The late summer, early autumn season was a very busy one for our family. September was full of so many wonderful things: our family had a full week of vacationing together and exploring the Great Smokey Mountains, then the month ended with an incredible trip for myself to the Wild + Free Conference in Franklin, TN. September left my heart full, but my body felt incredibly tired and depleted. So, as life requires, I am using all of my energy now to recover and re-establish our normal. Focused on getting us back in a good homeschool rhythm and make sure our bodies are receiving the rest and down time they need.
In all of the busy-ness, last month slipped by without me giving any attention to the “Simple Home Project” (my attempt to cover all of the topics listed in The Simple Home in 12 months), so I will have to pick up September’s focus sometime in the future. Until then the focus for October, “Simple Home Bakes.” has been a welcome and comforting treat. For, as you know by now, baking is one of the ways I love to draw my family in and a month of intense focus on home baked goods felt like a really big “welcome home” hug we all needed.
Throughout the past weeks we have tried our hand at a few of the recipes included in the book, re-created some of our favorite family desserts, and tried a few recipes from other cookbooks we have lying around our home. We have found though, that in our house when we really need a great comfort food we always go back to our favorite, apple pie. Over time, and lots of trial and error, we have perfected our favorite which is a wonderful combination of my mother-in-law’s crust recipe mixed with a family friend’s filling. We have enjoyed this pie in spring, summer, winter, and fall; it is a favorite for all seasons.
One recent thing we have found is that no matter the season, we love it baked in our cast iron skillet. We use a 12.5″ similar to this one. The cast iron tends to take the quest for a perfectly executed pie crust with beautiful lattice work or fancy cut floral embellishments out. What we are left with is a delicious pie, with a nice flaky crust, all pulled together on the top. It may not be a show-stopper but it is very delicious and feels very much like home.
Rhonda Hetzel says,
“One of the great treasures you’ll develop during your years of cooking will be your recipe collection. Your family will grow up eating these recipes, and hopefully they’ll continue cooking the traditional family recipes when it’s their turn. You can start your collection with your childhood favorites and those you’ve collected over the years.”
This one is becoming a favorite for all of us. I sincerely hope that years from now, when my children are grown, that this is a recipe they want to come home to. I thought I would share it here: for you to enjoy, too. I hope you enjoy!

Skillet Apple Pie
Homemade apple pie with a flaky, buttery crust and perfectly seasoned apples baked in a cast iron skillet.
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 7/8 Cups Unsalted Butter cut into small cubes
- 1/2 Cups Cold Water
Pie Filling
- 7 Apples Golden Delicious are our favorite
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- Dash Nutmeg
- Dash Salt
- 2 Tbsp Butter
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400
Prepare Crust
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Combine flour and cubed butter together cutting-in with a pastry blender until you have tiny bits of butter with a crumb like consistency. Add water slowly, little bits at a time, until the flour and butter hold together but are not sticky. If you add too much water and the mixture sticks to your hand slowly add little bits of flour until desired consistency is reached. Divide into two sections. Roll out both sections into a flat circle. Place the bottom layer in the cast iron skillet. Set aside.
Prepare Filling
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Peel, core, and slice apples into thin slices
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Add all dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to apples and mix well.
Assemble Pie
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Pour apple mixture into prepared skillet with bottom layer of crust.
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Dot the apple mixture with small portions of the 2 Tbsp. of butter.
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Add top crust to top of pie mixture, crimping around the edges. Sprinkle with sugar and cut 3-4 small slits in top for ventilation.
Bake
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Bake in over for 50 minutes.
Do you have a favorite autumn dessert that feels like “home” to your family? Would love for you to share here!
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