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Have I ever told you about my grandma? All of my best dessert recipes came from her. She was an amazing baker and loved to dissect recipes and put her own spin on them. This is her apple pie recipe. I don’t know where she came up with the idea to add red hots, but it adds a sweet, cinnamon flavor and leaves the pie with a pretty, pink color!
I prefer to do my apple pie with a crumb filling versus another pie crust on top. You can do either one. If you do a traditional, pie shell topping, you will need to add slices of butter on top of your pie filling. If you go with a crumb topping, omit the butter. You can find my grandma’s fool-proof pie crust recipe here.
Homemade pies are a little bit of work, but it really isn’t too bad (I promise!) and the taste will be way better than you get with a store bought pie. If you can spare an hour (this includes the time to make the crust) than homemade is the way to go! I’ve included a short instructional video at the end of those post as well as step-by-step photo instructions. It’s really simple and straightforward!
So, get together all of your ingredients.
Start by peeling your apples. You will need 8 cups of apple slices, which is approximately 8 medium sized apples. When you are done peeling, cut them into thin slices. I start by using the apple corer, and then slicing them thinner from there.
Mix all of your filling ingredients together in a large bowl: apples, red hots, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt.
Now, pour your filling into your prepared pie shell. Carefully spread it out and pat it down.
Make your crumb topping by combining butter, brown sugar and flour. You can use a pastry cutter or a fork. Cut it until it is crumbly but be sure not to overdo it and make it mushy. When it is a good crumbly consistency, pour on top of the pie. Lightly spread it out to give it an even seal all the way around the edges of the pie.
Use either foil or pie shields to cover the edges of the crust so that they don’t burn during baking. Leave them on until the last 10 minutes of baking. I also put a piece of foil on top of the pie for the first half of baking, just so the top of the pie doesn’t burn. Bake on 425 for 40-50 mins, checking on the pie throughout the baking to make sure it doesn’t burn. When it is done, the crust should be a nice golden brown color.
Take out of the oven and let it cool before cutting and serving. I like to serve it warm with ice cream on top, but you want to make sure it’s not too hot when you cut into it or it will be a bit runny. Yum!!
Things you might need:
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 40-50 minutes |
| Servings |
slices
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- Peel and cut your apples into thin slices.
- In a large bowl, combine apples, red hots, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir well.
- Pour into a prepared, uncooked pie shell. If you are doing a traditional pie shell top (rather than a crumb topping), then slice a couple tablespoons of butter and spread out on top of the pie filling. Set aside.
- Either add a pastry crust on top of the filling, or prepare a crumb topping by combing butter, brown sugar and flour. Cut (with a fork or pastry cutter) until the mixture is crumbly and then pour on top of the pie.
- Cover the edges of your crust with either pie shields or foil. Remove the shield the last 10 minutes of baking. You can also lay a piece of foil on top of the crust to prevent burning; remove halfway through baking.
- Bake at 425 for 40-50 minutes, until the crust is a nice golden brown.
- Let it cool before cutting. You can either serve cool or warm. Add ice cream on top if desired!
