Maybe it’s just me, but I associate fall with coffee and warm fresh baked sweets! It’s ‘bulk season’ right? Fall is associated with those common warm, homey flavors like pumpkin, cinnamon, apples and other flavors that make you feel cozy from the inside-out.

BUT, there’s nothing better than an apple pie! There are soooo many different ways to enjoy baked apples; from an apple crumble to Dutch babies, apples are a very versatile baking ingredient (and my personal favorite to enjoy). Here’s a classic for you to take home & try for yourself!

I love, love, loveeee apple pie and it’s even better when I can eat it in a few different ways! You don’t always want to commit to a slice of pie (especially when I just ran out of vanilla ice cream), so try out pie bites for size too!

I prefer to make the crust from scratch so I can easily shape and cut into smaller shapes, but of course you can always purchase a store-made crust! If that’s your plan, skip this next section and go straight to the filling and be sure to follow the baking instructions on the packaging.

Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice water
Egg wash

Combine the flour and salt; use a pastry cutter to cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add the ice water, tossing with a fork until the dough holds together when pressed.

2. Divide dough into two balls, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

3. Flour your surface and rolling pin; roll out one of the dough balls to size of your pan (a little over so it can cover the sides) and transfer to pan carefully. Add filling.

4. If you want to do a design on top, cut the remaining dough with a cookie cutter or into strips to layer like I did. Mix a little egg wash to get the lattice to stick to each-other and the sides.

5. For the bites, roll out the second dough ball until 1/8 inch thick. Take a circle cookie cutter (or in my case a shot glass!) and cut concentric circles to place in a mini muffin pan. Add filling.

For the apple pie filling, it’s really your personal preference. I personally like the very crisp tasting apples and find that granny smiths pair well with some of the sweeter apples, like Fuji or Honeycrisp, to give your apple pie a bit of a ~bite~. Extra points if you use apples from a pick-your-own orchard!

Pie Filling

Don’t worry about making too much filling, it’s always better to have more than less! You can always eat the excess or make something else with it. This recipe was enough for both the pie and 24 pie bites.

5 medium apples, mixed types; peeled, cored and thinly diced
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark will work, depending on how rich you want your filling to be)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Add all ingredients in a bowl and toss until apples are completely covered and evenly coated.
Add apples to pie crust (see crust instructions above)
Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake pie and crust until crust is golden brown, around 50 minutes. For the bites, bake at same temperature for around 30 minutes until crust is golden brown.
Let cool, slice and enjoy!

Apple of my eye