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 tried this pie and it was delicious. A few things I should have done better. My apples were not very juicy so I should have cut back on the flour. I didn’t mix the topping long enough and it was more like a dutch apple pie. It was great flavors but I will be more careful the next time I make it.
This was one of the easiest and most delicious apple
pies I have made. I added some more cinnamon in the filling and some in the topping and it was great.
I’ve made this SOO many times Best apple pie Wver!!!
Brandie, thank you very much for the recipe! Just baked tonight . Super easy and delicious.
Keep it!
In my oven now… I love that is has just a few ingredients… I used all Honeycrisps because that's what I had on hand… Can't wait to eat it!
I make this several times each fall! It's in the oven now and I can't wait to share it with my hubby! It's a hit. EVERY. TIME. Love the simplicity! 😉
That is so great to hear!
My all time favorite. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
I love apple pie and crumble topping! Your pie looks amazing! Will try out soooon!!!!
Excellent flavor. YUM YUM!
Made this pie on Sunday. It is now Tuesday and making another pie tonight after work. What a delicious find. The crust is quick and mighty easy. The only hard part is peeling and snitzing the apples. To all non pie makers, you cannot fail with this receipe.
Oh my goodness is this an awesome recipe!!! Soooooo easy!!! Sooooo delicious!!! I don't bake, I cant bake, but I made this pie. I actually just finished baking my 4th pie! I cheated and bought my crust. I used a mix of apples the first time. Fuji, granny smith and honey crisp. This time, hubby picked out the apples and bought only honey crisp and Fuji. Pies are gorgeous! Thanks again for ANOTHER keeper!
I made this for Thanksgiving (2014) and it was a huge hit! It was easy to make and so delicious. 🙂 I used white wheat flour and a pat-in-the-pan pie crust. So good!
This looks delicious! Should I use unsalted butter for the topping?
I want to make this and use your Wham Bam Crust recipe. Do I pre-bake the crust before adding the apple filling?
Brandi
I am making this pie AGAIN
I love it so much and I have such great success every time.
Thank You so much for this recipe
It's a favorite
This is a great recipe! I made my filling a little different and added some brown sugar to the crumb topping and drizzled the top with glaze after baking….YUM! Thanks so much for the recipe:)
Brandie, I must tell you that this is the BEST apple pie I've ever made and in my 73 yrs I've made a few! I also tried the crumble part of the recipe on a peach and a cherry pie – yum! You are a winner in our family, my dear! Thank you for all the great recipes… : )
I made this yesterday for my boyfriend and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This is an AWESOME pie.
This has been my "go to" apple pie recipe since I found it, it is AMAZING.
Loved this pie! Thanks!
I made this today and it is delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
This pie was a huge hit with the hubby & kids ( & myself)!! & ohh so easy! Hubby said it was better than Moms (shhh 🙂 Thanks for this keeper!! -Michelle
Yahoo!! Love hearing that Michelle! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
OMG my house smells AMAZING right now!!! This pie came out gorgeous!!! Easiest recipe too. Can't wait to serve it warm later w/vanilla ice cream 🙂 Thank you for posting the recipe, it's a definite keeper!!!!
Mine didn't come out quite as pretty as yours – and I think maybe there was a little too much butter in the crust (it spread quite a bit) but Oh. My. Goodness. that was the best apple pie I've ever had in my LIFE! Thank you!!!