The Easiest Apple Pie

How lovely that the Easiest Apple Pie is also The Tastiest!

Once upon a time, I made all of our food from scratch. I took great pride in this and I worked for hours in the kitchen every day to put all of our meals and snacks on the table.

Then God taught me more about loving people. He continues to bring more children into our home and shucks if I haven’t made a homemade pie crust in years.

It’s hard to roll out pie crust whilst holding a chubbo sweetheart.

Do I still love homemade pie crust? Oh yes, very much. Might many of you still make homemade pie crust while loving on all the people God has put in your path? Very much, yes.

But as for me and my house, we shall buy the crust from the freezer section of the grocery store. And we will order it through Walmart Pick-up so that we don’t even have to go into the store because grocery shopping isn’t a thing we can do very easily right now.

So now you know the truth.

I buy pre-made pie crusts. And I simply don’t read the ingredient list on the package. I’ve decided that if I don’t know what’s in it, it can’t hurt us. Heh.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but shucks if I’m not putting together a bullet list of store-bought pie crust tips for all of us right now. If we’re going to do this, we should do it the best way, am I right?

My Best Store-Bought Pie Crust Tips

• I like to buy the deep-dish variety instead of the regular (go big or go home)
• I like to buy several 2-packs and keep them in my freezer to pull out and use as needed (because apparently, I’ve decided that pies are a need)
• I pull out my frozen crusts to put together quick pies or quiches for desserts or meals (easy peasy pumpkin squeezy)
• Sometimes we eat Pumpkin Pie for breakfast because this is a vegetable-eating opportunity (and healthier than donuts or fruit loops)

Bonus Tip: Do you know how quickly you can grab out pre-made crusts, whip up Pumpkin Pie Filling, and bake pumpkin pies? So quickly. You should do this.

So now, let’s talk about the Easiest Apple Pie.

I suppose the actual easiest way to make apple pie is to buy a can of apple pie filling and pour it into a pre-made crust. But that would not be the tastiest. So we’re going to work for about ten minutes to make both the Easiest and the Tastiest Apple Pie.

Here’s how to make and freeze Apple Pie Filling:

1. Wash, core, and slice apples into a large bowl. I leave the peeling on to save a step.
2. Stir in 1/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon per every 5-6 apples.
3. Transfer mixture to quart-sized freezer bags, 3-4 cups of apple pie filling per bag.
4. Label the bag and freeze it for up to a year.

Here’s how to make an easy Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup butter (MELTED, if you recall)
1/4 cup chopped nuts or coconut flakes (also optional)

Mix together oats, sucanat, flour and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter and joy upon joy, it creates crumbs with little to no effort. Add nuts or coconut flakes. Triple the recipe to keep this crumb topping on hand for making the Easiest Apple Pies!

If you have frozen apple pie filling and frozen pre-made pie crusts, all you have to do is:

1. Thaw your apple pie filling and your crust.
2. Pour the filling into the crust.
3. Top with Crumb Topping.
4. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour or until apples are tender and juicy.

Oh how cute. This photo is from back in the day when I made crusts with my own hands. :)

How do you feel about store-bought pie crust? Is this perhaps a good time for me to tell you that I also consider frozen pizza to be a “need” in our home right now? Heh.