This mouthwatering Apple Crumble Pie will knock the socks off of your guests this holiday season! Made with fresh apples, sweet apple crumble, and a flaky, buttery pie crust, it will be impossible not to return for seconds. Serve it with a bowl of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream for the ultimate dessert!
Why This Is The Best Apple Crumble Pie Recipe
This Dutch apple crumble pie is one of my favorite desserts for the holidays, and once you try it, it will become yours, too!
There's nothing better than the taste of a freshly baked apple pie, and my crumble topped apple pie recipe takes it to the next level with a delicious, crunchy streusel. The best part is that everything is 100% made from scratch using everyday household pantry items.
Although this recipe requires some planning to make the crust, it is quite simple, even for beginners. The hardest part is waiting for the dough to rest in the fridge!
Katalin´s Take On Whether to Pre-cook the Apples For the Pie or Not
One of the common questions when making apple pie recipes is whether to pre-cook the apples. While either way works just fine, I did not pre-cook the apples the first time I tried this recipe, and I regretted it! Here's why:
The apples shrink, settle, and lose a lot of volume during baking. So, although I piled my apples up very high beforehand, they sank, and my pie came out flat.
While the pie was still delicious, the next time, when I pre-cooked the apples, it allowed me to pile on more apples and have a much more voluminous pie with a beautiful "dome" in the center. Pre-cooking is best if you use a regular pie topping versus a crumble topping.
Prepare The Pie Dough
In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the all purpose flour, granulated sugar, and salt (do not skip this step—it is crucial for flavor). Then, cut your cold butter into small pieces. Always use high-fat, unsalted butter (i.e., 82% fat).
Then, measure the water and apple cider vinegar separately. Freeze the dry ingredients, butter, vinegar, and water for 5-10 minutes.
Add the cold butter chunks to the dry ingredients and rub them together with your fingers until the mixture has a sandy texture. It's OK to leave a few larger butter chunks, as they'll encourage a flaky crust.
Next, gradually pour in the cold water and vinegar and stir it with a wooden spoon or spatula after each addition until no loose flour remains. Refer to my flaky pie crust recipe for details on effectively hydrating the dough.
Mix the dough with your hands on a lightly floured surface or silicone mat until it comes together. Avoid kneading or overworking it, as this will make the dough too warm and difficult to work with.
Press the dough into a disk shape, wrap it in plastic, and let it rest in the refrigerator (do not use the freezer) for at least two hours.
Laminating the Pie Dough
Once chilled, let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes. It should remain cold but be warm enough to roll out without breaking.
Move the dough to a lightly floured surface or silicone baking mat and roll it out using a rolling pin. To keep the dough even, turn it by hand after each pass. If it gets too warm or sticky, pop it back in the freezer for a minute or so.
Once you've rolled the dough into a rectangle roughly 11x17 inches (28x43 cm), fold the left side over the right to reduce the width by half and make a double layer. Next, fold the bottom over the top to reduce the height by half. Lastly, fold the bottom over the top once more to create an eight-layer rectangle of roughly 5.5x4 inches (14x11 cm).
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least another two hours to rest.
Make The Crumb Topping for the Pie
Making crumble crust for apple pie is super easy! Begin by cutting your unsalted butter into small pieces and letting it sit at room temperature until softened.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and both sugars in a separate bowl. Once combined, add the softened butter chunks and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are coated with the butter.
Use your fingers to press the mixture together and adjust the size of the crumble pieces to your liking. Then, place the mixture in the fridge.
What Apples to Use & How to Prepare the Apples
When baking, you want to use firm, sweet apples that will hold their shape, such as Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Pink Lady. You can also use Granny Smith apples if you prefer a tart flavor. Avoid softer varieties, as they only become mushy.
Peeling the apples first is optional. Slice them into identical sizes so they bake at the same speed and have the same texture. I recommend ⅛-¼ inch thick slices.
Prepare the Apple Filling
To prevent the slices from browning, sprinkle them with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Next, coat the apples with the sugar, flour, and cinnamon, then set them aside.
If desired, pre-cook the apples for 5-10 minutes to shrink the apples and absorb excess moisture.
Assemble The Apple Crumble Pie & Bake
If you use a 9-inch / 23 cm pie dish, roll the dough out to a 10-inch / 26 cm diameter, then place the dough into your pie dish. Do not force or stretch the dough, which can warm it up and cause the pie crust to shrink. Fold the extra dough around under the crust then flute with your fingers.
