This Dutch Apple Pie is the perfect dessert for anyone who loves the flavors of classic apple pie but who isn’t a big fan of pie crust! And for the home baker, this brown sugar cookie crust is much easier to work with than a traditional pastry topping.
The filling is made with fresh granny smith apples and spices on the stovetop, then added (and topped with!) the oat-filled cookie crumb. It’s the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table!
Reader Review: “I made this tonight and this was actually my first time making apple pie. This pie was absolutely AMAZING. OMG, I love love love…the right amount of sweetness, tang from the granny smith’s, the crunch from the crust. Oh yea, this was everything.”
– Starr
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No traditional pie crust. This pie uses a cookie/oat crust instead!
- From scratch filling. Skip that canned filling and make this flavorful, stovetop apple pie filling instead.
- Crumbly topping. The cookie crust is also crumbled on top for a crunchy, crisp texture on top.
- Beginner friendly. If you’ve never made a pie before and you don’t want to worry about crust, this is the perfect one to make.
What is Dutch Apple Pie?
Dutch apple pie is also known as apple crumb pie or apple crumble pie. Unlike traditional apple pies with a double crust (on bottom and on top), a Dutch apple pie is topped with a buttery crumb or streusel topping.
Some versions of Dutch apple pie use pastry crust on bottom with oat crumbles on top. Others add nuts or a slightly different apple filling. Our version is a little different – we use a brown sugary oat mixture that is used for both the crust AND the topping.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Dutch Apple Pie (and notes about the ingredients). You can find exact measurements in the recipe card below.
For the crust:
- All-purpose Flour. Regular, all-purpose flour is all you’ll need to make the crust.
- Brown Sugar. Light brown sugar is one of the main ingredients for the crust. It gives it that sweet, cookie flavor.
- Cold Butter. Like other pie crusts, this one also does best with cold butter.
- Quick Oats. Adds a little texture and flavor to the crust.
For the filling:
- Granny Smith Apples. Our favorite apples for this pie because they’re tart and firm, so they hold their shape really well when baking.
- Granulated Sugar. Keeps the apple sweet.
- Cornstarch. This thicks the filling to give it that pie-filling consistency.
- Vanilla extract. Adds to the flavor.
- Spices. We use cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. These bring that classic apple pie flavor.
How to Make Dutch Apple Pie
- Make the crust and topping. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cold butter and quick oats with a pastry blender. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate.
- Make the apple pie filling. In a saucepan, combine the granulated sugar, cornstarch and water until it begins to boil. Continue whisking constantly for 2 minutes while it thickens. Remove from the heat and add the apples, vanilla, and spices.
- Assemble the pie. Pour the apple pie filling into the prepared crust and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the reserved crumble over the top.
- Bake. Bake at 350℉ for 40-50 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden brown and the apples are tender.
- Let it cool. Don’t skip this step! Before slicing, let the pie cool because it will continue to set up as the temperature drops. Cutting into while it’s still hot will result in a runnier filling.
Tips for Success:
- Use cold butter. When making the crust, cut cold butter into the mixture with a pastry cutter for the best size of coarse crumbs.
- Don’t pack the crust. When adding the crust, try not to pack it down too firmly. It should be together, but not so tightly packed that it gets too hard after baking.
- Cover if necessary. If the topping begins to brown too quickly, loosely cover the pie with aluminum foil for the remainder of the baking time.
- Let the pie cool before cutting. To get that classic apple pie texture that is more firm and less gooey, let the pie cool.
Serving and Storing
Serve this pie up with some classic vanilla ice cream, a little whipped cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce.
To store, let this pie cool completely and then cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days. You can reheat slices individually in the microwave before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend granny smith apples because of their tart flavor and firmer texture. If you prefer a sweeter apple pie, you could do half Honeycrisp and half Granny smith, or swap them out entirely.
This recipe calls for 5-6 medium Granny Smith apples. For a more exact measurement, we recommend using about 4 cups of prepared apples (so they’re peeled, cored, and sliced before measuring).
Yes, you absolutely can! If you already have a pie crust, you can use a store bought crust and half the crumble topping ingredients to add it to the top.
Absolutely. You can bake this entire pie the day before serving. Store it in the refrigerator once it has completely cooled. (Don’t cover it unless it has cooled completely or it can make the crust soggy!).
Let it cool completely, then cover and store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Don’t cover it while it’s still warm!
