDonald's uses a dehydrated apple powder. The powder not only thickens the filling, but it also adds that extra apple taste that you love.

Home of the award-winning Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag, The Elegant Farmer is noted by Gourmet Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Food Network and Milwaukee Magazine as having “the best pie in America.” The award-winning Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag has been the farmer's signature item for decades, baking over a ...

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

Pre-baking is a must if you're looking for a flaky pie crust. It's especially helpful for recipes with a wet center. Recipes for most tarts, pies, and quiches call for pre-baking to ensure that the final product doesn't end up soggy.

The Honeycrisp is hands-down the best tasting apple in the world. It has the perfect balance of tartness (a couple of notches less than a Granny Smith), and sweetness (milder than the Royal Gala but sweeter than a Red Delicious).

Honeycrisp. One of the sweetest apples around, this Midwestern favorite is good for anything—including baking. It boasts a distinctive juicy crispness and is firm enough that it won't cook down much. It complements just about any other apple variety to make a stellar pie.

And then there's the long forgotten fried apple pie at McDonald's, which made the switch to baked in 1992 due to health reasons and has tasted inferior ever since. Unless you're over 40 and/or live in Hawaii (more on that soon), you've probably never tasted a McDonald's fried apple pie.

Does Popeyes fry their apple pies? ›

Mickey D's famous dessert has been on the menu since 1968, but it changed from fried to baked in 1992. The resulting pie was healthier, but some fans missed the old flavor. Popeyes still fries its pies, and interestingly, uses beef tallow in its fryers like McDonald's used to.

Does McDonalds put potatos in their Apple Pie? ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Not according to the listing of ingredients at their website, unless some of those Greek words mean “potato.” The starch product in the delectable crust is based on wheat and the thickener in the apple filling is corn starch.

What Makes A Good Apple For Apple Crisp? The best apples for baking keep their structure under heat, which prevents the chunks of fruit from turning into mush after baking. The firm and crisp Granny Smith and Honeycrisp varieties are popular apples to use in apple pies and apple crisps.

Red Delicious apples are the healthiest from an antioxidant standpoint, Crumble Smith says. The darker the color of the apple, the richer it'll be in antioxidants. Antioxidants help neutralize the free radicals in our bodies which, when imbalanced, can cause cell damage and lead to disease.

3. Apple. There are five states they prefer apple pie to other flavors.