Dutch apple pie is a team player, a people pleaser, a delicious twofer of apple pie and apple crisp. With the flaky, buttery bottom crust of traditional apple pie and a craggy, crunchy, cinnamon-tinged streusel topping. Much like apple cumb pie, it’s the best of both worlds. This Dutch Apple Pie recipe is there for you when you just can’t decide between the two—because really, you just shouldn’t have to.
Good pie demands time and attention to detail, and this one has a few worth pointing out. First, it’s a project recipe with three distinct parts—pie dough, apple pie filling, and crumb top—and you may want to break the work up accordingly. (Each of them can be made in advance.) We use our Actually Perfect Pie Crust recipe here, which delivers a sturdy but flaky crust that stands up to the veritable mountain of filling required. As for that apple filling: Yes, you need to precook it. Does it sound like too much work? Are you thinking of skipping it? It is not, please don’t, and here’s why. Cooking the apples into submission guarantees a tender, evenly cooked filling with nary a crunch. It also drives the liquid from the fruit, helping to avoid a waterlogged crust. Lastly, this liquid (assisted by a small amount of flour) turns into a thick sauce that serves as a mortar for the apples, making the whole pie neatly sliceable. You needn’t worry that it’ll turn to mush: The recommended mix of baking apples will hold their shape marvelously. (Tart apples like Granny Smith and Pink Lady only. Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, and Braeburn just won’t cut it here.) Plus, instead of sliced apples, we cut them into cubes to enhance the structure. And no peels, please!
We like to use a standard 9" metal pie plate here—not deep dish. And one last note: This recipe has a long cook time with two temperatures: higher at first to puff out the pastry, then lowered to cook it to a crisp. (If an apple pie recipe says anything less than at least 90 minutes, run.) The end result will be a deeply burnished pie, nut brown and toasted, and exactly what you want.
Though we think the best Dutch Apple Pie recipe is one that needs no accompaniment, we wouldn’t scoff at serving this alongside some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Recipe information
Yield
8–12 servings
Ingredients
DOUGH
1⅔
1
¼
2
10
FILLING
3½
½
4
2
2
1
½
¼
2
STREUSEL AND ASSEMBLY
1
½
1
1
¼
½
Preparation
DOUGH
Step 1
Whisk 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ¼ tsp. baking powder in a large bowl. Add 2 oz. chilled cream cheese, cut into 1" pieces, and rub into dry ingredients with your fingers until fully incorporated (mixture will look very shaggy). Add 10 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, sliced ½" thick, and toss to coat in flour, then smash into smaller, flatter pieces (about chickpea-size).
Step 2
Make a well in the center and pour in ¼ cup (60 g) ice water. Toss mixture with a fork or your hands to distribute, then knead in bowl a couple times to bring dough together (some dry bits may remain).
Step 3
Turn out dough onto a surface lightly dusted with rice flour or all-purpose flour; dust top of dough with flour. Roll out to a ½"-thick rectangle. Fold dough in half, rotate 90°, and fold in half again. Roll out again to a ½"-thick rectangle and repeat folding process, dusting with more rice flour as needed to prevent sticking. Pat into a ½"-thick disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours and, preferably, up to 12 hours.
Do ahead: Dough can be made 1 month ahead. Double wrap disk in plastic and freeze instead of chilling. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before using.
FILLING
Step 4
Toss 3½ lb. Granny Smith or a mix of Pink Lady and Granny Smith apples (about 8 large), peeled, cored, cut into ¼" pieces, ½ cup (packed; 100 g) light brown sugar, 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces, 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot until well combined (your hands are the most efficient way to do this; a large rubber spatula is a close second).
Step 5
Set pot over medium-high heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until apples begin to release some liquid, 8–10 minutes. Uncover and reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle ¼ cup (31 g) all-purpose flour over and cook, stirring vigorously, to incorporate. Cook, stirring often, until liquid is thick and apples are very tender (you should be able to easily cut into them with spatula), 10–15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract. Let cool. (If you need to cool filling rapidly, you can scrape it onto a large rimmed baking sheet and spread into a thin layer.)
STREUSEL AND ASSEMBLY
Step 6
Whisk 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (packed; 100 g) light brown sugar, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, and ¼ tsp. baking powder in a medium bowl to combine. Drizzle in ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled, and stir to combine. Streusel will resemble a dough.
Step 7
Place a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 375°. Remove dough from fridge and let sit at room temperature 5 minutes.
Step 8
Roll out dough on a surface lightly floured with rice flour or all-purpose flour to about a 12" round about ⅛" thick. Brush excess flour off dough and transfer to a 9"-diameter pie pan. Lift edges and allow dough to slump down into dish, then press dough firmly into bottom and sides of pan. Trim, leaving about 1" overhang. Fold overhang under and press firmly to seal; crimp edges if desired. Chill crust 15 minutes.
Step 9
Place pie pan on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Scrape cooled filling into crust. Break streusel into chickpea-size clumps and arrange over filling; you want to go all the way to the edges so filling is covered completely.
Step 10
Bake pie until crust is golden brown, 50–60 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue baking until filling is bubbling through streusel in spots and crust is deep golden brown, 40–50 minutes longer. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let pie cool at least 4 hours or, preferably, up to 12 hours before serving.
Do ahead: Filling can be made 3 days ahead; transfer to an airtight container; cover and chill. Use cold and increase total bake time by about 15 minutes. Streusel can be made up to 2 days ahead; cover with plastic wrap and chill. Use cold. Pie can be baked 1 day ahead; let cool completely. Store loosely covered at room temperature. To reheat pie, cover loosely with foil and bake in preheated 350° oven until warmed through, 15–20 minutes for whole pie and 6–9 minutes for slices.
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Reviews (11)
Back to TopCooked this recipe exactly except I deliberately shortened all the cook times filling and whole pie. It was mushy and very over done, burned even. Will try it again because I’m fascinated by your pie crust recipe.
John
Wisconsin
10/29/2022
Great idea to use cream cheese in the crust and to do folds. Great technique explanations in the magazine (Nov 2022 issue). Tangy apple-y filling. Btw, "Dutch" in the US does not necessarily mean from the Netherlands but can stand for "German" (coming from "Deutsch"). That's how US language history worked.
Anonymous
Atlanta
10/24/2022
Hi there, I live in the Netherlands. There is an apple pie with crumble on the top, appelkruimelvlaai, the last anonymous was wrong. However, never have I ever used cream cheese for the dough. And for the crumble, I usually use the same dough as for the base. Your butter needs to be as cold as possible, no hours long kneading, everything needs to be done fast, fast, fast. To make the crumble (if made separately) knives are used. I usually just chill my dough in the fridge, instead of fighting my crumble.with knives. My favourite kind of pie, mmmm....!
Buitenlandse huisvrouw
Eindhoven
10/14/2022
Sorry but this is no way Dutch apple pie. There is no crumble on top. The dough is wrong.
Anonymous
Steenbergen
10/12/2022
delicious!
Anonymous
10/12/2022