A hefty Dutch Caramel Apple Pie piled high with sweet and crisp apples and drizzled with caramel in a flaky buttery bottom crust with a decadent crumb topping.

A thick slice of apple pie with crumb topping on a white plate with the rest of the pie in the background.

This is a great pie choice if you want to go all out for Thanksgiving. It's also great any other time in the late summer or fall when the fresh apples are rolling into grocery stores, or perfect if you have a large haul from apple picking. You may also love a simpler pie without a crust for your holiday baking, like this Swedish Apple Pie, or a simple shortbread pie crust with this Lemon Pie Without Meringue.

If you're not gearing up for a big holiday, event, or pie-making day, a simpler fall treat like these Apple Cinnamon Blondies will do the trick.

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💡Recipe Inspiration
🌟 Why You'll Love This Pie
🛒 Ingredients
📝 How to Make Dutch Caramel Apple Pie
✨ Other Tips and Tricks
❄️ How to Serve, Store, Reheat, and Freeze
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Dutch Caramel Apple Pie

💡Recipe Inspiration

When I was little a Dutch Apple Pie with a crumb topping was always one of my favorite desserts. Looking back this could have been because I would eat the crumb topping, leaving the majority of the apples on my plate. A trait that seems to be passed down to my son who happily ate his entire slice... except the apples, which he left behind. Though strangely enough he ate all the apples when he last had apple crisp.

🌟 Why You'll Love This Pie

Caramel: The apples are covered in caramel rather than just sugar for added depth of flavor.

Crust: This pie is all about the crust, a flaky buttery bottom crust and a decadent crumb topping - the best of both worlds.

No Fuss: This recipe is simple to follow. No fussy techniques for making the crust, yet it is still buttery and flaky.

🍎 Apple Recommendations:

Granny Smith: These are tart and acidic apples. They have a firm texture and hold up well while baking. They are also readily available all year long, making them an excellent choice for baking. However, because Granny Smith apples are so tart, err on the side of adding more rather than less sugar to balance the tartness when making pie. I find that Granny Smith apples that are a paler green are less tart, whereas the darker green apples can be quite tart.
Honeycrisp: Sweeter apples that also maintain their firm crisp texture when baking. They may be more difficult to find outside of the apple-picking season, but when available, they are a great choice. Because Honeycrisp apples are quite sweet you can reduce the amount of added sugar that you include in your pie.
Jonamac: This is a local New England variety that is hard to find, but fantastic as an eating and baking apple. Jonamac apples are both sweet and tart, with a very crisp, crunchy flesh. Look for ones that are half green and half red. If they are all red, they will be softer and not as crisp.

For more recommendations on baking apples, see the guides available at Sally’s Baking Addiction, BonAppetit, and Epicurious.

🛒 Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed for the Bottom Flaky Crust and the Dutch Crumb Topping.

Bottom Pie Crust

Flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour.
Granulated Sugar: Just a tablespoon for an ever so slightly sweet crust.
Salt: To bring out flavor.
Butter: I use salted butter that is slightly colder than room temperature.
Ice Water: Use cold water to prevent the dough from getting too warm.

Dutch Crumb Topping

Flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour.
Granulated Sugar and Brown Sugar: Use a combination of both for the crumb topping.
Salt: To balance flavor.
Cinnamon: Classic spice for apple pie.
Oats: Adds nuttiness and texture.
Butter: I use room-temperature butter.

Below are the ingredients needed to make the Apple Pie Filling and egg wash.

Dutch Caramel Apple Pie filling ingredients.

Apples: Peeled and sliced. I recommend Granny Smith or Honeycrisp. Apple slices should be roughly ⅜ inch thick. Too thin and the apples will get mushy when baked.
Cinnamon: In both the crumb topping and the filling for layers of flavor.
Sugar and Salt: Helps to draw out extra moisture from the apples.
Flour: A thickener to absorb excess water from the apples.
Lemon Juice: An acid to balance the sweetness. You can also use 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar instead.
Caramel: Homemade or store-bought. Recipe follows. This caramel can also be used in my Caramel Mousse Cake.
Egg White & Water: For an egg wash.

📝 How to Make Dutch Caramel Apple Pie

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Dutch Caramel Apple Pie. These steps are broken down into how to make the bottom crust, the apple filling, the caramel, and the crumb topping.

No individual step is too complicated, but with four components, it takes some focus. Consider making the caramel a day ahead or even the bottom crust pie dough can be made a day or two before and left to chill in the fridge.

*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.

The bottom pie crust after being combined in a mixing bowl and pressed into a circle and wrapped in plastic.

Step 1. Make the Bottom Pie Dough: Add the flour, sugar, salt, and butter to a large mixing bowl. Use a spoon to roughly combine. Then use your hands to scrunch the dough together. Add ice water as needed to bring the dough together, no more than 5-6 tablespoons, and potentially less at around 3 tablespoons.

Tip: The butter does not have to be cold. It can be at a cool room temperature. However, it should not be melty or overly soft. I have made dozens and dozens of pies both with cold butter and with room temperature butter. I have never found cold butter to make a meaningful impact on the flaky tenderness of the crust.

A large mixing bowl with sliced apples before and after being topped with flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice.

Step 2. Make the Apple Filing: Peel and slice the apples and place them in a large mixing bowl. Slice the apples so that they are roughly ⅜ of an inch and no more than ½ an inch thick.

Tip: Slice the apples the same thickness so they are uniform. This helps the apples to cook evenly so that you do not have some apples that are mushy and others that are not fully cooked through.