If your filling seems runny, make sure you boil the cornstarch mixture for the full 2 minutes, stirring constantly while it comes to a boil. Bake the pie until the filling is bubbling and make sure it’s cool before slicing.
More Apple Pie Inspired Recipes You’ll Love
We’ve got an entire collection of pies and tarts for you to browse. Here are some of our most-popular apple desserts:
Dutch Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup butter, cold
- ½ cup quick oats
Filling:
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 5-6 Granny Smith apples (4 cups prepared), peeled, cored, and sliced or diced
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, butter and oats with a pastry blender. Set aside one cup of mixture for crumb topping.
- Press the remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan; set aside.
- In a sauce pan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes, whisking constantly (it will thicken up quickly so it's important to keep stirring the whole time!).
- Remove from heat and fold in apples, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.
- Pour apple mixture into prepared crust and sprinkle seet-aside crumb topping on top.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender.
- Let cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
I love apple pies! My dad makes such a good one with a crust that tastes like cookies. Great recipe!
That looks sooooo good!
I’m totally a pie person. Not thrilled about the crust…but I’ll eat it to get to the filling!!!
Unfortunately we thought this was absolutely awful and had to throw it away. Sickening sweet. Love the concept, though. The cornstarch/water mixture resulted in a horrid glue like (and visually disturbing) filling. Hated having to waste all those ingredients.
This was great! I don’t understand the previous reviews. My pie was beautiful and it was not too sweet. The only thing I changed was I added cinnamon to the crust and filling. It is an apple pie, after all! (Maybe that was a forgotten ingredient??)
No DUTCH pie!! No oats in Dutch apple pie!!!
I made this pie today with my daughter. Of course as soon as it came out of the oven my husband and father in law were hanging over my shoulder to eat it. Their review was, “it tastes like hot apple oatmeal.” I have to admit when I was mixing the cornstarch mixture with the apples I immediately regretted choosing this recipe. Its just weird. I’m a texture person so that doesn’t help. A thick sticky filling just didn’t seem right. I’ll admit it, it tasted good, Maybe some cinnamon would help…
I think trying this out will make the Wife very happy 🙂 thanks for the ideas. Diane you must have baked it wrong or mix’d it wrong because I see no way how it could be like a glue like nasty filling…
I am not sure why people said it didn’t work for them- I made this and it was amazing!! I don’t really like pie crust either, so this was the perfect alternative. I will be keeping this recipe on file for the future! Thanks!
Made this tonight. Didn’t use the topping as my crust, just used a regular frozen one. Cut the topping ingredients in half to just do the top of the pie. Added 1 tbsp of cinnamon…because, well, this is an apple pie! The filling mixture just reminded me of the filling in a store bought pie. The apple filling didn’t turn out solid after baking, but instead, fell apart. Nonetheless, it was delicious and will have no trouble disappearing in my house!
A friend of mine said after having a slice, “It’s not terrible, but it’s not good either.”
I am getting ready to make this recipe today and got it from your new christmas cookbook. I noticed in the description it said there were oats, but none were in the ingredients list. I’m glad it was listed on your site because I’ve been searching for a good dutch apple pie recipe. Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Made this and loved it!! The topping is what made this pie to me- and the filling was perfect!
Loved this recipe! My hubby loves Dutch Apple pie and I decided to try this for Thanksgiving. I did add some cinnamon and a little nutmeg to the filling but otherwise I kept the recipe the same. We love regular pie crust but this “cookie” crust was a delicious surprise. Will definitely make it again and again!
I bake a lot. And I am very good at it. But I had never made a Dutch Apple Pie before, only old fashion apple pies. I followed the recipe explicitly, and in the end, this was the worst thing I had ever baked. It lacked any real flavor. The oatmeal in the crust I thought was an ingenious idea, but instead made the crust SO hard and taste like a mouthful of dry oats. The filling itself was just as awful, being nothing more than a gelatin mold with chunks of apple. I didn’t notice until I was putting it in the oven, that this recipe doesn’t call for any spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg are staple ingredients in most apple baked goods. Not even a pinch of Apple Pie Spice could have saved this pie though. Thankfully I was doing a trial run before I made it for Thanksgiving. I saved myself from what surly would have been an embarrassing moment at our family gathering. No one finished there slice of pie, and the kids just ate the middle. I threw the rest out before it even cooled down. Save yourself the time and stress, and the waste of apples. Your house won’t even smell good after baking this disastrous pie.
