This homemade Dutch Apple Pie is a showstopping holiday-worthy dessert. It is everything you love about a classic apple pie, but the bubbly pie filling is topped with an irresistible buttery crumb topping in place of the top crust. It’s simple to make and assemble, but really wows on the dessert table!
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We love apple recipes from Classic Apple Pie, Apple Turnovers, and Baked Apples to Apple Coffee Cake (which is my idea of a perfect morning!). There is nothing like the sweet smell of homemade apple desserts, especially in the Fall when apples are ripe and in season.
Dutch Apple Pie Video Tutorial:
Watch Natasha make this Dutch Apple Pie recipe, and be sure to listen for our quick apple-slicing tip in the video. It really does make prepping apples super fast and fun.
What is a Dutch Apple Pie?
Dutch Apple Pie is a crumb-topped apple pie or a mash-up between apple pie and apple crisp. We use a traditional homemade butter crust to line the pie plate, and then we fill it with our fan-favorite apple pie filling as you would for classic Apple Pie.
Then, instead of topping it with another woven crust, we switch it up, using a heavenly mixture of Fall spices, sugar, butter, and chopped pecans, like the streusel of an Apple Crisp, and sprinkle it over the apples. The result is so tasty and makes my house smell amazing.
Ingredients for Dutch Apple Pie
Check your pantry and fridge for everything you need to make this Dutch Apple Pie recipe. It’s the simple ingredients that make it so unforgettable!
- Pie Crust – our homemade pie crust is easy to make and worth the extra few minutes. Use one from the recipe and freeze the other. You can also use a pre-made pie crust.
- Apples – 1.25 lbs of Granny Smith apples equals about 6 apples. See our list below for apple substitutes.
- Filling – cinnamon, butter, flour, water, sugar
The Best Apples for Dutch Apple Pie
We highly recommend using Granny Smith Apples for most apple desserts because the tangy apples contrast the sweetness of the filling. While Granny Smith works best, here are some tips for substitutions:
- Crisp/tart apples that are not overly ripe work best, like Jonagold, Braeburn, Pink Lady or Honey Crisp.
- Adjust the sugar – For sweeter apples, squeeze some fresh lemon juice over your apple slices to balance the sweetness and reduce the sugar in the filling.
- Mix and mingle – For more flavor, you can mix apple varieties such as sweet Honeycrisp with tart Granny Smith.
Ingredients for the Crumb Topping
- Flour – we use all-purpose flour to give the crumb structure
- Sugar – we combine brown sugar and granulated sugar,
- Spice – cinnamon adds warmth and compliments the filling and salt balances the sweetness
- Unsalted Butter – helps the crumbs stick together and crisp up
- Chopped pecans – add nutty flavor and crunch
Pro Tip:
You can leave out the pecans if you don’t prefer nuts or have an allergy. You can also replace them with chopped walnuts, sliced or slivered almonds, shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds or even some rolled oats.
How to Slice Apples for Dutch Apple Pie
You can peel, core, and slice the apples by hand with a knife, but the fastest and easiest way is to use an Apple Slicer. It does all of the prep in one step. Watch the video tutorial above to see this in action. We recommend cutting the slices 1/4″ thick for this Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie.
How to Make Dutch Apple Crumb Pie
A Dutch apple pie sounds fancy but the process is simple and you will impress everyone with your stunning finished dessert. This recipe has a generous amount of filling so we recommend a deep-dish pie pan.
- Prep the Oven – Preheat to 375°F and place one oven rack on the bottom and one in the center.
- Make the Crust – roll a chilled pie disk and then transfer it to a pie pan. Crimp the edges.
Pro Tip:
The easiest way to transfer a pie crust is to wrap it around your rolling pin and then unroll it into your pie pan, like in the photos above.
- Prep Apples – Peel, core and slice the apples to 1/4″ thick. Toss with cinnamon.
- Make the Apple Filling – in a saucepan, melt butter, then whisk in flour. Add sugar and water. Stir sauce into sliced apples then pour apples over the bottom crust.
- Make Crumb Topping – using your hands or a pastry blender, form pea-sized crumbles from flour, brown and granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter, then add pecans. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the apples.
