This Honey Lemon Apple Pie is probably my absolute new favorite pie recipe, it is that good! I use a mix of honey, apple, and lemon in the filling and this baby is brushed with honey (instead of eggs) making it a naturally eggless pie with perfectly golden brown crust!
If you love apple pies, be sure to check out my other favorite apple pies like my Orange Blossom Honey Apple Pie, Vanilla Bean Apple Pie, or my Caramel Apple Pie.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Apple pie – the one and only all American pie. I feel like everyone expects to eat apple pie on Fourth of July, am I right? So, with Fourth of July coming up in just a few days, I am sharing a take on a classic with you today. This Honey Lemon Apple Pie is just what you’re looking for to keep it classic but elevated!
I use honey and lemon in addition to the classic apples, sugar, and cinnamon. This gives this Honey Lemon Apple Pie so much for depth of flavor along with the most delicious flavor profile for summer! This light pie is just the dessert you’re looking for on a warm summer night.
I brush the top of this pie with my favorite topping, a mix of honey and water, as opposed to egg. This makes the crust insanely golden brown, but also gives my traditional All Butter Pie Crust a delicious flavor that goes so well with the apples!
I highly recommend you try this out for your barbecue or party, as when I made this, it was a huge hit with everyone! This is just like a traditional apple pie recipe, but I add in lemon juice, honey, and lemon zest. I also cook the filling to reduce the lemon juice, because you don’t want liquid in a fruit pie, but you do want the flavor of the lemon. You can easily make this pie the day before and it will keep just fine. So, this Honey Lemon Apple Pie is an easy recipe to prep ahead of any party.
Tips for Baking Honey Lemon Apple Pie
• Use cold butter for the pie crust. If you are new to making pie crust, or want a step by step and tricks, check out my All Butter Pie Crust post for a lot more info!
• I use Honeycrisp apples in this recipe. But, if you can’t find them, you can also use Fuji or Gala as they are very similar and a lot more easily found in stores.
• Cooking the filling is super important in this recipe, as I mentioned above. The lemon juice will add flavor, but it needs to be cooked and reduced down so that the pie isn’t soggy and juicy.
• This an eggless pie recipe, because I am using honey and water to brush the crust. This is also why this pie has such a pretty color, the honey really browns the crust, and it tastes amazing. I use organic raw honey, which I would advise using here as well. But you can use any kind of variety of honey that you like.
• If you don’t want to lattice the top, you can totally skip that step! Just roll out the top portion of the dough and place it on top, you can roll and flute it just like a normal pie. If you go this route, be sure to make a couple vent holes in the top.
• Pie shouldn’t be covered or in an airtight container, so don’t cover it or put in Tupperware if you are saving it. Putting it in an airtight container will cause the pie to become soggy. Pie is best when left out on the counter at room temperature.
Ingredients for Honey Lemon Apple Pie
Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour
Costco Kirkland Organic Cane Sugar
Organic Honeycrisp Apples
Costco Kirkland Organic Raw Honey
Organic Lemons
Frontier Co-Op Organic Cornstarch
Frontier Co-Op Organic Korintje Cinnamon
Why Organic
Why use organic ingredients in this recipe? You all know I’m a huge organic advocate, and I bet you may be thinking sometimes, Why would I even bother to use organic ingredients in something that is so sweet and indulgent? But, that is the exact reason why you should use organic ingredients! Sweet things need to have flavor in order to be good, otherwise they are just sweet and they don’t taste like much else. Organic ingredients are more pure than conventional ones, therefore they actually have more flavor than the non organic options. Say it with me, organic means more flavor! And not just more flavor but a more true and pure flavor. And organic ingredients are much healthier for you to eat in general as they do not contain GMOs or anything artificial. Plus, you are being environmentally friendly when you choose organic ingredients!
So, I highly recommend that you buy the best organic ingredients for this recipe! You can also shop my Amazon Storefront for all my favorite organic ingredients here. Tip – hover over each ingredient to see the name. And if you want to learn more about organic foods and the difference, read my post here on Food Labels and What They Mean.
Traditional apple pie gets elevated with honey and lemon. This light and zesty apple pie is also brushed with a honey wash on top, giving it that extra golden brown color and making this a naturally eggless pie recipe!
Ingredients
- Crust
226 grams (1 2/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons) organic all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
3/4 cup (170 grams) organic salted butter, cold
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons cold water
- Filling
3 organic large Honeycrisp apples, sliced
113 grams (1/2 cup) organic cane sugar
43 grams (2 tablespoons) organic raw honey
Juice of half an organic fresh lemon juice
21 grams (3 tablespoons) organic all purpose flour
1 teaspoon organic cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon organic cinnamon
Zest of 1 organic lemon
- Topping
1 tablespoon organic raw honey
1 tablespoon water
Directions
- To make the crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour and cane sugar. Turn the mixer on low for two to three rotations to combine the dry ingredients.
- Remove the butter from the fridge and chop into small cubes. The smaller the cubes, the flakier the crust. Cut the stick of butter into four and then chop into small cubes from there. Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture. Measure out the cold water and have it ready.
- Turn the mixer on low and slowly start to incorporate the ingredients. Gradually turn the mixer to medium speed. Once the butter mixture looks like wet sand, immediately add in all the water. As soon as the dough comes together, stop the mixer. Do not over mix.
- Divide the dough into two portions, one should be almost double the size of the other. I prefer to weigh them, the large one should weigh 312 grams and the small should weigh 170 grams. Form them both into disks and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Allow to cool in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- To make the filling: In a small saucepan, add the apples, cane sugar, honey, lemon juice, flour, cornstarch, and cinnamon and mix together. Put over medium heat, and continue to stir occasionally. The sugar will start to melt and coat the apples. The juices will start to bubble. Continue to cook until the liquid has thickened, you’ll know when you scrape the bottom of the pot and you can visibly see that it doesn’t fill in the open space immediately. This should take 8 to 14 minutes. Place the mixture in the fridge to cool, or allow to cool until room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To make the topping: Add the honey and water to a small dish. Microwave it for 10 seconds or so to melt the honey so you can completely stir it together. Set aside.
- Grease the pie pan well with butter. Remove the pie dough from the fridge. Remove the plastic wrap and place on a floured surface. First, roll out the large disk to 1/4-inch thick, it should be about 11-inches in diameter. Place the pie dough into the pie pan, and press lightly to form against the pan. It should be large enough that the dough folds right over the top. Roll out the smaller disk to 1/4-inch thick, it should be about 9-inches in diameter. Set aside.
- Add the filling into the pie pan and spread evenly.
- I like to use a pizza cutter for this next step, but a sharp knife will work as well. Cut the rolled out dough into 1-inch wide strips. Place the strips on top of the apples going horizontal leaving 1-inch between strips. Use the smaller strips towards the sides of the pie and use the longer strips for the middle. Next, add the remaining dough strips going vertical, alternating each strip over and under the horizontal ones.
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Once the lattice top is complete, crimp and fold over the edges of the dough to seal the top and bottom together. Flute the edges. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough with the water and honey topping.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- High Altitude – Bake at 350°F for 1 hour, or until golden brown.
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