Good morning & happy Friday to you!
Have you ever had one of those nights where you’ve had way too much on your mind and you can’t sleep? It’s been one of those nights for me. I woke up around three am and couldn’t fall back asleep, it was impossible. I gave up on trying and decided to blog about apple pie instead. I mean, isn’t that what most people do? My blog brings me happiness and connecting with my readers (even if it’s through pie) brings me comfort and a sense of calmness, even through crazy moments in life. I just poured a cup of freshly brewed coffee and I’m ready to go! Cheers to all of you on this beautiful Friday morning.☕️
When most people hear the word “pie”, they think of the delicious dessert with a sugary fruit filling and flaky crust that melts in your mouth. When I hear the word “pie”, I think of my grandpa. He was the king of pies! People were always begging him to bake pies for them. He’d make strawberry rhubarb pie, blueberry pie, blackberry pie, raspberry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and more! His crust was perfect and he put so much love into baking. My pies will never come close to my grandpas, but my appreciation for pie is up there. I love you Grandpa and miss you everyday! 
I love that pie is eaten all year round. You get your pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and Halloween, cherry pies at Christmas, banana or peach pies in the summer, and apple pies are acceptable anytime.
People coming together in the fall and sometimes it’s a last-minute event. I’m about to share a super delicious, semi-homemade apple pie recipe that you can make in minutes. 
Ingredients
Filling: *4-6 apples (Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Fuji), *1/2 Cup Sugar (I used Demerara Sugar), * 3 Tbsps Brown Sugar, *Sprinkle of Salt, *1 Tbsp of Apple Pie Spice, *1 Tsp Vanilla Extract *1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon, *1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour, 1/2 Stick Unsalted Butter
Topping: 1 Tbsp Melted Butter, *Sugar
Crust: 2 Ready to Bake Deep Dish Pie Crust
Steps
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees
2.Peel and dice the apples.
3. Melt the butter in a microwave-safe dish and stir in the brown sugar, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and apple pie spice
4. Add the sugary butter mixture to the apples.
5. Add flour and salt. (Baking is all about “taste testing.” Try an apple and make sure it’s flavored just right. Maybe it needs more sugar, more cinnamon or more salt!)
6. Add the apple filling to one of the pie crusts.
7. Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice strips into the second pie crust.
8. Add the slices to the top of the pie and begin your latticework. Use your fingers to reconstruct the edges.
9. Melt the extra butter in the microwave. Coat the top of the pie with the melted butter. Sprinkle sugar on top.
10.Bake for 30-40 minutes. The sides will be golden brown.
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Peel and dice the apples.
Melt butter in a microwave safe dish and stir in the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice. 
Stir in the vanilla. 
Add the sugary mixture to the apples.
Add flour and salt. Baking is all about “taste testing.” Try an apple and make sure it’s flavored just right! Maybe it needs more sugar, more cinnamon, or more salt! 
Add the apple filling to one of the pie crusts. 
Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice strips of the pie dough. 
Add the slices to the top of the pie and begin your latticework! This is the fun part 🙂
Use your fingers to reconstruct the edges. 
Melt the butter in the microwave. 
Coat the top of the pie with butter and sprinkle the sugar on top! 
Bake for 30-40 minutes. The sides will be golden brown.
I brought the pie over to my parent’s house yesterday morning and my mom said it was gone by the evening. She told me it was blue ribbon worthy, but little did she know (well you know now) that it was semi-homemade. 
Questions for you!
- Do you have a semi-homemade go-to dessert recipe?
- What is your favorite pie flavor?
I am craving apple pie more than anything right now! Blame pregnancy cravings I guess. I usually only get it at Thanksgiving courtesy of my mom, so maybe I can sweet talk her into making one for me and baby before then! 😉
It’s the best 🙂 I’m sure you could sweet talk your mom!
Hi Taralynn,
That pie looks amazing! I could eat a huge slice right now and I’m not much of a pie person!
I don’t have a semi-homemade go-to dessert recipe! And that’s why God invented Pinterest! Lol
I tried a blueberry pie from Winn Dixie and it was delicious! My mood kind of dictates the flavor for me.
Have a great weekend!
Brittany
Hi Brittany!
I never used to be a pie person until I got a little older!
& yes that is the beauty of pinterest!
Blueberry is one of my favorite flavors!!!
I hope you have a great weekend as well!
xo xo
That looks like the most picture perfect apple pie. Sorry you couldn’t sleep- that has happened to me a few times in the past couple months- NO FUN. I loved the sweet sharing about your Grandpa too. Those pictures just radiate joy <3
My semi-homemade (heavy on the semi) favorite around this time would be a libby's pumpkin pie with a store bought crust. But I may have a new favorite after this post!