Add the flour, cinnamon, sugar, salt, and lemon juice and toss to combine, breaking up any apples that stick together. If you don't have fresh lemon juice you can substitute apple cider vinegar. Let the apples rest while you make the caramel and the crumb topping.

As the apples rest the sugar and salt will draw out excess liquid from the apples which will pool at the bottom of the bowl. Then, when you fill the pie the excess liquid will be left at the bottom of the bowl, which helps to prevent a soggy bottom crust.

A large white mixing bowl with the crumb topping ingredients before and after being combined.

Step 3. Make the Dutch Crumb Topping: Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter to a large mixing bowl. Again, roughly combine with a spoon, then scrunch the ingredients together with your hands. Keep working the ingredients until they turn into crumbs, some larger, some smaller.

You do not need cold butter, cool room temperature is just fine. Place the crumb topping in the fridge while you work on the caramel.

Sugar in a saucepan as it is caramelizing and after adding butter.

Step 4. Make the Caramel: Add the granulated sugar to a medium saucepan and bring to medium heat. Stir occasionally as the sugar caramelizes and turns a golden brown. Add the butter and stir. It will bubble and fizz.

Caramelized sugar in a saucepan while adding heavy cream, then salt.

Step 5. Finish the Caramel: Slowly add the heavy cream while stirring. It will bubble quite a bit. Be careful not to burn yourself. Continue stirring until the cream is fully incorporated. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salt. Allow to cool.

A pie crust being rolled out and the pie crust fitted to a pie dish.

Step 6. Roll Out the Pie Dough: Dust a clean work surface with flour. Remove the pie dough from the fridge. The pie dough should be cold, but not rock hard. If it is too hard let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

Use a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circle that will fit your pie dish with ½ inch of overhang. To check the size, hold your pie dish above your rolled-out pie crust and make sure there is a little extra room around the edge.

Transfer the pie dough to the pie dish and press gently to fit the dish.

Tip: When rolling out the pie dough:

Place the rolling pin in the center of the dough and roll outwards pressing evenly. Avoid pressing harder at the edges to prevent a tapered (thinner) edge.
Pick up the pie crust slightly and dust the counter underneath with a little more flour. Rotate the pie crust 90 degrees.
Bring the rolling pin back to the center of the pie dough and roll outwards. Again, pick up the pie dough slightly, dust underneath with flour (and the top if needed), and rotate 90 degrees. Repeat until the dough is the size needed.

This does two things. Rolling from the center out creates an even pie crust without thin patches. Dusting with flour and turning as you go prevents the dough from sticking to the counter.

The sliced apples in the pie crust and the pie dish with the apples covered in caramel.

Step up 7. Fill the Pie. Add the apples to the pie crust a little at a time, being careful to scoop only the apples out of the bowl and leave the excess liquid behind. Layer the apples, adjusting them as needed to prevent large gaps between the apples.

Drizzle the caramel sauce on top and gently nudge the apples so that some of the caramel drips down into the pie. The caramel will settle into the pie fully as it bakes.

Tip: Reserve a small amount of the caramel to drizzle over the pie just before serving.

The pie with the crumb topping added and a fork being pressed into the edges to create a decorative crust.

Step 8. Crumb Topping and Egg Wash. Add the crumb topping to cover the pie. Press the tines of a fork along the edges of the bottom pie crust to create a fork crimp. I find this much easier than creating a fluted crust.

Combine the egg white and a teaspoon of water to make an egg wash. Brush the edges of the bottom pie crust with the egg wash.

Place the pie in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Bake the pie on the center rack for 1 hour, checking the pie at the 30-minute mark. Cover the pie with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent the crust from burning at the 30-minute/halfway mark. Allow the pie to cool and set before serving.

The finished Dutch Caramel Apple Pie on a white marble background.

✨ Other Tips and Tricks

Adding Nutmeg: If you like the taste of nutmeg, you can add ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg to the apple pie filling. While I like nutmeg, I always find the flavor out of place in apple pie. I prefer the cinnamon to stand on its own.

Choosing Cinnamon: Cinnamon is the one dry spice where I find it makes a HUGE difference in which brand you use. Choose a high-quality brand. I like Ceylon Cinnamon from Simply Organic, which can be found at Whole Foods and a few other grocery stores. It's expensive, but it lasts a while. Some brands of cinnamon taste pretty off and can ruin all your pie-making efforts.

If you absolutely love cinnamon, you can double the amount in the pie filling from 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons.

Rolling Out The Bottom Crust:

If you're having trouble rolling out the bottom pie crust there are a couple things that I do. If it's too cold, let it sit to soften slightly to room temperature. But don't wait to let it get too soft, and don't microwave it.
If you're having trouble creating a perfect round circle 1) either let it be uneven, there's no such thing as a perfect pie, tasty is better than perfect or 2) tuck the uneven edges under the crust and keep rolling, pinching any pieces together that separate.
Or lastly, add another tablespoon of water. This will get a little messy, but you can work the water into the dough to soften it up if it is really too dry and crumbly.

❄️ How to Serve, Store, Reheat, and Freeze

To Serve: Allow the pie to cool and set. If needed, pop it back in the oven for 5-10 minutes to warm it up. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and leftover caramel.
To Store: This pie can be stored on the counter for 1-2 days or in the fridge for 3-5 Days.
To Reheat: Reheat the pie in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes
To Freeze: Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months.

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If you tried this Dutch Caramel Apple Pie or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!

Dutch Caramel Apple Pie