Butter Crumble Apple Pie (+Video)
Butter Crumble Apple Pie is hands-down the best apple pie recipe. An easy, flaky crust, amazing filling and butter crumble topping!
A.K.A. DUTCH APPLE PIE
I love to eat pies and I like to make pies. And I love when I actually have the time to do up one from scratch. We go apple picking every year and I look forward to making an apple pie. But for me, I don’t like my pies to be too hard or too fussy to make. Simple is the always the key word here. An easy, and simple apple pie recipe. Nothing fancy. No specialty ingredients. The apples are the star here and I promise anyone can do it!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Green apples hold up best to the baking process. Pretty much most tart apples will work. Sweet apples will soften and break down too much and don’t create a good apple pie.
Absolutely! You can use what you feel comfortable with here. If you have a go-to pie crust recipe then use that. See my recipe for Wham Bam Pe Crust for a super easy homemade pie crust.
No problem! You can make a simple lattice crust topping or just layer on another single layer of pie crust. See my Homemade Blueberry Pie recipe for instructions on how to do that.
You can purchase apple pie spice. It usually has a blend of ingredients that includes: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom.
I basically use my knuckle from one hand and two fingers from my other hand to push it in as I move around. I try to make the crimp a bit thicker so I’m not pulling the pie crust up really high and making it thin around the edges. Here is a good picture tutorial on how to do the style of edge that I do as well as other styles you may want to try.
This pie can be left out on the counter (covered) for up to 2 days or 5 days in the refrigerator. It can be frozen as long as you wrap it properly to protect against freezer burn for up to 3 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- pre-made pie crust or Make Your Own – I have not tried this with any other type of crust, only the store-bought pie crust and my own pie crust recipe so I can’t say how any other crust would work.
- Granny Smith apples – please see my FAQ above. It needs to be a tart apple or a combination of different tart apples.
- all-purpose flour – this is to make the crumble topping so you only need all-purpose flour, not self-rising. I’m a big fan of White Lily Flour if you can find it near you.
- sugar – I have not tried this recipe with sugar substitutes.
- ground cinnamon – I really tried to keep this recipe very simple by just using ground cinnamon. However, you can certainly use other spices or an apple pie spice blend.
- salted butter – the butter doesn’t have to be fully softened, it can still be a little chilled. As long as you work it into small crumbles with a pastry cutter into the flour mixture.
HOW TO MAKE BUTTER CRUMBLE APPLE PIE:
Preheat your oven to 400F degrees. Peel the apples and then just cut down four sides of the apples, then thinly slice them. Or use an apple peeler and corer. Put the sliced apples in a bowl. Toss in flour, sugar and ground cinnamon. Give it all a good stir to make sure all the apple slices are thoroughly coated. Meanwhile, put the pie crust in the pie dish and gently push it up the sides and crimp the edges (as best as possible.) Then put the apple filling into the pie crust. Making sure you spread it out and all the apple pieces are lying flat.
Now, time to make the crumble. In a bowl, combine, flour and sugar. Then add in softened butter. Using a large fork, combine the flour mixture with the butter until it looks crumbly. Sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the top of the pie.
Bake in the center rack of the oven for about 45 minutes until apples are soft and top is golden brown.
Allow the pie to cool to help the filling continue to thicken up. Slice and serve with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: September 2011
Photos updated and republished: July 2023
Butter Crumble Apple Pie (+Video)
Ingredients
- 1 (9-inch) pre-made pie crust (or make your own from scratch)
For the filling:
- 6 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the butter crumble topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ½ cup salted butter (1 stick), room temperature
Instructions
- If using a refrigerated pie crust, spread it into your pie pan and crimp the edges and set aside.
For the pie:
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
- In a bowl, combine sliced apples with flour, sugar and ground cinnamon.
- Give it all a good stir to make sure all the apple slices are thoroughly coated.
- Put apple filling into the pie crust.
- Making sure you spread it out and all the apple pieces are lying flat.
For the crumble topping:
- To make the crumble, in a bowl, combine, flour and sugar. Then add in softened butter.
- Using a large fork or pastry cutter, combine the flour mixture with the butter until it looks crumbly.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the top of the pie.
- Bake in the center rack of your oven for about 45 minutes until apples are soft and top is golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- If using the Wham Bam Pie crust, make that first and then pop the crust in the fridge while making the filling.
- This is a great pie to make the day before you actually want to serve with. I always think pies taste better the next day. You can always reheat each individual slice in the microwave for a few seconds if you enjoy it warm.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I used Cortland & Macintosh apples, and the Wham Bam pie crust recipe. Turned out good! I’ve never made a crumb-topped pie so this was an experiment, and that was also the easiest crust I’ve ever made (piecrust & I don’t always get along, lol). For personal taste, I’d add a bit of nutmeg & clove to the apples, but it was absolutely fine as written 🙂 . I took pics of my pie, but doesn’t look like I can share them. Will definitely make this pie again!
Can this pie be made ahead and frozen? If so, should I also put the topping on when freezing it? How long should I bake it for?
this pie is a family favorite- so delicious do you think this same recipe would be good to use peaches in place of the apples???
Hi Amber! So happy you love this one – yay! I really think it would work just as well with peaches. Most apple recipes are pretty interchangeable with peaches. 🙂
I only made the butter crumb topping and used my own recipe for apple pie , it turned out so yummy , I love it because it’s not too sweet !oh and so buttery !
How thick the apple slices should be on this recipe? Thanks.
I’m not sure how to gauge the thickness of apple slices. Perhaps look at my pictures above to get an idea. I would guess about 1/4″ thick or less???
Will it be better if I’ll bake first the crust before putting the apple going? I’m planning to use the Wham Bam recipe. Thanks
You don’t need to pre-bake the crust 🙂
Comes out exactly like the picture. Super easy. So yummy. My favorite pie now. Thank you for sharing.
Oh wow – thank you Deb!! That Italy makes my day to read! Thank you for coming back to comment!!
Very good. Took over an hour for the apples to soften. I don’t like them real crunchy. Delicious topping. Thank you.
So happy to hear this was a hit for you Barbara – thanks so much!
This Apple Pie is Amazing & was enjoyed tonight by all of us! The crumb topping makes this the Best Apple Pie ever! Thanks for sharing!
I am making a ???? pie for Thanksgiving. I dropped the top crust on the floor. So a crumb topping came mind;I found your recipe and I knew it would do the trick. It is in the oven as we speak. I could not disappoint my family; my son loves apple pie. My house smells terrific. I will let you know how it turns out. Happy holidays to all
This is hands. down. my family’s favorite apple pie recipe. Baking this after a fall day at the apple orchard has become one of our favorite fall favorites!
This is my go-to Apple pie recipe! I can get in the oven in less than 15 minutes, and usually already have all of the ingredients on hand. Doesn’t get much easier than that! Love love love.