Place the pie crust in the pie dish in the freezer for 30 minutes to keep it cold while you preheat the oven to 370 F / 200 C (without the oven fan).
Remove the frozen pie crust from the freezer. Then, remove any excess liquid from the apple filling (especially if you did not pre-cook it) and place it into a mound in the center of the crust.
Lastly, top the mound with a thick layer of the crumble.
Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes at 370 F / 200 C (without the oven fan). Then, reduce the oven temperature to 355F / 180C and bake for 40 minutes.
Once baked, let the pie cool to room temperature before enjoying it. For neat slices that do not ooze out the pie filling when cutting, let the pie chill first for a few hours!
Storing & Freezing
To store your apple crumb pie, first, let it cool to room temperature. Then, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the oven.
To freeze, let the pie come to room temperature, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Place it in a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in the oven.
Flavor Variations
Different fruit: Instead of apples, try using pears or peaches for the pie.
Additional Spices: Warm up the flavor by adding cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, or cloves to the apple coating or the crumble.
Different Sugar: For a more caramel-like flavor, omit the white sugar and use only brown sugar. You can also use all white sugar or use coconut sugar for a more tropical taste.
Other Add-Ins: Mix in chopped nuts, oats, or coconut. Or, add a touch of vanilla extract for a vanilla flavor!
See my crumble topping recipe for even more flavor variations!
Ingredient Substitutions
Gluten-Free: Swap out the all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour, as my flour guide explains. You can also make the crumble with oats, but you will want to pulse them in a food processor for the best turnout.
Dairy-free: Swap out the butter for one of these butter substitutes.
Remember that substituting ingredients may require reformulating the other ingredients in the recipe to keep the balance of flavor and texture!
Expert Tips For Making Apple Crumble Pie
- Work in a cool-temperature kitchen for the best baking environment that keeps the pie crust dough intact.
- Before baking the pie, place it on a baking sheet to catch any juices that may bubble over!
- If you notice that the crumble topping or pie crust edges are browning too much during baking, cover them with aluminum foil.
- Your baking time will vary depending on the type of baking dish you use. A glass or ceramic baking dish will take a little longer, whereas a metal dish may take less time.
What Equipment To Use
A digital scale is essential for baking, ensuring precise measurements of your ingredients.
A digital oven thermometer is also good to have, as oven temperatures can differ slightly between models.
While much of the dough preparation is done by hand, a good rolling pin is necessary to roll it out.
You'll need a 9-inch / 23 cm pie dish for baking!
Try Some Of My Pie Recipes
If you liked this recipe, you'll also want to try some of my other mouthwatering pies:
- Bailey's Apple Pie
- Pumpkin Custard Pie
- Creamy Sicilian Ricotta Pie
- No-Bake Chocolate Pie
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie with Oreo Crust
See my Easy-To-Make No-Bake Pies roundup for even more delectable pies!
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear how your dessert turned out. Your feedback also helps other readers!
Apple Crumble Pie
Ingredients
Pie dough
- 190 g (1½ cups) All purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ tablespoon Sugar
- 113 g (½ cups) Unsalted butter 82% fat, use it very cold
- 60 g (¼ cups) Water use it very cold
- 15 g (1 tablespoons) Apple Cider vinegar
Crumb
- 150 g (1¼ cups) All purpose flour
- 100 g (½ cups) Granulated sugar
- 50 g (¼ cups) Brown sugar
- 110 g (½ cups) Unsalted butter at room temperature
- Large pinch of salt
US customary cup measurement is an indicative figure only. Measure the ingredients with a digital scale by weight (gram). Baking is art but also science which requires precision and accuracy.
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt until fully combined and place it into the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Cut the cold butter into small chunks and place it into the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Measure the water and vinegar separetely, and place them into the freezer as well for 5-10 minutes.
- Once all ingredients are nicely chilled, add very cold butter chunks into the bowl of flour and rub the mixture between your fingers until it becomes a sand-like consistency.
- Leave some bigger butter chunks in the mixture - this will encourage flaky pie texture on the pie crust - no need to fully incorporate the butter into the flour.
