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Dutch Apple Pie

This Dutch Apple Pie recipe is a family favorite. A smidge of nutmeg, cinnamon, and a buttery crumb topping this pie is soon to be your family favorite too!!

slice of dutch apple pie on a plate with ice cream dripping off the side whole pie in background

Growing up I couldn’t go very far without seeing an apple orchard.  In fact I grew up right on the edge of what’s known as Fruit Ridge.  Hundreds of acres of fruit farms.  It was a lovely place to grow up! My mom also loved to bake. We had a variety of apple pie recipes, homemade Dutch apple pie was the one she would make most often. It’s an amazing recipe; homemade pie crust, with apple filling, topped with the buttery crumb topping. All the components are important. The crust needs to be golden brown and flaky, no soggy bottom! Not just any kind of apples can be used. Tart apples should be used. There are a variety of apples that I like to use. Granny Smith apples are probably the easiest to find, but my top choice if you can find them are Northern Spy. They are a late season apple that is firm, and has the perfect amount of tart and sweet for pies. The crumble topping is buttery and sweet, and brings a caramel element to this pie. This is quite frankly the best apple pie, and I’m salivating as I write! Let me show you how to make your own!

True Story: A friend and I used to sneak out at night for innocent walks in the dark through the apple orchard at the end of my grandparents street.  The orchard owner got a little miffed about our midnight raids of his orchard so one night he hung plastic snakes in his trees.  It scared the bee-jeebies out of my friend and I.  We dropped all our apples, and ran for our lives!  A week or so later my friend told me she heard on the bus about the prank the “apple guy” had played on us with the plastic snakes.  I vowed that I would never steal another piece of fruit, or anything else for that matter, as long as I lived.  The end.

ingredients for dutch apple pie on a wood cutting board
  • apples
  • sugar
  • brown sugar
  • all purpose flour
  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • salt
  • butter
  • pie crust
sliced apples in a bowl with apples and apple peels surrounding it on a cutting board

Preheat oven to 375 degrees f.

Peel and core apples. Apples vary in size, so it’s hard to say how many apples you will need. Measure out 5-6 cups of sliced apples for one pie.

slicing apples on a brown cutting board for dutch apple pie

When slicing apples try to make them a uniform thickness. This will ensure the pie bakes evenly. Place apples in a large bowl, large enough that you are able to toss the apples around with the sugar and spices.

spices and flour being mixed together for the apple filling

Combine dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

apple slices in a bowl with spices, sugar and flour on top before mixing

Pour dry ingredients over the apples and toss to combine.

apple filling mixture for dutch apple pie

Set apple mixture aside for now.

making crumble topping in a glass bowl brown sugar, flour, and butter are being mixed togeter

You can make the crumble topping one of two ways. 1. Add flour, brown sugar, and cubes of cold butter to a bowl, using a pastry cutter or a fork cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it becomes a crumble.

divided photo. left side is a glass bowl of crumble topping. right side is crumble topping made in a food processor

The second way is to put the crumble topping ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you get a uniform crumble. The end results are the same, the first one just takes a little more elbow grease.

pie crust

Next roll out the homemade crust (or flop a store-bought crust in the pie dish if you must) on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. Place in a pie dish and crimp the edges at this point you can assemble your pie.

dutch apple pie assembly

Lay apples as even as possible in pie crust, and top with crumble mixture. Disclaimer: This crust appears baked because it is. I blind baked it for another pie, and ended up not needing it so I used it for this pie. It worked out fine. If you are curious about blind baking you I explain it here, however you do not need to blind bake your crust for this pie.

hand pressing crumble topping down into apples

Hello these are my knobby knuckles. If you ever see long fingers with painted nails you will know I have won the lottery and hired a hand model for my food photos. Put all of the crumble topping on top of the apples. You may need to press it down into all the nooks and crannies. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 375, then turn heat to 350 and bake an additional 30 minutes.

whole dutch apple pie uncut on a cooking rack with server and knife on the upper righthand side of the photo

There is nothing better than a warm Dutch Apple Pie straight from the oven, flakey pie crust all that homemade apple pie filling, this delicious pie is a classic.

  • Tip: I like to place my pie dish on a baking sheet, just in case the apples decide to bubble over, then it keeps my oven from getting sticky sugar on the bottom and burning.
  • Tip: Make the crumble topping and place it in a freezer-safe zip-loc bag, label and add the date. Do the same with your pie crust. Both of these can be in the freezer for up to 3 months. So when you want to make a pie you have most of the work done. You just need to slice the apples, roll out the pie dough, and bake!
  • Tip: If the pie crust looks like it is starting to burn or get to brown near the end of baking you can take a sheet of aluminum foil and loosely cover the pie until it’s done baking.
  • Q Can I freeze a pie whole? A To answer this question I am going to refer you to America’s Test Kitchen, they have a whole article here.
  • Q Can I use store-bought pie dough? A Yes, you may. I think my homemade crust is so much better, but I realize not everyone wants to get this involved. So if it’s a matter of you not making this pie because you don’t want to make pie crust, by all means use store-bought!
slice of dutch apple pie with ice cream on top. pie is on a white plate rimmed in blue with a fork on the plate. Whole pie is sitting above the piece of pie

This pie is the piece de resistance of pie.  My oldest gave this pie rave reviews.  I actually made two pies and he ate one of them (practically) all by himself!  In his words its “piefection”. Oh and don’t forget a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top is mandatory!

It’s pie o’clock somewhere!
Sheila

slice of dutch apple pie on a plate with ice cream dripping off

Dutch Apple Pie

Sheila
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 26 minutes
Course Dessert, pie
Cuisine American, Dessert
Servings 8 slices
Calories 314 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 9 inch unbaked pie crust
  • 5 whole Apples cored, peeled and sliced (I prefer Spy or MacIntosh.) Should be about 5-6 cups of apple slices.
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg

crumble top

  • 1/3 cup cold butter
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup flour

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Core, peel and slice apples. toss apples with granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, and dash of nutmeg.
  • Roll out pie crust, put rolled out crust in your pie pan, crimp edges, and fill crust with apple mixture.
  • Crumble Topping: combine butter, brown sugar, and flour until mixture is a crumbly consistency. I use my food processor but a fork works just as well (it just takes longer)
  • Pour crumble topping over apples, make sure it gets in all the nooks and crannies of the apples.
  • Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, then turn oven temperature down to 350 for an additional 30 minutes. Let the pie sit for 30 minutes before cutting.

Notes

Serve warm with whipped topping or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 314kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 3gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 0.03gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 3mgPotassium: 28mgFiber: 1gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 12mgIron: 1mg
Keyword apples, cinnamon, dessert, Fall, holidays, pie, pie crust
Tried this recipe?Mention @eat2gather or tag #eat2gather!

 

 

 

 

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6 Comments

  1. Your snake story could be really funny if I thought snakes were funny – not! 🙂 We have been enjoying this beautiful weather in northern Indiana and I’m am so ready to bake! Apple pie is first on the list so your recipe comes at a “fruituitous” time (sorry – couldn’t resist). Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your trip to the orchard and, I hope you don’t run into any snakes!

  2. Ok that funny (not so funny) about the snakes…lol!! I love apple pie, especially Dutch. And I agree about honey crisp being the best, it’s definitely my favorite eating apple. Beautiful pie friend!