Here are 20 of the best ever homemade pie recipes all in one place! They’re quick and easy and they’re all super delicious! Great for parties and get togethers! The hardest part will be choosing which one to make first!
20 Of The Best Ever Homemade Pie Recipes
In this post, you’ll find a bunch of super yummy and easy to make pies, along with easy tips to make sure you get the perfect pie! These pies are great for family desserts, holiday parties and call kinds of get togethers! Browser through them all, choose one and get baking!
These homemade pie baking tips will help you make yummy pies just like Grandma’s with less difficulty, whether you’re a beginner or more experienced baker!
10 Tips To Make Better Pies – Homemade Pie Baking Tips
If you love baking homemade pies from scratch and have the time to do so, then go for it, but don’t feel guilty if you can’t. There are many ways to get that homemade taste without as much work. For example, say your family loves homemade pumpkin pie but every year you notice that they only eat the filling and leave most of the crust. Then, this year, don’t put your pumpkin pie filling in a crust. Just pour it into a well greased baking dish or pan to bake. This will save you time and calories.
If your family loves homemade apple pie but you don’t have time to make a pie crust then make an apple crisp instead.
For homemade cinnamon rolls: Use frozen dough — most people can’t tell the difference. I’ve told this story before but it is a perfect example of what I mean. My grandmother-in-law made the best “homemade” noodles that everyone fought over and raved about at every family get-together. No one made noodles like grandma’s. One day I decided to ask grandma what her secret was and she took me to her freezer and laughingly, pulled out a bag of frozen egg noodles. Everyone assumed that she had made them from scratch.
Make your life easy and take shortcuts when you can. It is much less expensive to use convenience foods sometimes than to go out to eat.
Here are some more homemade pie baking tips for experienced bakers and beginning bakers:
- For something different, try serving your apple pie with butter pecan ice cream instead of the usual vanilla and/or top it with a little caramel ice cream topping.
- Replace 1/4 of the white sugar in your apple pie recipe with brown sugar and/or replace your regular spices with pumpkin pie spice *(recipe below).
- You can give canned apple pie filling more of a homemade flavor by adding apple pie or pumpkin pie spice* to it.
- Lime juice works much better than lemon juice to prevent fruits like apples from turning brown.
- When making fruit pies, microwave the filling for 5-7 minutes before pouring it into the crust. This prevents the crust from becoming overly brown before the filling is completely cooked. In the case of an apple pie, you won’t have to worry about partially cooked apples.
- When making pumpkin pie: Before you pour in the filling, bake the crust for 2-3 minutes just until it starts puffing a little on the bottom. Watch it carefully because it only takes a minute and you don’t want to totally cook it. This really helps prevent those sometimes very soggy pie crusts.
- If you like cheese with your apple pie, mix 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese into your pie crust and then layer the apple filling with another cup of grated cheese.
- If your homemade pies are too runny, add 1 Tbsp. of tapioca to your filling.
- When making pecan pie, melt the butter in a saucepan until it turns golden brown. Watch it so it doesn’t burn. This adds the most wonderful caramel like flavor to your pie. For my favorite pecan pie recipe, check out page 254 in our Dining on A Dime Cookbook. I received this recipe many years ago from my sister-in-law Mary and have yet to taste one that comes close to it for flavor.
- When making a graham cracker crust, add a little cinnamon to the mix.
- When you need to make a graham cracker crust, crush enough crumbs to fill a large container or coffee can. The next time you make a graham cracker crust, you can just scoop out the amount you need.
The Very Best Pie Crust Recipe
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 cups shortening, cold
1 egg, cold
1 Tbsp. vinegar, cold
5 Tbsp. cold water
sugar
Mix flour, salt and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives. Add egg, vinegar and 3 tablespoons water. Mix lightly. If dough is too dry, add more water. Mix with hands. Don’t over mix. Mix just until the dough sticks together. Divide into thirds. Roll out to make 3 pie crusts. When using the crust for the top of the pie sprinkle sugar on top. Crust can be frozen in slightly flatten balls and then defrosted and rolled out when ready to use. Makes 3 crusts.
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Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Combine all of the ingredients and press into a 9 inch pie pan.
Other options:
- You can use chocolate wafer cookies in place of the graham crackers or save cookie crumbs in a container in the freezer to use for this too.
- I also like to crush many graham crackers at once and store in an air tight container. Then all I need to do when I want a crust is to measure out what I need.
- You can use a little cinnamon in the crust too or use cinnamon graham crackers (cutting back on some of the sugar).
The Best Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
This homemade apple pie recipe has been in our family for 75 years or more and still takes the #1 spot at any meal when served.
