Easy As Apple Pie

This apple pie strips the recipe down to bare essentials. Sliced apples, sugar, nutmeg, dots of butter, and two store-bought pie shells. No thickener, no cinnamon, no fuss. Just fruit and sugar doing what they do best.

The butter cut into bits and scattered over the apples melts during baking and mixes with the sugar and apple juices to create a natural sauce inside the pie. No cornstarch or flour needed because the apple pectin thickens the filling on its own as it cools.

Nutmeg as the sole spice is an old-fashioned choice that lets the apple flavor come through clean and clear. It’s a warmer, more floral note than cinnamon and doesn’t dominate the way a full spice blend can.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a firm baking apple like Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn. Soft apples turn to mush during the hour-long bake.
• Slice the apples thin and even so they cook uniformly and pack tightly in the crust.
• Vent the top crust with a few slits so steam escapes. Without vents, the crust gets soggy from trapped moisture.
• Let the pie cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. The filling needs time to set.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon if you prefer the classic spice combination.
• Toss the apples with a tablespoon of lemon juice before filling for a tart edge.
• Brush the top crust with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar before baking for a bakery finish.