Leyrer Family Apple Pie

Ever since I can remember, apple pie has always been a celebratory dish in our household. 

My mom’s apple pie is incomparable and practically unmatched from its uniqueness in spices and secret ingredients to even its messy presentation. Every bite is a mouthful of warm spiced seasonal goodness that is to be savored. 

My mom’s recipe has been in our family ever since she was gifted a cookbook from her sixth-grade class back when she was a teacher. Her student Harper wrote to my mom that her family’s apple pie recipe has been in her family for generations. 

From what I can remember the holidays in my house have always been filled with cheer. My fondest memories of the holiday time include decorating the tree with my mom while listening to our favorite Christmas classics, putting wreaths on the exterior of our home with my dad, binge-watching The Grinch and Elf with my best friends and of course, baking with my mom and grammy. My grammy has always been an influential person in my life, especially in the kitchen. She has inspired me to be passionate about my work and has practically taught me everything I know about baking, except for my mom who happened to be the one who walked me step by step in learning how to make her infamous apple pie.

My mom’s apple pie has a special place in my heart. The sweet sweet aroma takes me home and reminds me of togetherness, the taste of sweet cinnamon unlocks the celebratory memories I made as a child, this childhood recipe never fails to make my day, it is simply perfection.  

The pie’s predominant flavor comes from the apples. It consists of six apples, however, we find that having a variety of apples gives the pie depth and automatically takes the flavor game up a notch.

To complement the sweet cinnamon taste of the apple filling, this dish is best served hot with a dollop of french vanilla ice cream on top. This delectable treat will surely satisfy all your sweet tooth cravings.  

Ingredients for filling 

 6 apples peeled and slices

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. grated lemon peel

⅛ tsp. cloves

⅛ tsp. salt

Flour mixture poured over apples

Ingredients for crumble topping

Pie Crust either store bought or homemade

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar

½ butter (or ⅓ cup butter and no cheese)

1 cup shredded cheese

Instructions

When it comes to cutting the apples it’s important to remember that variation is key in this recipe. The apples should be washed, peeled (preferably leaving some skin on the fruit for texture purposes but to each their own), and cut into chunks. Once all your apples are cut and peeled to your desired liking next comes incorporating the flour and spice mixture in with the apples.

In a large bowl combine the two until the flour mixture has coated each apple. It does not matter if you use homemade or store-bought pie crust as long as the crust itself has a deep dish. 

The crumb topping consists of four ingredients. These ingredients should be combined in a separate mixing bowl. 

To assemble the pie the first step is to pour the coated apples into the pie crust then add however much of the crumb topping you would like on top.

The oven should be heated to 400 degrees celsius and the pie should bake from anywhere between 40 and 45 minutes.

When it’s done cooking cover with foil for the last 15-20 minutes.