Favorite pie flavor- I don't know if I could choose! I love them all. I think it depends on my mood. Pumpkin, Pecan, or Apple (vanilla ice cream) in the fall probably, but then generally I love a good lemon meringue or something tart or a coconut cream. In the summers too a good cherry pie from Traverse City michigan is hard to beat! So basically everything…
It's FriYAY! Have a great weekend, lovely!
xo
It most certainly was! It’s ok. I know I’ll sleep much better tonight! Sometimes the mind does what it wants to do!
I think you’ll REALLY LOVE this recipe!!!
I have to agree with you and pie & the mood I’m in! I bet you def have the best cherry pies!!!
xo xo
I’m pretty sure pie is my love language, especially when served a la mode.
So, my favorite dessert recipe isn’t really semi homemade, but it is super easy, does that count? I’ll be nice and share too 😉
Frozen Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie (healthy to boot!)
1 c. Peanut butter
1/3 c. melted coconut oil
1/3 c. Cocoa powder
4 packets stevia
4 bananas
Blend all ingredients in blender. Pour into pie tin (I sometimes use a graham cracker crust / semi homemade 😉 ) and freeze until solid.
Serve partially thawed! This tecipe is my favorite because it tastes almost* like ice cream cake, erh pie.
If it’s super easy, it totally counts!!
& it sounds amazing!!!!!! I need to try this asap.
xo xo Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome girl! Enjoy!
I like to keep it on hand when my sweet tooth strikes late at night 😉
I’ll have to try this apple pie recipe ASAP too- it looks amazing!
Xo and happy Friday!
Look so delicious!!! Always great recipes to make!!! 🙂
yes for sure!! 😉
I’ve heard that pie crusts that use lard are actually so delicious!
pie crust in general is simply delicious 😉
Hey! What brand pie crust did you use?
Thanks!!
Harris Teeters! (local grocery store brand) Philsbury has a crust thats really good!
Hi Tara!
1 – I love baking birthday cakes for my family members, and so I have a book called the “Cake Mix Doctor” (HIGHLY recommend!) that takes boxed cake mixes and turns them into amazing semi-homemade desserts! It’s my go-to for cake recipes 🙂
2 – I admit I’m not the biggest pie person, but I do like an occasional pumpkin or apple pie!
PS — Have you heard the soundtrack to the musical “Waitress”? It was written by my favorite singer (Sara Bareilles) and the whole show is about a woman working in a pie shop/diner and essentially using baking to express herself. It’s amazing (Jessie Mueller stars!) and you should totally listen to it the next time you bake a pie 😉
TTFN, hope you have an amazing weekend! <3 xoxo
Taralynn,
Long time reader and Iowa girl (from Urbandale) here and first time commenter lol now that we’re aqquainted on to the pie! I love that it’s semi homemade because I have a 10 year old daughter and 3 year old son and baking from scratch is impossible! This is the kind of recipe I can get my daughters help with. Plus it looks tasty and very pretty with the lattice top. I can totally relate to sleepless nights. I usually wake up between 3-4am several times a week. I do suffer from chronic low back pain and it’s likely from that but I envy your productivity at that hour! Usually I look at pinterest or swing by your blog until I can try to get back to sleep. Keep up the fall food posts, I love the step by step instructions with photos! Take care 🙂
Jenny
My grandma’s chocolate rum cake is made with cake mix and pudding mix, but you add lots of different yummy ingredients to make it special. Everyone always loves this cake!
That’s a hard one! This summer I made a yummy homemade blueberry pie, but of the store-bought variety I love Marie Callander’s chocolate silk pie. YUMMMM!!!
PS: Thank you for all the running tips you gave me a couple posts back, I really appreciate it! I’ll let you know how my running goes 🙂
My favorite pie is dewberry! We pic the berries ourselves in our pasture in the spring then I make pies. I buy a store bought crust but the filling & crumble are all my own! Yummmm
Dewberry?! I’ve never had that! Sound so good.
It’s pretty much like a blackberry pie! Dewberries look just like blackberries except they are smaller! It’s definitely a Texas pie!
It’s definitely a pie I’m going to have to try!
I used this post as a shopping list yesterday, and am going to make your pie today! I can’t wait to try it! I love apple pie because of the classic flavors, but I also love Blackberry when I find a good one!
My favorite semi-homemade go to is pumpkin spice cupcake/muffins. They are technically muffins because I never frost them, but they are on the sweet side so I always end up eating them for dessert! Super simple recipe too! Combine one can of Pumpkin and one box of Spice Cake Mix… mix… bake and they are done! So easy and delicious!
Love the pictures of you and your grandpa. It brings back memories for me. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Taralynn!
I followed your recipe and my pie looks great, but when I cut into it last night it was really soupy. I used 1/4 cup of flour, but do you think I should’ve used more? Still tastes delicious, but I was just curious if you’ve ever had this happen. Thank you!
Best,
Abby
Oh no! The filling should definitely have ben cooked and not soupy! How long did you cook it for?