Leaf Topped Homemade Apple Pie

An out-of-the-ordinary pie crust makes this Leaf Topped Homemade Apple Pie a showstopper! The cinnamon-spiced filling takes like an old-fashioned apple pie and will tantalize you with the aroma as it bakes!

This is one of the Best Apple Pie Recipes, and you can always top it with a plain top crust to streamline the recipe process!

Why You’ll Love this Apple Pie Recipe

• The leaf topping makes for an out-of-the-ordinary presentation!
• Filling a pie with precooked apples enables you to add a topping that’s level!
• Though you can find a wider of varieties of apples in the fall, there is really no season for apple pie so you can make it anytime you get a craving!

I spied a picture of a Shingle Leaf Apple Brandy Pie in a Martha Stewart Cookbook. Seriously a work of art. I knew it would be nearly impossible to replicate her shingled crust, but my apple pie-loving family wouldn’t give a hoot if the crust was a disaster. They’d be too excited for homemade apple pie to utter a complaint. As anticipated, this leaf topped apple pie bore no resemblance to the one in the cookbook! But the results were still delectable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tips for Making a Decorative Crust

• Use a good, tried and true pie crust recipe. If your dough starts to crumble, you’ll be in trouble!
• Cook your filling. There will be less evaporation from the fruit as it bakes, keeping the decorative topping level.
• Take the time to level out the filling before adding the leaves or whatever special topping you’re adding.
• I like using the plastic plunger leaf cutters for this recipe. (affiliate link)
• Roll out your crust on a lightly floured surface. A large Silpat is nice as it is nonstick and will help with cleanup.

Perfect Pie Crust

I found an old copy of Bill’s aunt’s pie crust so I use that in this recipe. With a combination of shortening and butter, it tasted great from the butter and was easy to roll and cut due to the shortening. The egg also helped with the texture and the splash of vinegar, according to King Arthur Flour, prevents the dough fro

I have a love-hate relationship with pie crusts. On the one hand, I can make a buttery, tender, and flaky crust that tastes amazing. On the other hand, if I try anything beyond a standard or even a lattice crust, the outcome is quite iffy. I’d estimate I have about a 50-50 win-loss ratio–at least according to my own perfectionist analysis. These lovely leaves were cut from the pie dough reserved for the top crust and arranged over the apple filling. This isn’t the part that gave me a headache.

Martha Stewart’s recipe called for an egg wash. The results were not pretty with spotty browning. With my second attempt, I lightly brushed the crust with heavy cream and the browning was more consistent.

More Apple Pie Recipes You’ll Love:

• Rose Apple Pie Tutorial from Comfortably Domestic
• Double Crust Apple Pie Recipe from Saving Room for Dessert
• Fresh Apple Pie Dip from Wishes and Dishes
• Paula Deen’s Apple Pie from Something Swanky
• Apple Pie Bars
• Classic Apple Pie 
• And don’t forget to check out all my 100+ Best Pie Recipes

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The Recipe:

Leaf Topped Apple Pie

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Yield 8 servings

A classic apple pie with a leaf cut-out crust

Ingredients

• One double pie crust, homemade or store-bought
• 3 1/2 pounds apples (I used golden delicious, Granny Smith, and Jonagold), peeled and each cut into 8 slices
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Cream, to glaze pie
• Sugar, to sprinkle over glaze if desired

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Saute the apples for about a minute, gently stirring to coat apples with butter. Add lemon juice and sugar and cook till apples are just tender, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
2. Allow to cool while rolling out the bottom crust.
3. Preheat oven to 400º.
4. Place bottom crust into 9-inch pie plate. Trim pastry, leaving about a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the overhanging pastry under to form an unfluted edge. Carefully fill the crust with apples, tucking apples into any open spaces to make the top level.
5. Roll out top crust, then cut out leaves one at a time, placing them around the edge first, then repeat keeping the leaves touching from side to side, and overlapping slightly as you layer towards the center.
6. Brush crust with cream and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
7. Place pie plate on a sheet pan to catch any drips. Immediately reduce oven temperature to 375º, and bake for about 40 minutes, or till the top is brown, apples are tender and filling is bubbling.
8. Cool on a rack. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 386Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 160mgCarbohydrates: 68gFiber: 6gSugar: 48gProtein: 2g

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The Recipe:

Best Pie Crust Recipe

This is the best pie crust for decorative toppings. The egg and combination of butter and shortening make it easy to work with.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flur
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup cold shortening, cut into pieces
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 5 tablespoons ice cold water
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Instructions

1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour salt, and sugar.
2. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
3. Whisk together the egg, water, and vinegar
4. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse until the mixture just comes together, pulling away from the sides.
5. Divide the dough into two discs, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate for about an hour.
6. When chilled, use as directed.

Notes

Keep a stick of shortening in the freezer to have at the ready for making pie crust.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 277Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 457mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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2016 crust before baking