Learn how to make this homemade apple pie with leaf pie crust. It is Fall on a plate. Beautiful and satisfying. Fragrant with cinnamon and apples piled high with a tender flaky leaf pie crust.

Apple pie is irresistible and heartwarming.

Is there anything better than apple pie my friends? Apple pie is…well delicious and apple pie is synonymous with America. And I love America AND Apple pie!

Maybe you didn’t already know this about me, but I’m not a football fan. The only thing I like about football season is eating my face off at a tail gate pre-gamer. After that, let me go home and take a nap! There are worse American things I could dislike I suppose. But not pie! Man, I love pie!

The first pie I ever made was in my late twenties. It was an apple pie of course. It looked ok. Your standard all American apple pie. It tasted like monkey poo! I’ve no idea what I did to that pie and I was traumatized by it, and never even attempted another pie again until a few years ago. I mean c’mon how do you muck up an apple pie? “Hi, pie. Hold my wine!”

Thank god for the internet and food blogs. amiright? Now my apple pies are pretty delicious if I do say so myself. Since the Dolphins had a home game yesterday, my season ticket holder boyfriend and his brother loaded up their pick up truck with manly football stuff and food and went tailgating. That meant I had the whole house to myself. What to do…what to do?

If you guessed I baked an apple pie… then you guessed I baked an apple pie. The hardest thing now about baking an apple pie is waiting for it to cool so you can have that first warm slice. Cut into that sucker too soon and you’ve got yourself a sloppy apple watery mess.

I’ve done lattice pie crusts before, and wanted to change it up. I didn’t really have the patience to weave a pie crust yesterday so opted to use cookie cutters to cut out fall designs for my top crust. Since it was my first time doing this I wondered if I could pull it off. I was pleased with the final result, and it was way quicker than weaving. Have you seen some of these types of pie crusts on the internet? Some of them are truly works of art!

Anyway, some people get really pissed off these days when you talk too much on your blog and don’t get right to the recipe, so let me do that before some of the impatients get their panties in a wad.

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Apple Pie

For the pie crust:

In a good quality food processor add four, salt, and cubed cold butter. Pulse a few times until butter is pea sized.
You can also cut butter with a fork in a bowl if you don’t have a food processor.
Add vinegar and 3 tablespoons of ice water. Pulse until mixture becomes like a sand mixture.
Pour out into a large bowl.
If mixture won’t come together when you squeeze it with your hand, then start by adding 1 Tablespoon more ice water at a time until it comes together.
Bring together in a disc shape and divide in half as evenly as possible.
Shape into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap.
Place in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Apple Pie:

For the Pie Filling:

4 small granny smith apples peeled cored and evenly sliced
3 medium to large honey crisp apples peeled cored and evenly sliced
Juice of 1 fresh squeezed lemon
4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (use less if not a fan of cinnamon)
Pinch of salt

Tips: Slice the apples evenly and about 1/4 inch thick. Add them to the pie dish and pile em’ in there to get a good idea of how many apples you will need to fill the pie dish. Remember, your apples are going to shrink down as you cook them, so you want to pile those babies until they are sticking over the top of the pie dish. Pack em’ down good and tight.

Once you have your apples peeled and sliced and fit to your pie dish, transfer them to a large bowl and squeeze the juice of one fresh lemon over them careful not to add any lemon seeds. Add the remaining ingredients and cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to bake.  Another really important tip is to not add the juice from the apples in the pie.

I usually reduce the juice down in a small pan over the stove and let it thicken then pour it over the apples before placing the top crust. This only take a few minutes and keeps your pie from being too watery. If your pie is too watery, the bottom crust won’t bake properly.

Apple Pie:

OTHER ITEMS NEEDED:

• Mini and medium to large size cookie or pie cookie cutters (any seasonal designs)
  Plastic wrap
  Large pie dish
• Baking sheet pan
  Tin foil
  Rolling pin
• Cooling rack to cool pie

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES.
GENEROUSLY BUTTER PIE DISH TO PREVENT STICKING
Take out one of the dough discs and generously flour your countertop.
Roll out bottom pie dough to approximately 1/8 inch thick. That’s about the hight of 2 stacked quarters for reference.
Roll out the bottom crust to the size of your pie dish turned upside down and leave about 1-2 inch border. You can trim as necessary once in dish.
Lightly sprinkle some flour on top of the rolled out dough and gently roll it around your rolling pin.
Gently unroll the dough over your pie dish and arrange the dough evenly pressing out any air pockets on the bottom and sides.
Trim dough around sides if hanging over.
Press dough to rim with a fork.