I made this tonight and this was actulaly my first time making apple pie. This pie was absolutely AMAZING. OMG, I love love love. Thank you so much for this recipe. I feel almost like the best baker in town with this recipe. lol lol the right amount of sweetness, tang from the granny smith’s, the crunch from the crust. Oh yea, this was everything.
This is not a true ‘dutch apple’ pie. The original recipe for that very old-fashioned pie that originated in Pennsyvlania Dutch country has a lovely brown sugar/sour cream or heavy cream mixture that is spooned over the top of the apples before baking. It’s delicious. It’s very flavourful and it’s beyond yummy.
You’re right. It’s not.
This recipe REALLY needs some spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or apple pie spice. I wish I had thought of that as I was mixing the ingredients. Oh well, it was my first time baking pie so I guess I will keep that in mind next time I look for a different recipe.
I absolutely love this recipe!
I am in love with this pie! It is amazing! I would choose this pie over chocolate.
I am Dutch 🙂 and everyone I make it for, always asks if I can bake it again. I put some salt in crumble bottom, and add cinnamon and raisins to the Apple filling. I sprinkle apples with lemon juice Best Apple pie ever.
Our family liked the recipe. One piece of advice. Don’t press the bottom layer of crust down. We also used allspice instead of cardamom. It tasted great!
It’s not Dutch Apple Pie. But I don’t care. It’s scrumptious! And it’s about the simplest and quickest pie recipe I’ve come across. Everyone raved about it. Thank you so much for the recipe!
This pie was delicious. I did add cinnamon to it. Easy to make also
I didn’t make this filling but the crust/topping is heavenly! I made two pies on consecutive nights because it was so delicious. I did also add Vietnamese cinnamon to my topping/crust. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
This has become a fall favorite in our house. I tend to go heavy with the cinnamon and add some pie spice as well.
We updated the pictures on the post. We added a few spices. You can easily leave them out if you want. Other than that, it’s all the same!
I loved this recipe so much!
I read some of the reviews and some of them are strange.. the “glue” is just like any other pie filling. Over all we loved this dish! Made with apples I grew on our farm. I’ve already made it twice in the last 24h. Sooo yummy.
Best pie I have ever had and first pie I have ever baked. Family raved and now want one for thanksgiving!!!
Brittany, this is wonderful! Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your family!
I love this recipe!!! It was simple to make and was amazing! This is now my apple pie go to. Thank you for sharing.
I love apple pie! I have never made a pie before. Today is my 43rd birthday so I thought why not make a pie. It was so easy and so good!!
The pie is in the oven now. So I’m not sure how it will turn out. Questions: Is the butter supposed to be cut into the flour/sugar mixture? Melted? What? Would like a gauge on cups of apples. I didn’t use granny smith. I assumed around 4 cups. But I’m prepared for it to boil over the sides.
You’ll want the butter to be cold and we used a pastry blender to mix the dough together. And you’ll be fine with 4 small apples the size of Granny Smith apples. About 4 cups.
Made this and LOVED it! I have a lot of apples to use up from our tree…have you ever made the pie and then frozen it before cooking it? Just wondering if I could freeze it and pull out to cook for thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Yes, you could freeze this before baking.
We really like the crumble topping! However, we didn’t really like how the filling turned out. I’m not quite sure how to explain it. The filling has the taste/goop of canned apple pie filling. Which isn’t a bad thing, but I prefer to make apple pie filling by mixing the apples, sugar, cinnamon so it’s not super goopy/saucy.
I think the issues described below (no spices, too sweet, too thick) have been corrected. I was worried the cookie crust was too dry but it came out perfectly. I grate cold butter rather than cut in so maybe that’s why it was dry. The pie is definitely not too sweet, just right.
I wonder why this recipe did not work for some people. We’ve made it so many times in the last couple of years. Even my 9-year-old can follow the recipe and make it by himself. Authentic Dutch or not, this is a great-tasting pie! At times, we’ve cut 1/3 of the sugar if we make it for East Asian friends who are not accustomed to American-level sweetness in desserts, and it’s still really good.
I’m planning on making this the day before Thanksgiving. How would you recommend storing it, on the counter or in the refrigerator?
I would store this in the refrigerator if not planning to eat it right away
Can you freeze this?
Yes, you can freeze this recipe, either baked or unbaked. Freezing it unbaked generally yields a crispier topping when you eventually bake it. It can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 to 6 months.