From the YummyYucky team, founded by Nancy Nash

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Can Babies Eat Apple Pie? Yes, From 12 Months

Apple pie is an easy yes from about 12 months, because the part everyone actually wants is soft cooked apple. The filling needs almost no chewing. What you skip is the firm outer crust rim, any raisins baked into it, and the sugar heavy caramel and ice cream that usually come alongside.

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When to introduce: From about 12 months, and the age is about the added sugar rather than the texture, since cooked apple itself suits a baby from around 6 months.
Common allergen?: The crust contains wheat and usually butter, so milk too, and many crusts are brushed with egg wash. Store bought crusts often use soybean oil, and crumble toppings add oats or nuts.
Texture: Soft stewed apple that squashes easily, under a crust whose browned outer rim stays dry and firm.
Key nutrients: Fiber, potassium and a little vitamin C from the apples, in a pastry and sugar package.

Yes, babies can have apple pie from about 12 months, and of the pies on a holiday table this is one of the least fussy. Cooked apple is already a food we recommend from 6 months, and the filling in a pie is just that: apples stewed soft with sugar and cinnamon until they squash between two fingers. The pastry is where the care goes. The browned outer rim is dry and firm in a way a new eater struggles with, so it stays on your plate, not theirs. Before you say yes in somebody else's kitchen, look at the filling for raisins, which need chopping, and ask whether there is rum or brandy in it, because some family recipes have both. The sentence to have ready when the slices start moving down the table: "She can have a spoon of the apple, just not the crust." Then hand over a small bowl of the soft middle and sit down next to your baby while they eat it.

Prep School: how to prepare apple pie for baby-led weaning (BLW) and purées

Under 12 monthsGive the filling's honest ancestor instead. Peel, core and simmer an apple with a splash of water and a pinch of cinnamon until it falls apart, then mash it. That is unsweetened apple pie filling, and it is suitable from about 6 months. Serve it warm in a small bowl at the same moment the pie is cut, so nobody at the table feels your baby is being left out.

About 12 monthsSpoon about a tablespoon of soft filling from the middle of a slice into a bowl. Check it for raisins, and if there are any, chop them small or squash them flat, or leave them out altogether. Leave the outer crust rim on your own plate. Skip the scoop of ice cream and the caramel drizzle, which are the sugariest part of the whole plate. Sit your baby upright and stay within arm's reach.

18 months and upA small piece of slice with the soft bottom crust is fine now. Cut the firm outer rim off, then cut the rest into pieces no larger than half an inch, and serve it at the table with your toddler seated upright and you alongside. A crumble topped pie needs a second look first, since crumble often hides whole oats and chopped nuts.

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Is apple pie safe? Choking & prep

The filling is the easy part and the pastry is the part to manage. Apples cooked until they are properly soft are one of the gentlest textures a baby can meet, which is why cooked apple is recommended from around 6 months while raw apple chunks are not. Pie filling is cooked apple, so that half is simple. The crust is different. The browned outer rim is dry and firm, and the CDC groups dry, crumbly baked goods such as cookies and granola bars among the choking hazards for young children, so cut it away rather than handing over a wedge¹. Whatever you do serve gets cut into pieces no larger than half an inch, with your baby seated upright and you within arm's reach, because cutting food small lowers the risk rather than removing it². Three things hide inside specific apple pies. Raisins, which the CDC names directly as a choking hazard: chop them small, squash them flat, or leave them out, and never hand a baby a whole one¹. Chopped nuts in a crumble or streusel topping, which are a choking shape for children under 4 and are not made safe by being baked into a crust¹². And alcohol: rum, brandy and calvados all appear in family apple pie recipes, and cooking does not remove it. USDA retention data shows roughly 40 percent of the alcohol still present after 15 minutes of baking or simmering, and about 25 percent after an hour³. There is no safe amount of alcohol for a baby, so if the pie is spiked, your baby has the stewed apple you made instead. Then the sugar. A slice of apple pie carries a lot of added sugar, and the CDC and the AAP both say children under 2 should have none⁴⁵. That does not make a holiday taste a crisis, it makes it a taste rather than a habit. Last, if the recipe is sweetened with honey, which some are, it is a firm no under 12 months, since honey can carry the spores that cause infant botulism even after baking⁶.

