Dutch Apple Pie

This Dutch Apple Pie beats every other apple pie recipe out there! It’s made with an easy homemade crust, plenty of apples, and a crumbly, buttery walnut topping. Recipe includes a how-to video!

The Ultimate Dutch Apple Pie

Allow me to introduce you to the recipe that has absolutely ruined me for every other apple pie out there. Truly nothing compares to the flavor of this Dutch apple pie, with its buttery, streusel topping, tender spiced apples, and flaky homemade pie crust. Adding a scoop of ice cream on top? That’s just sinful (and highly recommended)!

This recipe takes about 45 minutes to prep and includes tips on which apples to use, how to cut them, and how to prevent a runny filling. You’ll love how easy it is (especially if you have a food processor!) and how mouth watering the results are!

What makes this pie so great?

• Lots of apples! Using 3 hefty pounds of sliced tart apples means we’ll have plenty of apples in every bite, even after they cook down in the oven.
• A thick, NOT runny filling. We’ll make sure to toss our apples in a few key ingredients (detailed below) so our filling is far from runny.
• Buttery crumble topping. This is my favorite part! It’s what sets this pie apart from any other.
• Easier than a two-crust pie. No rolling a second batch of dough for the top–just let your food processor make the topping for you!

What You Need

Here are the key ingredients that make this the BEST Dutch apple pie recipe ever:

• Apples. I recommend using a firm, tart apple. My personal preference is Granny Smith, which I like using for most of my baked apple recipes (like my apple crisp or apple dumplings). Make sure to slice your apples ¼″ or thinner, and try to keep them all around the same size! This will help them cook evenly.
• Sour cream. This is a key ingredient in our filling (and the crust, if you use my recipe!). It provides an incredible flavor (it doesn’t actually taste like sour cream, I promise) and keeps the filling from being runny or weepy.
• Brown sugar. I use brown sugar in the filling and the crumble topping for a warmer, richer flavor. My preference is light brown sugar; dark brown will give a stronger molasses flavor than desired.
• Walnuts. You can always leave these out if you don’t like them or can’t have nuts, but I love the flavor they add. Pecans could also work here too!

SAM’S TIP: You can definitely use a regular crust topping on this recipe if that’s what you prefer, but I definitely recommend trying the crumble topping at least once!

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make a Dutch Apple Pie

1. Roll out your dough and fit into your pie plate. Let this chill while you make your filling.
2. Combine the sugars and dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and stir well.
3. Add your apple slices, toss them to coat, then pour them into your prepared pie crust.
4. Add the flour and brown sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine.
5. Add the butter and pulse until crumbs form, then add the walnuts and pulse.
6. Sprinkle the crumble topping over your pie and bake.

SAM’S TIP: A food processor will make the crumble topping a breeze to combine, but if you don’t have one, you can always use a pastry cutter or two knives to combine the ingredients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t have vanilla ice cream? Homemade whipped cream will work in a pinch!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

Dutch Apple Pie

This BEST Dutch Apple Pie recipe is made over my easy homemade pie crust, filled with layers of tender, perfectly spiced apples, and topped off with a buttery crumble walnut topping.

Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO below the recipe!

5 from 29 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes

1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 407kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

Crust

• ▢ 1 batch homemade pie crust (click link for recipe) not baked, you may substitute one storebought pie crust instead.

Filling

• ▢ ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar tightly packed
• ▢ ⅓ cup (45 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢ ⅓ cup (85 g) sour cream
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 pounds (1.36 kg) tart apples Peeled, cored, and sliced thinner than ¼". I use Granny Smith

Crumble Topping

• ▢ 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter cold
• ▢ ½ cup (65 g) chopped walnuts
• ▢ ⅔ cup (145 g) brown sugar firmly packed

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  Food Processor
• ▢
  Pie plate

Instructions

Crust

• Prepare pie crust according to recipe instructions. As per recipe, prepare, chill, roll out, and arrange into a 9 ½" pie plate (do not bake). Return to refrigerator to chill while you prepare apple pie filling.
  1 batch homemade pie crust
• Preheat oven to 425F (220C)

Filling

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugars, flour, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
  ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar, ⅓ cup (45 g) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• Add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and stir well until completely combined (mixture will be like a loose paste).
  ⅓ cup (85 g) sour cream, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Add apple slices and stir until all apples are coated with mixture.
  3 pounds (1.36 kg) tart apples
• Pour apple filling into prepared pie crust, mounding the apples in the center of the pie. Set aside while you prepare crumble topping.

Crumble Topping

• Combine flour and brown sugar in the basin of a food processor¹ and pulse to combine. 
  1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup (145 g) brown sugar
• Sprinkle butter pieces over the mixture. Pulse until coarse crumbs form.
  ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
• Add walnuts and pulse briefly (don't overdo it or the mixture will lose its crumbliness and clump together)
  ½ cup (65 g) chopped walnuts
• Take your crumble topping and sprinkle it evenly over the pie filling.  Use your hands to gently pat down the topping.
• Bake on 425F (220C) for 15 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce heat to 350F (175C) and continue to bake another 40 minutes, or until apples are tender (use a skewer to pierce the pie and check the apples).  Keep an eye on your pie crust as it bakes, the crust is prone to browning faster than the pie is finished, and if the crust is becoming too dark you should remove the pie from the oven and cover the crust with foil before returning to oven to finish baking.
• Enjoy warm, preferably topped with vanilla ice cream.

Notes

¹If you don’t have a food processor you can still make this crumble topping! To prepare, whisk together flour and sugar. Use a pastry cutter or grater or knives to cut butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Chop your walnuts and stir them into the mixture, then follow recipe as instructed.

The recipe was very closely adapted from a magazine clipping from a 1996 edition of a Women’s Day magazine. My mom has been making it for the past 20+ years and it’s by far the favorite pie in my household.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 407kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 73mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 7IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

This perfect Apple Pie Recipe was originally published on 10/19/2016, republished with more information, better photos, a more clearly-written recipe and a video in November 2022.

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