I like all forms of desserts but chocolate is my favorite. As for my husband, Andy? He will chose apple pie for his dessert of choice any day. Not just any apple pie, mind you, but his Mom’s apple pie. This was one recipe that I was quick to learn as a new bride! Andy chose his favorite dessert wisely because it really is a delicious apple pie.
This is really a 3 in 1 post today because there are so many ways to make this homemade apple pie. You can follow the directions and make a fresh apple pie with crumb topping any time you like. The crumb topping is part of what makes this pie so delicious!
I also use this same recipe to freeze apple pie filling. Yes, some people can homemade apple pie filling but I think it is just as tasty and even quicker to freeze it. I’m including directions for that process below.
Or you can take it one step further (which is my favorite thing about this apple pie recipe) and assemble apple pie kits for your freezer. This is what I did this past weekend when apples went on sale at Meijer. I bought 18 pounds of Cortland apples and assembled 10 apple pie kits – plus baked one fresh apple pie. I love homemade pie but I don’t like messing with all the chopping and dicing every time I want a pie. With apple pie kits, you do all the prep work at once so you can assemble a fresh apple pie from your freezer in mere minutes. If you like apple pie, you need to try making apple pie kits. It will change the way you bake apple pie forever!
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How to Make Easy Homemade Apple Pie with Crumb Topping:
Ingredients:
4 cups (4 – 5 large) tart baking apples (Cortland are our favorite)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1 unbaked pie shell (9 inches)
Directions:
Peel, core and cut apples. I like to cut apples into thin slices and then cut the slices into thirds, for diced apples. You can use a handy apple peeler corer slicer like this. It is very efficient, especially if you are dealing with a lot of apples! After doing it with a slicer and all myself with a knife, I have decided that I prefer to do it all by hand with a paring knife. This is the paring knife I use. It’s amazing, and a bargain at under $7!
In a large bowl, sprinkle apples with 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Pour apples into an unbaked pie crust. I highly recommend this freezer pie crust recipe.
In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar with flour. Add in butter and mix with hands until crumbly. Pour crumb topping on top of apple pie. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Then, turn the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Don’t take the pie out of the oven during this time. Just readjust the temperature when 10 minutes are up, and reset the timer.
Enjoy your delicious homemade apple pie with crumb topping!
How to Make Freezer Apple Pie Filling:
Making freezer apple pie filling is incredibly simple. I love doing this because I can make several bags of apple pie filling at once and enjoy apple pie from my freezer for months to come.
Simply cut up your apples and sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon. Again, you want 4 cups diced apples, sprinkled with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Put the apples in a quart size freezer bag. Squeeze the air out and lay flat for the freezer.
My Mom recently found these half gallon size freezer bags on clearance and I absolutely love them! They are a perfect size for freezing apple pie filling. Quarts work too but if you can find these, the half gallon gives you a bit more room.
See how easy it is to make freezer apple pie filling? That’s really all there is to it!
You can cook a pie with frozen apple pie filling or thaw it first. I don’t adjust my cooking time either way and the pie always turns out great. If thawing, you may want to drain some of your excess juice before dumping the filling in your crust. Just a note from my experience!
Now, you can take it a step further, as I like to do and make apple pie kits for the freezer.
How to Make Apple Pie Kits for the Freezer:
If you are making an apple kit, you will make all the parts for your apple pie and bag them for the freezer.
First, mix up your freezer apple pie filling as described above.
Second, mix up your crumb topping (sugar, flour and butter) and put in a sandwich bag. Squeeze out the air and store in freezer.
Third, make or buy some freezer pie crusts.
Store all of them together in one large gallon freezer bag. If you are making quite a few apple pie kits, consider freezing all your crumb topping in one bag, pie crusts in another and freezer apple pie filling in yet another couple bags. Organize them as seems best to you.
Now, when you (or your wonderful husband) is in the mood for a homemade apple pie, it’s as easy as 1-2-3.
- Roll out your freezer pie crust.
- Pour in the frozen apple mixture. No need to thaw in advance, unless you really want to do so.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie and bake. In less than 5 minutes, you can have a homemade apple pie ready for the oven!
I will be honest that it takes some prep working doing this. I spent around 3 hours chopping apples and making 10 apple pie kits this past weekend. Was that worth my time? To me it was, because I spent the time prepping pies now so I can quickly make an apple pie in the coming months. When Andy requests a pie or I want to surprise him, I can do so in a matter of minutes by pulling an apple pie kit out of the freezer. This is why I freezer cook!
This apple pie recipe can be made with your favorite variety of apple. Granny Smith is typical but my mother-in-law suggests McIntosh or Cortland. Cortland is the kind we like best. What variety of apples do you like to use when you bake apple pie?
Looking for another easy and delicious apple recipe? Check out my recipe for apple snickers salad. It’s one of our favorite apple recipes!
This homemade apple pie recipe with crumb topping makes a delicious apple pie every single time. Plus, you can use this same recipe to make apple pie kits for your freezer. A brilliant idea to enjoy apple pie year round!
Save RecipeIngredients
- 4 cups (4 - 5 large) tart baking apples (Cortland are our favorite)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1 unbaked pie shell (9 inches)
Instructions
- Peel, core and cut apples. I like to cut apples into thin slices and then cut the slices into thirds, for diced apples.
- In a large bowl, sprinkle apples with 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Stir to coat all apples with sugar.
- Pour apples into an unbaked pie crust.
- In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar with flour. Add in butter and mix with hands until crumbly. Pour crumb topping on top of apple pie.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Then, turn the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Don't take the pie out of the oven during this time. Just readjust the temperature when 10 minutes are up, and reset the timer.
- Enjoy your homemade apple pie!
Notes
If making apple pie kits, follow all the directions but freeze the parts separately. Freeze the crumb topping in a sandwich bag and the apple pie filling in a quart bag. Freeze kits until ready to bake a pie. You can bake the pie with frozen filling or thaw it first. Either way, you are guaranteed a delicious apple pie!
