--Brush the inside of the crust with egg wash. You're probably familiar with egg wash as a way to make the exterior of your baked goods more golden and a bit shiny, but adding a layer of egg wash to the interior of the pie crust before filling it creates a protective layer that will keep the apple's juices from destroying your crust. Speaking of crust, store-bought crust really is ideal here. These are Kitchn's favorite pie crusts from the store.

--Layer the apples inside the crust. Instead of dumping the apples in, spend a few minutes laying and stacking the apple slices. It seems fussy, but it's actually ingenious: This will help you avoid large gaps, which means you're less likely to get a shrunken filling and domed crust. Keep layering until the apples are slightly taller than the pie pan.

--Bake your pie on a preheated baking sheet. Jumpstart the baking process by preheating a baking sheet, then slide your pie onto it to bake. This makes the bottom crust extra crisp and helps speed up the baking process.

Cooling and Storing Apple Pie

The hardest part of pie baking (for me, anyway) is waiting for the pie to cool completely before slicing. The cooler your pie is, the cleaner your slices will be. Warm apple pie with ice cream is amazing, though, so if that's your goal, you still might want to give this pie at least an hour to cool (it'll be plenty warm, even then). Leftover apple pie keeps well in the fridge for up to three days.

Apple Pie

Serves 8

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 55 minutes to 1 hour

For the filling:

...continued