Caramel Dutch Apple Pie with Brown Butter Streusel
This caramel Dutch apple pie with brown butter streusel is a classic fall dessert. Crisp autumn apples are baked with brown sugar, apple pie spice, and salted caramel sauce and topped with a toasty, nutty brown butter streusel to amplify the caramelized flavor. It is without a doubt the best caramel apple pie ever!
Ingredients
Caramel Apple Pie
- 1 homemade pie crust (or store-bought)
- 3 pounds apples (1,350 grams)
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice (23 milliliters)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (65 grams)
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (15 grams), plus more for dusting
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (30 grams)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup good-quality salted caramel sauce (160 grams), plus more for serving
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Brown Butter Streusel
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (150 grams)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Equipment
- Deep 9-inch pie dish
- Pizza stone or metal sheet pan
Instructions
Prepare the pie dough
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of your oven. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the rack while the oven is heating. (If you don't have a pizza stone, use a sheet pan instead.)
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled pie dough. Turn the dough after every few rolls until you have a circle of dough that is about 1/8-inch thick and 12-inches in diameter.
- Roll the pie dough over the rolling pin and then carefully unroll the dough into the pie plate. Gently press the pie dough into the pie plate with your fingers.
- Next, crimp the edges of the dough. Refrigerate the dough while you make the filling and streusel.
Make the streusel
- To make the brown butter, melt the unsalted butter in a light-colored pan over medium-low heat. It will start to simmer and foam up. Stir constantly until the butter smells caramelized and there are golden-brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heat-proof bowl to keep it from burning. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes. (Watch how to brown butter here).
- Add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a small bowl. Use a fork to mix it until there are no clumps.
- Then, add 6 Tablespoons (84 grams) of the brown butter to the flour-sugar mixture. Use the tines of a fork to mix the streusel together until it's crumbly and there are no more streaks of flour.
Mix up the filling
- Start by peeling and coring the apples. Cut the apples into 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch slices. Keep them as uniform as possible to ensure even baking.
- Place the apples in a large bowl. Drizzle the lemon juice over the apples and toss to combine.
- Then, add the brown sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, apple pie spice, cardamom, and salt. Mix well and let the apples sit for a couple of minutes until there are no dry spots.
Assemble & bake
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 Tablespoon (15 milliliters) of water until smooth. Brush the pie dough with 2 layers of egg wash.
- Then, pour the apple filling into the pie crust. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the apple filling. Then, crumble the streusel evenly over the top of the pie.
- Place the pie on the hot pizza stone or sheet pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbly. (If the streusel is getting too browned, tent it with tinfoil to prevent it from burning.)
- Let the pie cool on a wire rack at room temperature for at least 4 hours. Slice, re-warm if desired, and serve with vanilla ice cream and extra caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
For more interesting flavor, use a mix of different apples. I like a combo of Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and/or Granny Smith!
Cut the apples uniformly to ensure that they all bake evenly. I like to slice apples about 1/8-1/4'' thick but you can go thicker if you want more of a "bite".
If the raw pie warms up, pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so before baking. This will just help really firm up any butter chunks in the pie dough so it bakes up nice and flaky!
Make sure you bake the pie long enough. The filling should be bubbling (so it gets jammy) and the crust should be a deep golden brown. Even if it looks done, let it have another 5-8 minutes to really crisp up that crust!
This pie filling is juicy! For a more jammy pie, use extra cornstarch instead of flour in the filling.
The pie needs to cool for at least 4 hours so the filling sets properly. I recommend making it the night before - it gives the pie plenty of time to set and it gives time for the flavors to meld!
To store the leftover pie, cover it with a cake dome or tent it loosely with plastic wrap or tinfoil. Store it at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 424kcal, Carbohydrates: 63.3g, Protein: 4.1g, Fat: 18.5g, Saturated Fat: 8.7g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 523mg, Potassium: 165mg, Fiber: 3.6g, Sugar: 19.3g, Calcium: 32mg, Iron: 2mg
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