My mom bakes unbelievably good pies. Even her crust is delicious and this is her apple pie recipe. I have made it for years and now Tawra makes it, too. Even though I tease my daughter about her cooking at times, she has certainly learned how to make a mean apple pie with this homemade apple pie recipe!
Here are a couple of tips before you start making your homemade apple pie:
- No recipe is set in stone. You can make some modifications to the ingredients in this apple pie recipe to adjust to your tastes. For example, you might add more or less cinnamon or you might use all white sugar or less sugar. For your first try, though, I suggest that you make this apple pie recipe exactly as it is written and then adjust to your tastes the next time you make one. When people adjust things before making the apple pie recipe the way it is, I often hear, “My pie didn’t turn out well but I made it just like you said. I only changed this and this and this…” and by the time she has finished explaining, I discover that she has only used one of the original ingredients from my recipe. : )
- What kind of apples do I use? Some people are dogmatic about what kind of apples they use and will only use baking apples for pies. I’m not so fussy and I use whatever apples are on sale or that I happen to have on hand. I personally don’t like the super tart taste from baking apples and I always needed to add more sugar when I used them. It also seems to take longer to bake using baking apples. My favorite thing to do with this homemade apple pie recipe is to use a couple of different kinds of apples. Don’t have a heart attack but, yes, I have used Delicious apples before.
- One of the best things I have discovered after years of baking pies is to cook my fruit pie filling in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and then pour it into the crust. Two of my pet peeves about pies are soggy crusts and partially cooked apples in a pie. If you don’t partially cook the pie filling ahead of time, the crust will sometimes start turning too brown before the apples are done cooking. Pre-cooking the pie filling prevents overbrowning the crust.
- Here is another post that can help you with your pie baking, along with a recipe for a delicious homemade pie crust: Homemade Pie Crust
Here is my best apple pie recipe and as a bonus I will give you a recipe for French apple pie. You use the French apple pie when you have only 1 crust for the bottom and need something to top it with. It is a cross between a pie and apple crisp.
Grandma’s Apple Pie Recipe
6-7 cups of medium apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. butter
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except the butter. Microwave this filling mixture 2-3 minutes. Then pour into the pie crust. Dot with chunks of the butter and top with the other crust. Cut steam slits in the top crust and sprinkle the top with sugar. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then turn down to 350 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes, until apples are tender and juices are bubbling nicely out of the steam slits.
French Apple Pie Topping
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
Mix ingredients until crumble-like and sprinkle over the top of the apples. Bake as usual.
Apple Pie Filling
How to make homemade apple pie filling
My mom makes the best apple pie. We have always loved it. I was talking to her and asked her how she makes it taste so good. She said “I used canned apples.” HA! All this time we thought it was some great secret and it was just canned apples!
If you are like me and have fresh apples piling up everywhere, here is a recipe I love that tastes amazing and freezes really well. I keep bags of it in the freezer to pop into a pie crust when I need it. Make this now and have it ready for those more hectic days during the holidays when you need a quick dessert or apple pie.
Part of the reason canned apples sometimes taste better is because the apples are fully cooked and nice and tender so make sure your apples are well cooked.
This apple pie filling recipe can be slow cooked in a crock pot on low until apples are tender or cooked as the recipe says in a Dutch oven.
Apple Pie Filling Recipe
9 cups baking apples (I use what I have for apples), peeled, cored & sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
5 cups water
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Toss apples with lemon juice and set aside. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add apples and return to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until apples are tender (6-10 minutes). Cool for 30 minutes. Then ladle into freezer containers or bake in pies. Makes enough for two 9 inch pies.
You can cook in the crock pot on low for 4 hours or until apples are tender.
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The Best Homemade Pumpkin Pie
1 pie crust
2 eggs
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
Bake pie crust at 350 degrees for 1-2 minutes until crust starts to puff with small bubbles. Watch carefully. Then remove from the oven. Blend all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into pie crust and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 degrees for 45 minutes. When a knife is inserted into the center of the pie and comes out clean, it is done. Makes one pie.
The BEST Coconut Cream Pie Recipe
This recipe is in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook on page 251.
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. flour
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups coconut
1 baked pie crust
whipped cream
Scald 1 cup milk in a double boiler. Mix sugar, salt, flour, and remaining milk together. Stir into hot milk and cook slowly until thickened, stirring constantly. Cover and cook over boiling water for 5 minutes. Add mixture slowly to egg yolk and cook 1 minute longer. Add butter and vanilla. Stir in coconut. Cool. Pour into baked pie shell and top with whipped cream if desired. Makes one pie.