- Bake Uncovered at 375˚F for 55 minutes and allow to cool for 1 hour before serving. This helps the filling set and it will be easier to slice.
How to Know When Dutch Apple Pie is Done
The pie is done when you see bubbling juices at the edges coming through the topping. You can also check with an instant-read thermometer. Pectin breaks down and softens the apples at 175˚, so you want your pie filling to reach 175˚F.
How to Serve Dutch Apple Pie
Dutch apple pie will get all the attention on a Dessert Table. It’s truly delicious and smells heavenly! After baking, you’ll want to cool it for about an hour so it sets up a bit for easier slicing. I like to serve it warm, but you can also serve it at room temperature or chilled right out of the fridge.
If you want to make the pie even more decadent, serve it with:
- Vanilla Ice Cream scooped over each slice
- Caramel Sauce drizzled over the pie
- Whipped Cream lightly sweetened like in our Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Make-Ahead
We love to make and serve the pie the same day it is made but you can pre-make portions of the pie or even bake the entire apple pie with crumb topping ahead.
- Pie Crust – The homemade pie dough can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated until ready to use. You can even mold it in the pie pan ahead, cover it, and refrigerate it a day ahead.
- Crumble Topping – you can make the topping a day ahead, cover it, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Storing the Finished Pie – the pie can be baked, cooled, and refrigerated a day ahead. Bring the pie to room temperature or slightly warm it in the oven before serving.
Everything about this Dutch Apple Pie is good, from the flaky pastry dough to the warm gooey apple filling and crisp buttery pecan topping. It’s a must-try for your next Holiday Menu!
More Holiday Desserts
If you love this Dutch Apple Pie recipe, then you won’t want to miss these holiday desserts. These are the fan favorites that are most popular for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.
- Pumpkin Cake
- Tiramisu
- Red Velvet Cake
- Toffee
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Baklava
- Banana Bread
- Tres Leches Cake
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
Dutch Apple Pie Recipe (Apple Crumb Pie)
Ingredients
For the Dutch Apple Pie:
- 1 pie crust , (1/2 of our pie dough recipe)
- 2 1/4 lbs granny smith apples, 6 medium apples
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
For the Crumb Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F with a rack on the bottom and a rack in the center of the oven.
- Roll out your chilled pie dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12” diameter circle. Transfer to a 9” pie pan. Tuck excess pie dough into the dish and crimp the edges.
- Peel, core, and thinly slice apples to about 1/4” thickness. You should have 7 cups of sliced apples. Place them in a mixing bowl and stir in 1 tsp cinnamon.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 3 Tbsp flour then simmer for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Whisk in 1/4 cup water, 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue simmering for 3 minutes, whisking frequently then remove from heat. Pour the sauce over the apples and stir to coat the apple slices. Pour apples over bottom crust.
- To Make the Crumb Topping, stir together dry ingredients: flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter and work it into the mixture with our hands until pea-size crumbs form throughout the mixture. Stir in pecans. Spread the crumb topping evenly over your apples
- Bake uncovered at 375˚F for 50-60 minutes (we found 55 minutes to be perfect), or until the center of the pie registers 175˚F. Place a sheet of foil on the bottom rack to catch any drips from the pie. If topping is browning too much, cover with a sheet of foil. Remove from oven and cool 1 hour to allow the filling to set so it’s easier to slice.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
How could you make your Dutch Apple pie in a cookie sheet for a large crowd?
Hi Pam, I have not tried that, but it sounds interesting! If you experiment with that, I’d love to know how you like that.
I expect a cookie sheet is not deep enough, but a casserole dish might work.
I bake apple pie quite often but my husband claimed he’s not a fan of them. So I baked this recipe for the first time and a traditional pumpkin pie for my husband. He took a small slice of both and said this apple pie was 3x better than the pumpkin! Whole family loved it!! I did use Winesap apples that were already diced and frozen. They were perfect! Thank you, Natasha!!
Wow, thanks for sharing that with us, Dawn. I’m happy to know that he loved it!
I am going to make this pie Wednesday 23rd. I was wondering when I take it out of the fridge and set out and gets room temperature. At what temp and how long to warm pie up in the oven?