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Nutrition

Apples bring fiber, potassium, a little vitamin C and a group of polyphenols, and cooking softens the fiber without destroying much of the good. In a pie, that apple arrives with a lot of company. Most double crust recipes put a half to a full cup of sugar in the filling, plus a pastry made with refined flour and a generous amount of butter or shortening. The practical translation for a baby is that the filling is nutritionally unremarkable rather than harmful, and the sugar is the reason to keep it occasional. Plain stewed apple gives you everything the filling gives you nutritionally, with no added sugar, which is why it is the better everyday version of this food and the pie is the celebration version.

Goes well with

Apple (cooked) · Applesauce · Yogurt (whole milk) · Oatmeal · Pear (cooked) · Cinnamon

Storage & freezing

USDA treats fruit pies and custard pies differently: a fruit pie with no egg or milk in the filling can sit covered at room temperature for a day or two, while an egg rich pie goes to the refrigerator [7]. For a baby we keep it simpler. Refrigerate it and use it within 3 to 4 days, and do not serve a slice that has been out on a dessert table all afternoon at a party [8]. Reheat a slice until it is hot all the way through, then let it cool to warm and check the temperature of the filling with your own lip before it goes near a baby, because fruit filling holds heat much longer than the crust around it.

More foods to explore

🍲

Arroz caldo6 months+

🥞

Cachapa6 months+

🍎

Caramel appleNot for babies or toddlers. The AAP keeps raw fruit chunks and sticky candy away until age 4 or older, depending on the child.

🍫

Champorado6 months+

🍚

AttiékéFrom about 9 months

🍚

Banku6 months+

Introducing this allergen

Common questions

Can my baby have apple pie at Thanksgiving?

From about 12 months, yes. Spoon a tablespoon of the soft filling from the middle of a slice into a bowl, leave the firm crust rim behind, and skip the ice cream and caramel. Under 12 months, mash a stewed apple with cinnamon and serve that at the same time, which is the same flavor without the sugar or the pastry.

What can I give my baby instead of apple pie?

Stewed apple. Peel, core and simmer an apple with a splash of water and a pinch of cinnamon until it falls apart, then mash it. It is suitable from around 6 months, it is genuinely what pie filling is underneath the sugar, and it arrives in its own little bowl so your baby is part of dessert.

My mother-in-law already gave my baby some apple pie. Should I worry?

Probably not. Soft cooked apple is a food babies eat anyway, so a spoon of filling is sugar rather than danger. Check three things after the fact: whether the bite had raisins or nuts in it, whether the crust rim went along with it, and whether the recipe had rum or brandy in it. If your baby is under 12 months, also ask whether it was sweetened with honey. If any of those is a yes, stay close, watch your baby, and set the rule out loud for next time.

Is pie crust safe for babies?

The soft bottom crust under the filling is manageable for a toddler past about 18 months, cut into pieces no larger than half an inch. The browned outer rim is the part to leave off, since it is dry and firm and the CDC groups dry, crumbly baked goods with the choking hazards for young children. For a 12 month old, serve the filling and skip the pastry.

Can babies have apple pie with raisins in it?

Only if you deal with the raisins first. The CDC names dried fruit such as raisins as a choking hazard, so chop them small, squash them flat, or pick them out before serving. Never hand a baby a whole raisin, whether it came out of a pie or a box.

Does apple pie have alcohol in it?

Some recipes do. Rum, brandy and calvados all turn up in family apple pie recipes, and baking does not remove all of it. USDA retention data shows roughly 40 percent of the alcohol still present after 15 minutes of baking, and about 25 percent after an hour. There is no safe amount for a baby, so ask before you accept a slice.

Can a 1 year old have apple pie every day?

No, and not because of anything alarming. A slice carries a lot of added sugar, and guidance for children under 2 is no added sugars at all. Keep the pie for the holiday and use plain stewed apple or unsweetened applesauce for the everyday version.

Sources

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Last updated September 2026. Next review December 2026. How we write these: built from current published guidance from the AAP, CDC, FDA/EPA, NIAID, WHO, and other pediatric and public-health authorities, with sources cited on the page. See our editorial and medical policy for how we research, source, and update these, and how we double-check the food advice.

This is general information, not medical advice, and is not individualized for your baby. Always talk to your pediatrician about your baby's diet, introducing allergens, and any reaction. In an emergency, contact emergency services.

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