Super Easy Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe
This recipe is in our cookbook on page 250.
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cocoa
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla
1 9-inch, baked pie crust
whipped topping
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, cocoa and butter. Blend milk and eggs yolks and add to cornstarch mixture.
Cook over medium heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Add vanilla. Pour into baked pie shell. Top with whipped topping. Makes one pie.
The BEST Easy Cherry Pie Recipe
This recipe is in our cookbook on page 249.
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 qt. tart red cherries, pitted
2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
2 pie crusts
Mix sugar, flour, salt and cherries together. Line pie pan with pie crust; add cherry mixture. Dot with margarine and cover with top crust.
Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 25 minutes longer. Makes one pie.
Peach Pie
From our cookbook on page 254.
2 pie crusts
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. margarine or butter
6 cups sliced peaches (fresh, frozen or canned, drained)
1 tsp. lemon juice
Prepare pie crust. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate. Add peach mixture and dot with margarine. Cover with top crust and cut a few slits in it (I cut my initial). Seal and flute the edges. Cover edges with a 2-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent them from burning.
Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving. Makes one pie.
Pumpkin Frosting Pie Recipe
1 can vanilla frosting
1 (15oz.) can pumpkin
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 small carton of whipped topping
1 graham cracker crust that has a little cinnamon and nutmeg added to it
Mix everything but whipped topping and crust. Then fold in topping and pour it all into crust. Chill
You no longer have to decide which of your favorite pie to have. This Pecan Cheesecake Pie Recipe includes the best of both worlds — pecan and cheesecake rolled into one! Not only did we make the decision easy to make but we made the recipe even easier to make!
Easy Pecan Pie Recipe
Recipe from our Dining On A Dime Cookbook on page 254.
1 stick butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped
Brown butter in a pan until golden brown. Do not burn. Cool. Add other ingredients in order given in a separate bowl. Mix well. Blend in cooled butter well. Pour into pie crust.
Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees and then 40 minutes at 325 degrees. Makes one pie.
Pecan Cheesecake Pie Recipe
Cheesecake layer:
1 refrigerated pie crust (you can make your own if you want)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Pecan layer:
2/3 cup dark corn syrup
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans, roughly broken
Spray a 9 inch pie pan with non stick baking spray. Press the pie crust into the pie plate and crimp the edges. Set aside. (Do not bake.)
Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add the egg and beat again. Spread in the bottom of the unbaked pie crust. Whisk together dark corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir in pecans. Gently spoon the mixture over the cheesecake layer. Cover the edges of the pie crust with strips of foil so it doesn’t burn.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool completely. It will be puffy when it comes out, but it will sink as it cools. Keep refrigerated. Cut into 12 slices.
If you are afraid of pie crusts, here is a way to get your homemade pecan pie without the regular pie crust. These pecan pie tarts are also nice because you don’t have the mess of cutting and serving, which makes them great for a large get together. This means you get to spend time with your guests and not in the kitchen trying to cut and dig out a pecan pie from its pan.
Place these pecan tarts in a muffin paper to serve and save on a napkin or dirty dish.
Pecan Pie Tarts Recipe
Crust:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups flour
Mix sugar, butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add egg and flour. Dough will be sticky. Cover and chill 1 hour.
Filling:
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup pecans
Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls and press into the bottom and 2/3 of the way up the sides of a mini muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix filling ingredients except pecans and spoon into crusts and top with pecans. Bake 18-20 minutes or until lightly brown. Makes 3 dozen pecan pie tartlets.
Lemon Meringue Pie from dining page 252
From our cookbook on page 252.
5 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
3 egg yolks (save whites for meringue)
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1 pie crust, baked
Combine dry ingredients. Add water. Cook until thick, stirring constantly.
Add egg yolks in a small bowl. Beat slightly. Add a 1/4 cup of hot cornstarch mixture 1 Tbsp. at a time mixing after each addition to the eggs. (This keeps the eggs from scrambling when added to the saucepan.)
Add egg mixture to the saucepan. Simmer 2 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until mixed. Pour into the pie crust. Cover with meringue. Makes one 9 inch pie.
Meringue:
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 Tbsp. cold water
1/2 cup boiling water
3 egg whites
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
In a saucepan, mix the cornstarch with water. Add boiling water and cook until thick on medium heat. Set aside to cool.
Beat egg whites to soft peak. Add cornstarch mixture, beat until stiff. Add sugar 1 Tbsp at a time until all is incorporated and then add vanilla.
Cover top of the pie with meringue. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the pie in the oven. Let it cool with the door open. DO NOT cut until completely cooled.