Hi Kari, I would reheat it in the oven. For a 9-inch pie, once your oven is pre-heated to 350 degrees, I would put it in for maybe 20 minutes
Can’t wait to make this on Sunday. is it okay to simply omit the nuts. do I need to substitute with something else that is not a nut. Thanks.
Hi Annette, you can try substituting something else, but I haven’t tried an alternative myself to advise. Omitting them will be okay. One of my readers mentioned trying oats. Here’s what they said: “I, however can’t eat nuts, so I substituted oats. It was the best recipe I’ve tried and by far the most unique, we topped it with ice cream and my family can’t wait for me to make it again!” I hope this is helpful.
This Pie is absolutely delicious!!! And so easy to make, thank you Natasha, we love all of your recipes so far!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes, Mitzi! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This pie is crazy good. I’m entering it in a contest tomorrow. I’m going to try to brown the butter not necessarily to improve it, but to set it apart from the other apple pies with some nutty notes. May the best man (woman) win.
Wow, sounds exciting! Please update us on how it goes and wishing you all the best!
This is my family’s favourite apple pie now, I use Golden delicious apples, and halve the sauce ingredients except for the apples and cinnamon, the consistency is perfect, 60 minutes in my oven was spot on.
Love it! Happy to have seen your review, Michele. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.
The best ever a Dutch apple pie/crisp. Had a hard time waiting the one hour cooling time!
I’m sure it was worth the wait! I’m happy to hear that you loved this Dutch Applie Pie!
This was amazing, my family loved it. i have apples left over and I am wondering if I can make just the filling and freeze it for a quick pie if I need to?
Thanks
HI Olivia, I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would be a good experiment.
Could I substitute walnuts for the pecans? Thank you
Hi Beth, that should work well.
I loved this pie!! My new go to!
I have some apples left, can I use this recipe without the crust (apple crisp)?
Hi Kimberly, great to hear that this is now your go-to recipe. I think that will work, feel free to try and do an experiment on it.
This was the best apple pie I’ve ever made. The caramel sauce on the apples was a huge hit! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes Natasha 😁
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Karen!
This Pie was so easy to make! Thank you for sharing.
You are very welcome, thanks for your review!
I have a question,
Could I possibly cook the apples on the stovetop with the sauce (after the sauce is complete) then place them in the pie? I have heard that cooking the apples a little can help get a softer apple after. So I’m wondering is it worth it, would it work? I would love any feedback. Thanks so much! P.s. recipe looks amazing, going to try it tomorrow!
Hi Madison, I haven’t tested it that way since the baking time seems adequate for making the apples tender, but if you want softer apples, you could also slice them a little thinner.
Okay thanks for the feedback! I will just try the recipe as is and see if I need to make adjustments. I think the key could be the apple peeler you have so that all the apples are exactly the same size.
Natasha,
Every recipe we have tried from your kitchen has been phenomenal. Let me tell you, I caught my husband eating this pie with his eyes closed! He said it was life changing!! Thank you for these recipes they have revolutionized our meals.
This recipe is easy, fast, and super delicious.
Wow, that is awesome feedback! Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Monica Glad your husband loved this pie!
Excellent recipe, everyone loved the pie. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Nataliya! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this Dutch apple pie over the weekend and it was AMAZING! Super easy recipe to follow with ingredients I have in my kitchen. The only thing I had to buy was more apples but it was seriously the best apple pie I have ever had! My husband said it was better than the store bought pies. Thank you so much for this!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Jessica!
Should i use a pie shield on my pie?
Hi Amy, we didn’t have to for this recipe but if you feel it needs it, you’re welcome to use it.
how do i do half the pie crust recipe?
Hi Amy, halving the recipe should work!
Hi! If I’m making half the filling, but the whole topping how much time should I leave it in the oven?
Hi Angie, bake until you see the juices bubbling through the topping. See the section titled: “How do I know when my pie is done?”
Thank you! I ended up baking it for 10 minutes or so less than the recipe said. It was amazing and everyone who tried it loved it!
Wow this recipe is amazing my husband is so pleased. He said it was the best apple pie he has ever eaten! Super easy to follow. I have always bought pie crusts in the past, but nothing I have ever purchased compares to the crust you recommend making. Don’t skip this step guys it’s worth it!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new family favorite!