Our 20 Best Apple Pie Recipes

Nothing screams fall like apple pie—the warm, sweet, flaky results of apple-picking season. Best served with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream, the seasonal pie is a comforting dessert that’s perfect for afternoons spent by the fireplace, and in this recipe roundup, we’re giving it the love it deserves. You’ll find some classic recipes, as well as spins like spiced apple pie with cheddar crust, in case you feel like switching it up for Thanksgiving. There’s something for everyone—all you have to do is pick which one to make first.

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Spiced Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust

Chef Marcus Samuelsson updates the apple pie–cheddar combo by hiding the cheese in the flaky crust. The filling is tangy and assertively spiced; Samuelsson includes cardamom, a common sweet seasoning in his native Sweden. This recipe is adapted from the chef’s book Marcus Off Duty.

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Easy Apple Pie

Brown sugar gives this easy apple pie a touch of caramel flavor; Granny Smith apples add a nice tartness for balance.

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Double-Crust Apple Pie

Grace Parisi uses a mix of Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Golden Delicious apples for this iconic dessert.

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Granny Smith Apple and Brown Butter Custard Tart

Kate Neumann often showcases rich, nutty, fragrant browned butter in her desserts. Here, she adds it to a sweet custard loaded with caramelized apples and baked in a buttery tart shell.

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Lattice-Topped Apple Pie

Greg Patent likes to use an assortment of tart and sweet apples in this dense, apple-packed pie. Some varieties to look for are Greening, Cortland, Winesap, Braeburn, Jonamac and Granny Smith.

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Apple Pandowdy

This is a fuss-free riff on a classic double-crust apple pie.

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Apple Rye Turnovers with Celery Seeds

Jerry Traunfeld has been experimenting with rye flour for years; he loves the way it gives dough flavor and body. As these pastries illustrate, he has also been exploring ways to use celery seed in desserts. "It really complements the apple and rye," he says.

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Free-Form Apple Tart

Anne Walker usually makes this dessert with Arkansas Black apples—an heirloom variety—from Mogannam's parents' orchard near Sacramento. The dense, tart apples are harvested late in the season, making them a good Thanksgiving choice. Granny Smiths are an easier-to-find alternative.

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Puff Pastry Apple Pie

Cathal Armstrong tells of how a family friend came over for lunch one day and marveled at the apple pie his mother, Angela, had made. When her husband, Gerry, asserted that it must have been the apples he grew that made the pie taste so good, the friend said, "Angela, you tell him pastry like that doesn't grow on trees." Since puff pastry can be tricky to prepare, this version of Angela's pie uses a high-quality, store-bought puff pastry.

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Dutch Apple Pie

Grace Parisi finishes this perfect fall dessert with a delicious brown sugar streusel.

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Clay-Pot Tarte Tatin

Flameware is perfect for preparing this French tart, as an ordinary clay pot may not be able to withstand the high heat required to caramelize the apples.

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Apple Tart with Almond Cream

This thin, crisp pastry shell is filled with a layer of almond cream made from both finely ground and coarsely chopped nuts that give the tart layers of texture. The thinly sliced apples on top caramelize as the tart bakes.

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Apple Pie Sundaes with Cheddar Crust Shards

Using a slightly tart apple, like a Granny Smith or Pink Lady, is key to this frozen-yogurt sundae; sautéing brings out the fruit's sweetness. The crispy, salty cheddar crisps that accompany the sundaes are as good with cocktails as they are with desserts.

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Deep-Dish Apple Pie with a Cheddar Crust

The many layers of sweet apples contained in this pie are complemented by a savory, cheddar-enhanced crust.

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Apple Crostatas

This free-form tart is an easy, quick-to-prepare take on the iconic dessert.

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Fried Apple Pies

Fried apple pies have a filling of dried apples—you can add raisins if you like. The pies can be formed and refrigerated overnight, but fry them just before serving.

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Deep-Dish All-American Cinnamon Apple Pie

Greg DuPree

This pie—one of our 40 best recipes—gets its intensely apple-y flavor from macerating the apples in sugar for an hour. The liquid drained from the apples is simmered with a hit of butter until a syrup forms. That rich syrup is mixed with the apples, piled into the crust, and baked until tender and delicious. The pie is excellent the day it’s made, but even better the next day.

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Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches

Apple Pie a la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches

Eva Kolenko

Top Chef winner Kristen Kish designed this dessert to honor both of her grandmothers, one known for her apple pie and the other for her snickerdoodles. Kish folds spiced apple pie filling into vanilla ice cream, then sandwiches it between chewy snickerdoodle cookies.

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Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie

This mouthwatering deep-dish caramel apple pie from Kay Chun is drizzled with a luscious homemade caramel sauce and topped with a crunchy oat streusel.

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Apple Pie Filling

This super-easy filling is great for pie and turnovers. It also serves as a nice warm topping to spoon over vanilla or butter-pecan ice cream.

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Our 20 Best Apple Pie Recipes

1 of 21

Spiced Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust

2 of 21

Easy Apple Pie

3 of 21

Double-Crust Apple Pie

4 of 21

Granny Smith Apple and Brown Butter Custard Tart

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Lattice-Topped Apple Pie

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Apple Pandowdy

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Apple Rye Turnovers with Celery Seeds

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Free-Form Apple Tart

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Puff Pastry Apple Pie

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Dutch Apple Pie

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Clay-Pot Tarte Tatin

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Apple Tart with Almond Cream

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Apple Pie Sundaes with Cheddar Crust Shards

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Deep-Dish Apple Pie with a Cheddar Crust

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Apple Crostatas

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Fried Apple Pies

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Deep-Dish All-American Cinnamon Apple Pie

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Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie

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Apple Pie Filling

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