Easy Homemade Apple Pie

This Apple Pie is the dessert of the fall season in our house.  All the delicious flavors of the apples mixed with the spices makes this the best apple pie recipe you will ever make!  

Apple pie is one of the best desserts of the fall season.  This one uses a crumb topping instead of placing another pie crust on top.  My family loves apple pie made this way because the crumb topping just takes it over the top.  If you haven’t made it this way, give it a try!  I am pretty sure you will love it!

This Apple Pie recipe was handed down from my mother-in-law. It seriously is so easy to make!  Believe me.  And it is so delicious!  My husband requests me to make this rather than cake for his birthday.  

One funny story and a good tip…if you make this for someone’s birthday, make sure you let it cool before putting in the candles.  One year we didn’t let it cool down enough and as we were singing “Happy Birthday” to my husband, the candles were slowly melting!  Ahhh…we sang pretty fast that year!  Not only do we make this pie for my husband’s birthday, but it is a standard Thanksgiving dessert.  

How to make Apple Pie:

First of all,  get your pie crust ready and place it in your pie dish.  Once you have your apples washed, peel them and slice them into thin slices (about ¼” thickness). 

See below for how we slice our apples to give you an idea of the size to cut the apples. Try to have them all about the same size. It is a good idea to have them smaller and equal in size because they will cook down better.

Place all the sliced apples in the pie crust.  Make sure you fill the pie crust up with a heaping amount of sliced apples.   Once baked, the apples cook down and the pie will sink down if there are not enough apples in there. 

One of the best (and easiest) steps in this recipe is that you don’t need to mix anything with the apples.  Once you have the apples in the pie crust, you just sprinkle the sugar and spices evenly over the apples.  

For the spices, you can use either apple pie spice or cinnamon.  Apple Pie Spice is a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.  Dot the pie with butter by placing 4-5 small slices of butter evenly placed over the apples and spices. 

To make the crumbs, place the flour, sugar and softened butter in a large bowl.  Using a pastry blender or the back of a fork, blend the ingredients together until you form the crumbs.  

Then, using a spoon, carefully place the crumbs over the apples and spices.  When doing this, hold the spoon towards the middle of the pie so less crumbs fall off the pie (see photo below).  You might want to place a piece of parchment paper or foil under the pie dish while adding the crumbs.  This part can be a fun job for your kids to help out with!

Tip: Place you pie dish on a pie drip catcher.  It catches any overflowing pie filling while it also elevates your pie so it can cook evenly.  Perfectly cooked pie, clean oven…happy baker.

Finally, place it on the middle rack of your oven and bake it at 425 degrees for 50-55 minutes.   I would suggest gently placing a foil tent over the pie for the last 20 minutes of baking to keep the top of the pie from burning. 

The pie is done when it is golden brown. Remove the pie to a cooling rack.  Let the pie cool a little before serving it. 

Tips for making this recipe:

• Use a variety of apples.  Someone once told me this tip and it really does make a difference.  I usually buy some red and green apples and mix up the varieties as well.  It gives it so much flavor!
• Slice the apples 1/4″ or so in size.   And keep them as equal in size as possible.  By slicing the apples thinner, the apples cook down better.
• Using a store bought pie crust saves on time.  If you prefer a homemade pie crust, check out this post from Sally’s Baking Addiction.  She has a detailed post on making an amazing pie crust.
• When making the crumbs, let the butter soften up a little bit.  This way it will be easier to blend in with the flour and sugar.
• If you forget to take out the butter to soften, dice up the butter into small pieces.  That will help it blend with the other ingredients.
• Place you pie dish on a pie drip catcher.  It catches any overflowing pie filling while it also elevates your pie so it can cook evenly.  Perfectly cooked pie, clean oven…happy baker.

Serve the pie warm or at room temperature.  It always is hard getting that first piece of pie out of the pan, isn’t it?  I use this pie server because it really helps to get the pie out easily and keeps the piece of pie looking pretty.  Once you serve the pie on a plate, you can top it with whip cream or with a scoop of ice cream.  And enjoy!

If you are on Pinterest, follow me there for all of my recipes.  Here is a comment from someone Pinterest who made this pie recipe:

“I’m not typically a big fan of apple pie, but this recipe is amazing! Finally an apple pie I can make! This recipe has become a favorite during the holidays and family functions.”

Let me know how you like this recipe in the comments/rating below.  Thanks so much!

3.88 from 8 votes

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Easy-Homemade-Apple-Pie

This Apple Pie is made with a delicious crumb topping.  The quick and easy recipe makes a great fall dessert and is perfect for a holiday dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword easy apple pie, pie recipe, holiday dessert recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust
• 7-8 medium sized apples mix of red and green is best
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice (or cinnamon)
• butter, to dot the pie with (4-5 small pieces of butter)

For the crumbs:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Prepare your pie crust and place in 9” pie dish.
3. Peel and slice your apples into small slices, about ¼” thick

4. Place the apples into the pie crust., filling the pie crust with a heaping amount of apple slices.

5. Sprinkle the sugar over the apples.

6. Sprinkle the apple pie spice (or cinnamon) over the sugar.

7. Dot with butter (4-5 small pieces of butter).

To make the crumb topping:

1. Place the softened butter, flour and sugar into a medium sized bowl. Use the back of the fork or pastry blender to mix the ingredients to form crumbs.

2. Carefully place the crumbs over the pie.

3. Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes.

4. Pie is done when it is golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and place on a cooking rack.

6. Serve warm or once cooled.

Recipe Notes

Tips:

Use a variety of apples for the best flavor (mix green and red).

Make sure your butter is softened for the crumbs.  If you forget to take the butter out to soften, dice the butter into small pieces to blend in easier.

Make a tent with foil and place that over the pie after baking for 20 minutes.  This keeps the pie from browning too much.

This post is not sponsored, but you will find affiliate links on this page.  The price you pay as a consumer does not change, but I may make a small commission based on your purchase. 

Update Note: This recipe was originally posted earlier, but was published again in 2018 to include step by step directions and new photos.