Amish Apple Pie with a Double Crust
This classic Amish apple pie features tender apple slices, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon, encased in a golden crust, creating a simple yet irresistible dessert with warm, sweet, and spiced flavors.
I grew up eating lots of delicious Amish pies. My mom baked pie quite frequently, and we often had pie for Sunday church dinner as well.
Growing up in Lancaster County, Apple Schnitz pies, old-fashioned Amish apple pie, or Dutch apple pie with a crumb topping was typically served with our Sunday church dinner.
And today, I am sharing the recipe for a traditional double-crusted Amish apple pie. It is very easy to make, and it won't take very long to put it together.
Ingredients
- Pie Crust (for a double crust): Provides the base and top layer for the pie. It adds structure and texture to the pie and serves as a vessel for the filling.
- Apples provide the main filling of the pie. They add sweetness, tartness, and juiciness. Crisp varieties hold their shape well during baking. (I like to use Granny Smith or a variety of crisp apples.)
- White Sugar sweetens the filling and enhances the natural sweetness of the apples. It also helps to balance the tartness.
- Brown Sugar adds depth of flavor and caramel notes to the filling. It also contributes to the sweetness of the pie.
- Cinnamon adds warmth and spice. It pairs beautifully with apples and enhances their flavor.
- Salt enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Cornstarch acts as a thickening agent for the filling. It helps to absorb excess liquid from the apples and creates a smooth, thick consistency.
- Lemon Juice adds brightness and acidity to the filling. It also helps to balance the sweetness of the sugar and enhances the flavor of the apples.
- Butter adds richness and flavor. It melts during baking, coating the apples and adding a buttery taste to the pie.
Each ingredient helps to create a delicious, sweet, and spiced apple filling encased in a flaky pie crust.
How to Make an Easy Lancaster County Amish Apple Pie
You will need two 9" pie crusts, a bigger one for the bottom and a smaller one for the top. (Flaky Amish pie crust recipe here)
Peel, core, and chop five or six apples (depending on their size). Granny Smiths are great apples to use for baking, but you can use a variety of tart, crisp apples for more flavor.
In a large bowl, mix sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt. Add chopped apples and stir till they are all coated.
Pour the apple mixture into the crust (you want to pile it full, as the apples will shrink when baked), and lay thin slices of butter over the top.
Using cold water, wet the edges of the crust with your fingers (this helps to seal the edges). Now put the top crust on, and lightly press the edges together. Using a knife, trim off extra crust around the edges. Now you can crimp the edges for a neat finish.
You will need to make a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Then brush the top of your pie with egg wash (beaten egg with milk) or cream and sprinkle with a bit of sugar for a beautiful color and shine.
Bake in the middle of the oven, at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for another 50 - 55 minutes. Cool on rack.
Amish Canning
Most Amish women do a lot of canning. We used to be busy with canning and preserving food all summer long. And by the end of the summer, we had shelves upon shelves full of all kinds of canned goods. It was a beautiful sight, to see all the jars full of food that we labored so long and hard for.
We had rows of canned pickles, pickled beets, chow chow, canned dried beans, green beans, vegetable soup, ketchup, tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, pasta sauce, salsa, jellies, apple sauce, apple butter, apple pie filling, grape juice, peaches, pears, sweet cherries, cherry pie filling, and probably more things that I can't think of right now.
Then we froze lots of fruits and vegetables too. So we spent many hours, all summer long, growing, harvesting, and preserving food.
We canned lots of apple pie filling, so my mom usually made apple pie with homemade canned pie filling. It's very quick to assemble a pie with ready-made filling.
But this recipe with fresh apples is also very quick and easy to make. Making the crust and cutting the apples is the only time-consuming thing.
This is an Amish recipe for an easy, traditional American Apple Pie. If you get to try it, I would love it if you left a comment and star rating below. Thank you!
More Amish Recipes with Apples
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Amish Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 (9") pie crust pastries for a double crust
- 4 - 6 apples (depending on size) Granny smith, or a variety of crisp apples
- 1/2 c. white sugar
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 Tbs. butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400Ā°.
- Peel, core, and chop apples.4 - 6 apples (depending on size)
- Mix sugars, cinnamon, salt, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Add to apples and stir to coat.1/2 c. white sugar, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch, 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
- Pour the apple mixture into the crust. Dot with thin slices of butter.1 1/2 Tbs. butter, 2 (9") pie crust pastries for a double crust
- Wet the edge of the crust with cold water, and put your second crust on the top. Lightly press the edges to seal. Using a knife, trim off the extra crust (you can use this to make a tiny personal pie crust). Crimp the edges.
- Cut a few slits into the top crust to allow steam to escape.
- Brush cream or egg yolk on the top crust and sprinkle it with sugar for an extra shine and beautiful browning.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes at 400Ā°. reduce the temperature to 350Ā°, and continue baking for another 50 - 55 minutes.
- Loosely cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
Donna Leavitt
I made this, did not bake it, then froze it. What temperature should I set the oven at and how long should bake it? After I bake it I will rate it š
Anna
I honestly have never baked a frozen pie. So I cannot give you specific instructions. (But I just googled it and from what I have found you can preheat the oven to 425 and place the frozen pie into hot oven. (I would be scared to do that with a glass pie pan, so hopefully you are using metal.) Bake at 425 for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 60 - 70 minutes. But you will also find many different cooking temps and times.)
Judy Cannon
What is the thickener used when canning pie filling?
Also-, my mother always liked French Apple Pie. It had raisins and after it was cooked you iced the top with buttercream icing.
Anna
My mom always used clear jel. It looks nicer than cornstarch. There are so many different kinds of apple pie?.
Chelsey
I canned this today, and it's SO simple and easy! I did cook the apples down a bit before putting in jars, but that's all I changed. Thanks for the recipe!
Anna
I have actually never used the recipe for canning. Glad it worked for you!