Dutch Apple Pie Recipe

Nothing says fall like apple pie. My favorite apple pie to make and eat is Dutch Apple Pie, with Michigan apples fresh picked from the orchard, of course.

This is my Grandma’s Dutch Apple Pie recipe. She took pie very seriously. First of all, she frowned on using any kind canned pie filling. To this day that’s considered sacrilege in my family. If you show up to Thanksgiving dinner with pie, it better be completely made from scratch or there will be more than one turkey at the table.

The other thing about Grandma and pie was that if you were anywhere near a restaurant that served pie, you had to stop and have some. If you went into town to buy groceries with her, you somehow ended up at the local coffee shop with a slice in font of you. If you went on a road trip with her, you stopped in the afternoon for a pie break. Even if it meant driving 30 miles off the interstate exit to find it.

In case you’re wondering what eating all that pie will do to your health, don’t worry. Grandma lived to the ripe old age of 90.

Now, let’s get baking!

A good pie starts with quality baking apples. I prefer Granny Smith, but there are several other varieties you can use including Northern Spy, Gala, Golden Delicious, Cortland , Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Jonagold.

First, you’ll need about four large or eight average size baking apples.

This Dutch Apple Pie recipe has a streusel topping which means you only need one pie crust. I think that’s one of the bonuses of making this pie. Less crust to fuss with. So prepare your pie crust, place it in your pie pan and set aside. You can use homemade crust or store-bought. But you gotta ask yourself, would Grandma put her lovingly made apple pie in a store-bought crust? No way!

Pre-heat your oven to 350 while you make the pie filling. I’m not gonna lie. The filling is labor intensive. Which is why so many bail and buy canned. But it’s totally worth it to make your own.

So, now for the hard work. Start by washing and drying your apples. Then peel, core and cut them into thin slices.

The hard work is done. Now we’re ready to start filling the crust. Stir two tablespoons of flour and two tablespoons of sugar together in a small bowl. Spread it in the bottom of the pie crust. Next, put your apple slices in the pan. Now stir together a 1/2 cup of the sugar with the cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle it over the apple slices.

Finally, you’re ready for the streusel topping. Mix the remaining sugar and flour with the butter. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in the butter until you have something that resembles course crumbs. Cover the entire top of the pie with the topping. Bake for 45 minutes.

Dutch Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients

Pie Filling

4-8 apples, depending on size, peeled, cored and sliced thin

1 uncooked pie shell

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Streusel Topping

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

6 Tbsp butter

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Peel, core and cut apples into thin slices. Mix 2 Tbsp of sugar and 2 Tbsp of flour and spread in the bottom of an unbaked pie shell. Add apple slices. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar, 3/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. Sprinkle over the apple slices, covering all of them.

To make the streusel topping, mix together 3/4 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of sugar. Then cut in six Tbsp of butter. Cover the entire top of the pie with the streusel. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.