Dutch apple pie (with French cookie crust)

A slice of Dutch apple pie on a white plate

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Dutch apple pie (with French cookie crust)

Apple pie filling is pre-cooked on the stovetop to ensure the perfect consistency, and the crust is sturdy (never soggy). It's easy to make ahead too.

Prep Time1

Cook Time1

Total Time2

Servings:

Calories: 524kcal

Equipment

1 9-inch springform pan or deep pie dish metal pans will cook this better (you can also use a square 8x8 brownie pan)
stand mixer
Parchment paper
tin foil if necessary

Ingredients

Apple pie filling

3 pounds apples About 8-12 apples. see note for best types of apples
½ cup sugar 3.5 ounces
½ cup brown sugar 3.75 ounces
¼ cup water or apple cider (sweeter)
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cardamom optional

Crust

12 tablespoon butter room temp (about 65℉)
¾ cup sugar 5.25 ounces
¼ cup brown sugar 1.75 ounces
2 large eggs
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour 8.75 ounces
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt

Crumble topping

½ cup sugar
⅓ cup butter, melted 5.3 Tbsp
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour 4.5 ounces

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the apple pie filling

Peel the apples and chop into 1-inch pieces. You should have about 2.5 pounds of chopped apples for the pie filling (after skins and cores are discarded). This takes about 10 minutes.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup when you cool the pie filling)
In a Dutch oven (or large, non-reactive pot), add all of the apple pie filling ingredients. Just dump them all in and stir (including the cornstarch). Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Cook until apples are softened, and mixture is thick (not runny). About 15-20 minutes (depending on your stovetop). My pie filling started bubbling after 7 minutes, started to soften around 10 minutes, and were soft and done after 15 minutes.
Adjustments: If mixture is too thick before apples soften, add 1-2 more tablespoons of water at a time. If it's not thick enough, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with cold water and then add it to the pie filling (it needs cold water or it will clump).
Cool the apple pie filling on parchment-lined tray, or a large bowl.

Make the dough for the crust

Preheat oven to 350℉ and prepare your pie pan: spray with cooking spray with flour, or spray with oil and dust with flour. Then line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment at medium speed: beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
Add each egg in, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add in vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (to make sure they are evenly dispersed). Then add to stand mixer and mix on low speed until just combined. It will resemble the texture of drop cookie dough. (Set bowl aside for next step).

Make the crumble topping

Mix together the crumble topping ingredients in the medium bowl used for the dry ingredients for the crust (save on cleanup).

Assemble the pie

Spread the dough on the bottom of the pie pan and 1.5-1.75 inches up the sides. It's tacky and takes longer to spread out than you might think (5-10 minutes).
Pour in the cooled apple pie filling. Then add the crumble topping. This pie doesn't rise or bubble over the top, so as long as you didn't go over the top, you will be good. Out of caution, you can put a baking tray underneath to catch drips, but mine has never bubbled over.

Cook at 350℉ for 1 hour

Cook the dutch apple pie for about 1 hour. After 40-45 minutes, check on the topping. If it's getting too brown, you can cover it with foil. Cooking time might take as long as 1 hours and 20 minutes.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Once room temperature, the filling doesn't ooze out at all. A springform pan makes the best presentation and is the easiest to cut & serve (no sides to navigate around).

Notes

Timing: Apple pies are often made for events like Thanksgiving or Christmas where timing can be important. You should be able to get this in the oven after 1 hour of hands on time. I started at 1:50 and I put it in the oven at 2:50, while taking photos and notes.

Best apples for pie: grab a variety of apples for a more complex flavor. My top choices are Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Northern Spy, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Cortland, and McIntosh. McIntosh have an incredible flavor but fall apart when baked - so these should only make up 25% of your apples.

Avoid Red Delicious (flavorless), Gala (grainy when baked), and Granny Smith (can be wonderful, but can also be very grainy when baked).

Metal pans are the best choice for even browning. If using glass it will probably take 15 more minutes to bake.

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Nutrition