Easy No Bake Millionaire Pie
Here are a couple of tips for making this millionaire pie recipe:
- Make sure you use actual Cool Whip and not just whipped cream. The pie won’t set up as well with whipped cream.
- Be sure to use the lemon juice. It’s what sets the pie and there really isn’t any other substitute for it.
- If you don’t like coconut. you can use marshmallows.
- You don’t have to garnish the top with extra whipped cream, cherries and nuts but it does make a pretty presentation.
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This recipe literally takes 5 minutes to make if you are using a pre-made pie crust. If you make your own graham cracker crust, you need to add about 5 more minutes.
Easy No Bake Millionaire Pie Recipe
1 graham cracker crust or regular pie crust
1 cup coconut flakes (sweetened)
1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple or fruit cocktail, well drained
1 cup maraschino cherries, drained & chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened sweetened condensed milk (Make sure it’s NOT evaporated milk.)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
1 1/2 cups whipped topping (Cool Whip)Garnish
1/2 cup whipped topping (Cool Whip**)
2 tablespoons maraschino cherries, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup pecans or walnuts (optional)Combine the coconut, pineapple, cherries, nuts, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and cherry juice and mix well. Fold in the whipped topping. Place in the pie crust.
Garnish the millionaire pie as desired. This recipe makes one pie.
No Bake Oreo Peanut Butter Pie Recipe
Crust:
20 Oreo cookies, crushed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine
Mix and press into 9×13 pan. You can use store bought crusts of you prefer.
Filling:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 (8 oz.) tub whipped topping
Beat cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on crust. Chill for at least 3 hours. You can freeze, but thaw before serving.
Variations:
- You can add less peanut butter if the flavor is overpowering.
- Add chopped peanuts or walnuts.
- Drizzle with chocolate ice cream topping.
- Leave out the peanut butter altogether and add a couple tablespoons of cocoa. Then serve with fresh fruit like strawberries, raspberries or bananas.
- Add chocolate chips along with the peanut butter.
- Leave out the peanut butter and just use chocolate chips, sprinkles or crushed candies.
- Use a graham cracker crust for a less rich dessert.
Easy No Bake Cheesecake Recipe
1- 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1- 8 oz. container whipped topping
Beat first 3 ingredients together. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into a graham cracker crust and chill.
This Royal Banana Cream Pie Recipe is a tasty and easy recipe that your family and friends are sure to love! It’s easy to make the day before you need it and just serve! Super yummy!
Royal Banana Cream Pie Recipe
1 (3 oz.) instant vanilla pudding (You might also try banana pudding.)
1 cup milk
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping
1 graham cracker or regular pie crust*
Bananas
Coconut (optional)
Beat milk and pudding and set aside. Beat cream cheese. Beat sweetened condensed milk into cream cheese. Stir into pudding mixture. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread half of this mixture onto the crust and top with sliced bananas. Spread with the rest of the filling. Top with the rest of the whipped topping. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight. If desired, top with toasted coconut.
*I think this would be so good with a chocolate pie crust, especially if you use chocolate shavings in place of the coconut to garnish.
Black Forest Fluff Recipe
This black forest fluff recipe makes a tasty dessert that is perfect for holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day! Even though I mentioned holidays and parties, chocolate and cherries are good anytime for anything.
2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 pkg. (3 oz.) cherry gelatin
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water, divided
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping
10 maraschino cherries, chopped
1/2 cup pecan pieces ( could use walnut)
Spread crumbs in a 9×13 pan. Bring 1 cup of the water to a boil and dissolve gelatin in it. Stir in remaining water and lemon juice into gelatin. Refrigerate until partially set. Fold in whipped topping, cherries, and pecans. Spread over crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to serve. If desired, garnish with whipped topping, maraschino cherries, chocolate shavings or chocolate chips.
Are the recipes you have in your cookbook good for diabetics? I am a type 2 diabetic so must be careful with a lot of sugar and carbs. I like a lot of your recipes but must check on the sugar and carbs first.
Charlotte our book is not a diabetic cookbook but we have a ton of diabetics who love using our cookbook because there are many recipes diabetics can use and what they like even more is that the recipes are so easy and simple that they can easily make adjustments to them for their own needs.
Oh My! These fab recipes are so quick and easy to make. Plus, I believe they’re all super delicious! I’m seriously salivating as I’m writing this comment. I’m definitely saving this post for later. Thank you A LOT for sharing this treasure and all of your precious tips! I really appreciate all of your hard work and effort. Look forward to your new awesome ideas.
Best wishes,
Ann
Thank you Ann. I love making pies so I am glad you are enjoying these recipes too.