Dutch Apple Pie

This Dutch Apple Pie is the dessert of the fall season in our house.  All the delicious flavors of the apples mixed with the spices, topped with a crumb topping makes this the best apple pie recipe you will ever make!  

Apple pie is one of the best desserts of the fall season.  This recipe for Dutch Apple Pie uses a crumb topping instead of placing another pie crust on top.  My family loves apple pie made this way because the crumb topping gives it an extra sweetness that takes it over the top. 

If you haven’t made it this way, give it a try!  I know you will love it!

This Dutch Apple Pie is a family recipe.  It was handed down from my mother-in-law and I make it often. It is so easy to make!  Believe me.  And it is so delicious!  My husband requests this rather than cake for his birthday.  

A funny story and a good tip: If you make this for someone’s birthday, make sure you let the pie cool before putting in the candles.  One year we didn’t let it cool down enough and as we were singing “Happy Birthday” to my husband, the candles were slowly melting!  Ahhh…we sang pretty fast that year! 

What is Dutch Apple Pie?

The only difference between an apple pie and a dutch apple pie is the topping on the pie.  Instead of using another pie crust to top the pie like you do with apple pie, you use a crumb (or streusel) topping.  The easy crumb topping is made of flour, sugar and butter.

Grocery Shopping List:

• pie crust
• apples
• granulated sugar
• apple pie spice (or ground cinnamon)
• butter
• all-purpose flour

When buying the apples, try to get a mix of red and green apples. I like to mix them to get the best apple flavor in my pie.

How to make a Dutch Apple Pie:

First of all,  get your pie crust ready. Place it in your pie dish by gently pressing the pie crust into the dish and up the sides.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees so it can heat up while you prepare the pie.

I usually use a store bought crust.  It saves on time and to be honest, it is not something I enjoy making. If using a store bought pie crust, follow the directions on thawing it if is is a frozen pie crust.  If you prefer to make a homemade pie crust, here is a great post on making one.  

After you have your pie crust ready in the pie dish, peel the apples and slice them into thin slices (about ¼” thickness). Try to have all the slices about the same size. It is a good idea to have the apples sliced smaller and equal in size because they will cook down better.

Place all the sliced apples into the pie dish lined with the pie crust.  Make sure you fill the pie dish up with a heaping amount of sliced apples.  Once baked, the apples cook down and the pie will sink down a little once it is out of the oven and has cooled.  

One of the best (and easiest) steps in this recipe is that you don’t need to mix anything with the apples. After you fill up the pie dish with the apple slices, you just sprinkle the sugar and spices evenly over the apples evenly.  

For the spices, you can use either apple pie spice or ground cinnamon.  Apple Pie Spice is a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. If you don’t have that, cinnamon will be fine to use.

Dot the pie with butter by placing 6-8 small slices of butter evenly over the pie before adding the crumb topping.     

How to make the crumb topping:

Place the flour, sugar and softened butter in a large bowl.  Using a pastry blender or the back of a fork, blend the ingredients together until you form coarse crumbs.  I use a pastry blender and it helps make the best crumb topping for my pie and other recipes.

Then, using a spoon, carefully place the crumbs over the pie.

Baking Tip: When doing this, hold the spoon towards the middle of the pie so less crumbs fall off the pie. You might want to place a piece of parchment paper or foil under the pie dish while adding the crumbs to catch any extra and easy clean up.

Baking Tip: Place your pie dish on a pie drip catcher. It catches any overflowing pie filling while it bakes so there is less mess in your oven.  This pie drip catcher that I use also elevates your pie so it can cook more evenly.  Perfectly cooked pie, clean oven…happy baker.

Finally, place your pie on the middle rack of your oven and bake it at 425 degrees for 50-55 minutes.   

Baking Tip: I would suggest gently placing a piece of foil over the pie (like a little tent) for the last 20 minutes of baking to keep the edges and the top of the pie from burning. 

The pie is done when the juices are bubbling and the edges are golden brown. Remove the pie to a cooling rack.  Let the pie cool a little before serving it. 

Serve the pie warm or at room temperature. Apple pie does taste so good warm, doesn’t it?! 

Serving Tips:

If you are serving it once the pie has cooled, you can always place a slice of the pie on a microwave safe plate and warm it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds if you prefer it served warm.  

To get the first slice of pie out easier,  I use this pie server because it really helps to get the pie out easily and keeps the piece of pie looking pretty. 

Best ways to serve the pie: Once you serve the pie on a plate, you can serve it as is or top it with whip cream or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

Tips for making Dutch Apple Pie:

Tips for making the best crumb topping:

• Make sure your butter is softened.  The butter will be much easier to combine with the ingredients if softened. 
• Using a good pastry blender to make the crumbs really makes a difference!

Tips for softening the butter:

To soften the butter, a good way to tell if it is soft enough is to gently press down on the butter.  If your finger makes a slight imprint on the butter it is good to go. 

It usually takes 30 minutes to an hour to get butter room temperature. If you are in a hurry to soften the butter, here is a great post with a few great ideas on how to soften butter quickly.

Tips for making the best Dutch Apple Pie:

Use a variety of apples.  I usually buy some red and green apples and mix up the varieties as well.  It gives your pie so much flavor!

Slice the apples 1/4″ or so in size.   And keep them as equal in size as possible.  By slicing the apples thinner, the apples cook down better.

Using a store bought pie crust saves on time.  If you prefer a homemade pie crust, check out the link I shared above for a great recipe to make a homemade crust.

When making the crumbs, make sure to soften the butter.  This way it will be easier to blend in with the flour and sugar.

Forgot to take the butter out? I have a link above that has great ways to soften the butter quickly.

When adding the crumbs to the top of the pie, hold your spoon towards the middle of the pie.  This way less crumbs will fall off the pie.  

Place your pie dish on a pie drip catcher.  It catches any overflowing pie filling while it also elevates your pie so it can cook evenly.  

Tent the pie with foil during the last 20 minutes of baking it.  By doing this it will prevent the edges and the top of the pie from burning.

This pie is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert.  It is a standard recipe for Thanksgiving in our house! Looking for more delicious recipes for Thanksgiving? Try my Baked Mashed Potatoes, or Slow Cooker Turkey recipes.

Here is a comment from a reader who made this pie recipe:

“I’m not typically a big fan of apple pie, but this recipe is amazing! Finally an apple pie I can make! This recipe has become a favorite during the holidays and family functions.”

If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below in the comment section.  I love hearing from you!

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Update Note: This recipe was originally posted in 2015, but was published again in 2020 to include step by step directions and new photos.