- Add very cold water and apple cider vinegar into the dough, a small amount at a time, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon after each addition. Once about 75% of the liquid is used, take out the part of the dough from the bowl, that is already well hydrated, and only keep adding the water to the rest of the dry dough. You might need to use all the water, or slightly less, or very slightly more depending on the flour you are using and how neatly you hydrate the dough. What we want to achieve at the end is a dough that is evenly hydrated, but not too wet, neither too dry with loose flour in it.
- Now, on a lightly floured surface (or silicone making mat), start working the dough with your hands. First, it will look crumbly but it should come together in the next minute or so. Do not knead the dough as such, stop mixing, as soon as the dough comes together. Remember, leave in some butter chunks, do not overwork the dough, and do not use a mixer.
- Form a disk, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.
Start the lamination
- After 2 hours, take the pie dough disk out of the fridge and let it rest few minutes on the kitchen counter. The dough should stay cold but slightly warmed up to be able to roll it out without breaking it.
- Transfer the disk to a silicone baking mat or a lightly floured surface and start rolling it out, make sure you turn the dough with your hands after each rolling so it will become even. No need to add too much flour while rolling, the pie dough should be cold enough not to stick to the kitchen counter. If at any point the dough gets too warm, pop it back into the freezer for a minute to chill then continue
- The goal is to roll the dough out into a rectangle of 11x17 inches / 28x43 cm relatively quickly without warming it up.
- Then, apply the following fold: Fold the left half over the right half. Then, you will get a 5.5x17 inches / 14x43 cm rectangle. Then, fold this long rectangle into half by folding the bottom half over the top half. You now have a 5.5x8.5 inches / 14x21.5 cm rectangle. Lastly, fold again the the bottom half over the top half, so you will end up with a 5.5x4 inches / 14x11 cm rectangle. That´s it, the folding is done, and you have 8 wonderful layers.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.
Prepare the crumble
- Cut butter into small chunks and let it come to room temperature. Whisk together flour, salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, then add the room temperature butter chunks to the mixture and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon just until the dry ingredients are coated with the butter.
- You can make sand-like crumbs or larger crumbs by simply pressing the mixture together with your fingers. Place the crumble into the fridge to chill while preparing the apples.
Prepare the Apple filling
- Cut the apples into identical slices and drizzle the slices with freshly squeezed lemon juice so they won´t brown.
- Mix the apple slices with the rest of the ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon) and set it aside.
- Alternatively, you can pre-cook the above apple mixture for 5-10 minutes. This will help to get rid of some of the juice, resulting in a less wet / moist pie. The pre-cooking process also helps to reduce the size of the apple slices, so you will be able to pile up more apples in the dough, more neatly.
Assembling the Apple Crumble Pie & Baking
- If you are using a pie dish 9 inch / 23 cm, roll the dough to 10 inch / 26 cm in diameter.
- Carefully place the dough into a Pie dish 9 inch / 23 cm. Fold the extra dough around under the crust then flute with your fingers. Remember, do not force the dough, after rolling, it should stay smooth and cold, and easy to work with. The most common reason for pie crust shrinking is forcing and stretching it.
- Chill the pie dough in the freezer for 30 minutes while pre-heating the oven to 200 C / 370 F (no fan).
- Check the apple filling now and remove any excess liquid, you don´t want that in the pie. Place the filling into the frozen pie crust, mounding in the center. Then, finish with a thick layer of crumble on top.
- Bake the pie at 200 C / 370 F for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180C / 355F and bake for a further 40 minutes.
- Let the pie cool at room temperature before serving. For neat slices, chill the pie for a few hours. Store any leftover covered and refrigerated for 3-4 days.
Notes
- All ingredients, including butter, flour, and water, should be very cold for the pie crust.
- Assembling this flaky pie crust will take less than 5 minutes. If you are assembling the dough for more than 5 minutes, then you are overworking it, and risking warming the ingredients up too much with your hands.
- Resting the dough in the fridge is a must - you won't be able to roll it out without appropriate resting time (minimum 2 hours).
- The apple pie filling can be pre-cooked for 5-10 minutes, which will allow you to build more slices up in the crust more neatly and result in a less moist pie.
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During baking, if the edges or the top brown too fast, place aluminum foil loosely on top of / around the pie.
- You can eat the pie while it´s hot; however, you will only be able to cut it neatly after chilling it.
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