The Best Apple Pie recipe from King Arthur Flour. Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp apples with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cider, and a touch of rum. Served with bourbon and vanilla bean caramel sauce.
I take my apple pie very seriously. It is one of my absolute favorite things to make and eat. When I was flipping through the King Arthur Baker’s Companion and found a recipe titled “The Best Apple Pie”, I knew I needed to give it a go.
Is it the best? It’s pretty close.
I love the layers of flavor in the filling. The teeny bit of rum and vanilla make this pie special. It’s delicious and deserves to have a spot on your Thanksgiving table.
I made some sea salt vanilla bean caramel sauce (I added a few tablespoons of bourbon at the end) to drizzle over. A scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side? It’s everything you want in a piece of pie.
I’ve been baking with my daughter a lot lately. She’s becoming quite the little baker. I really like having her working alongside me. She is learning a lot about cooking and baking and I am happy to spend the time with her while she still likes hanging out with me. One of her favorite kitchen jobs is peeling the apples with the apple peeler. Can you blame her? I love using that too.
I have been learning to make videos and am trying to make a new one each week. I caught some of her pie baking in this one’s and I am so happy that I have these little memories captured.
November Weekend from Bree Hester on Vimeo.
I used to be afraid of pie crust.
I would avoid making it because it can be a scary thing. Guess what? It isn’t anything to be afraid of.
The worst thing that can happen is a.) it’s ugly (ugly pie still tastes good). or b.) it’s not a great crust (it’s still pie, and pie is ALWAYS good, right?).
My biggest piece of advice is to just keep trying. Every crust I make gets a little bit easier and a little bit better. I alternate between doing it by hand or using my food processor. Both ways yield a good crust. Think of all of the grandmothers that made pie crust with two knives or a pastry cutter for years and years before food processors were around.

The Best Apple Pie
Ingredients
Filling:
- 7 to 8 cups baking apples - from 9 apples
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 Tablespoon rum
- juice from half a lemon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1 Tablespoon milk optional
- coarse sanding sugar optional
- Sea Salt Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce add 1-2 Tablespoons bourbon at the end
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- In a large bowl mix together apples, cider, rum, lemon juice, and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt and spices. Stir the dry ingredients into the apples and stir to coat evenly. Set aside.
- Roll out pie crust onto a floured board. Lay bottom crust into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.
- Spoon in filling. Lay the top crust over the filling. Seal and crimp edges.
- Brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar. Cut a few slashes into the crust to release steam.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°. Bake for an additional 45 to 55 minutes. If your crust begins to get too dark, place a piece of foil loosely on top.
Dorothy
Friday 27th of January 2023
excuse me, but there is a tool for making the crusts for pie. a pastry blender. It works but those of you who use knives to do blending keep up the good work.DorothyDorothy
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Friday 21st of January 2022
[…] The best apple pie with cinnamon and whipped cream? Yes please. […]
Kasey
Saturday 1st of January 2022
Hi, just wanted to say, I loved this article. It was funny. Keep on posting!
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Denise
Friday 20th of November 2015
ps... this pie looks killer. Lenny likes a apple pie and I do not have a recipe.
bakedbree
Tuesday 24th of November 2015
This is a good one. I was very proud of this pie...