Add apple pie filling. Leave out any extra juice or reduce it down and pour it over top of the filling as the pie gets watery as it bakes. It will thicken as it cools.
Apples should be slightly above the rim. Use your hands to pack down tightly and fill in any gaps.

Roll out top pie dough as above, but this time use your cookie cutters of choice to cut out the shapes you want for the middle and border. I like to use the mini cookie cutters for the edges of the pie dough.
Arrange cut out dough pieces on top of pie and edges.
Mix egg yolk with 2 teaspoons of water and brush on top of dough.

Loosely cover or tent with tin foil so the crust doesn’t burn while baking.
Place pie dish on large sheet pan lined with tin foil or parchment paper.
Place in center of oven and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
Turn oven temperature down to 345 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes then remove tin foil.
Continue baking pie until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.
Cool pie for at least 1-2 hours before slicing.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Happy Football Season & Autumn y’all!

Recipe Type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Sherri @ The Kitchen Prescription

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 1 hour 15 mins

Total time: 2 hours 15 mins

Serves: 8-12 servings

All American Apple Pie with a pretty autumn leaf crust uses both granny smith and honey crisp apples for the perfect sweet tart bite.

Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 Tablespoons) cold salted butter cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3-7 Tablespoons ice water
• Extra butter for coating pie dish
• Egg wash
• FOR THE PIE FILLING:
• 4 small granny smith apples peeled cored and evenly sliced
• 3 medium to large honey crisp apples peeled cored and evenly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (use less if not a fan of cinnamon)
• Pinch of salt
• OTHER ITEMS:
• Mini and medium to large size cookie cutters (any seasonal designs)
• Plastic wrap
• Large pie dish
• Cooling rack
• Baking sheet pan
• Tin foil
• Rolling pin

Instructions

1. FOR THE CRUST:
2. In food processor add four, salt, and cubed cold butter. Pulse a few times until butter is pea sized.
3. You can also cut butter with a fork in a bowl if you don’t have a food processor.
4. Add vinegar and 3 tablespoons of ice water. Pulse until mixture becomes like a sand mixture.
5. Pour out into a large bowl.
6. If mixture won’t come together when you squeeze it with your hand, then start by adding 1 Tablespoon more ice water at a time until it comes together.
7. Bring together in a disc shape and divide in half as evenly as possible.
8. Shape into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap.
9. Place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
10. FOR THE PIE FILLING:
11. Peel, core, and evenly slice granny smith and honey crisp apples.
12. Place sliced apples in your pie dish to get a good idea of how many apples you will need.
13. Apples should be slightly above the pie dish rim, as they bake down, they will shrink.
14. Pour apples into a large mixing bowl.
15. Add fresh squeezed lemon juice and mix well to evenly coat apples.
16. Add flour, pinch of salt, and cinnamon sugar mixture and mix well to evenly coat.
17. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.
18. PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES.
19. GENEROUSLY BUTTER PIE DISH TO PREVENT STICKING
20. Take out one of the dough discs and generously flour your countertop.
21. Roll out bottom pie dough to approximately 1/8 inch thick. That’s about the hight of 2 stacked quarters for reference.
22. Roll out the bottom crust to the size of your pie dish turned upside down and leave about 1-2 inch border. You can trim as necessary once in dish.
23. Lightly sprinkle some flour on top of the rolled out dough and gently roll it around your rolling pin.
24. Gently unroll the dough over your pie dish and arrange the dough evenly pressing out any air pockets on the bottom and sides.
25. Trim dough around sides if hanging over.
26. Press dough to rim with a fork.
27. Add apple pie filling. Leave out any extra juice or reduce it down and pour it over top of the filling as the pie gets watery as it bakes. It will thicken as it cools.
28. Apples should be slightly above the rim. Use your hands to pack down tightly and fill in any gaps.
29. Roll out top pie dough as above, but this time use your cookie cutters of choice to cut out the shapes you want for the middle and border. I like to use the mini cookie cutters for the edges of the pie dough.
30. Arrange cut out dough piece on top of pie and edges.
31. Mix egg yolk with 2 teaspoons of water and brush on top of dough.
32. Cover with tin foil so it doesn’t burn while baking.
33. Place cooling rack on top of large sheet pan, then place pie dish on top of cooling rack.
34. Place in center of oven and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
35. Turn oven temperature down to 345 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes then remove tin foil.
36. Continue baking pie until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.
37. Cool pie for at least 1-2 hours before slicing.
38. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.