Dutch Apple Pie is a traditional apple pie but with a twist: the top crust is a delicious and simple streusel in place of a standard crust. This nutty crumb topping and a combo of apples make a perfectly balanced pie, using a stovetop apple pie filling.

I know why you don’t make this. That’s what my sister said when we had just put the finishing touches on a fresh fruit trifle this summer. It’s too messy for you, she said.

Too messy? What the? I started in on how I had sawed the leg off of a 300-pound pig in culinary school, how I love to get my hands into a big mess of dough. How I this and how I that. She didn’t buy any of it. You like precision, she said. You like things neatly arranged and, frankly, perfect. I just love having siblings, a sister especially. One can learn so much about oneself, don’t you think?

It’s like your hair, she said. You have curly hair, but you feel like you can’t control it that way, so you straighten it. Okay. True. I do love a good boar-bristle brush. I suppose it was the way I kept describing our bowls of trifle as delicious . . . despite how homely it all looked. Homely may have been a strong word; Peg seemed offended. The trifle tasted very, very good.

I was on a plane recently with Dan and paging through one of my food magazines. He saw a photo of apple crumble, a cobbler scooped into bowls with spiced ice cream melting over the top. I thought he was sleeping until I heard: Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout. Even though I promised to make exactly that dessert when we got home, I knew it wouldn’t be a crumble or a cobbler. I do have a cobbler recipe I love, but I still, I knew this was going to be a pie. I hadn’t rolled a crust since summer (a long time around here). The urge to crimp edges could not be ignored. Besides, this seemed the best way to usher in apple season. I have a strict rule about apples—a coalition more than a rule: No Apples In Summer. The juicy-fruit bearing season up here is just too short to make room for a crisp apple until the others are spent.

So maybe I do take certain inclinations a little far. How about this: Feel free–even though I clearly don’t feel free–to turn our Dutch apple pie recipe into a cobbler by leaving off the bottom crust. But do (here I go again) leave in the rosewater. I have found it’s the perfect way to pull out even more apple flavor. And you know how I feel about perfect.

What is Dutch Apple Pie?

Dutch apple calls for a crumb topping, which is in effect like a streusel topping that’s very easy to make and assemble. Because the top requires no rolling with a rolling pin, this version of apple pie becomes a very easy one–it should always be called “Easy Dutch Apple Pie Recipe”! Especially if you use a store bought crust for the bottom crust (though a flaky homemade pie crust is very do-able with my oil pie crust recipe).

Ingredients

For the filling:

Apples. Use at 6-7 large apples (see below regarding varieties). 

Unsalted butter

Granulated sugar, plus more for dusting the pie

Cinnamon

Orange blossom water

Rose water

Lemon juice

Cream

Flour 

For the crumble topping:

​Butter

Flour

Toasted walnuts

​Cinnamon

Brown sugar

For the bottom crust:

Flour

Neutral oil

Salt

Ice water

How to Make Dutch Apple Pie

Make the apple filling:

Step 1. Use a mixture of apples to include both tart apples and sweet apples. I like Honey Crisp apples with one or two Granny Smith Apples for a total of 7 cups of sliced apples from 7 large apples. In a large bowl, combine apple slices with granulated sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and rose water. Set aside to rest to encourage apple juices to form.

Step 2. Cook the filling by melting butter over medium heat in a large pan. Add the apple mixture to the melted butter and cook until the apples soften, about 5 minutes. Look for tender apples here but not mushy apples. Reduce the heat to low. In a small bowl, make a slurry of flour and cream, then pour it over the apples. Cook for about 1 minute to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside (the filling may be refrigerated or frozen at this stage, in an airtight container, after it cools to room temperature).

Make the topping:

Step 1. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, chopped toasted walnuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, flour, and a touch of salt. Set aside.

Make the bottom crust:

Step 1. Arrange an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F. 

Step 2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt. Slowly stir in the oil with a spoon until pea-sized crumbs form. 

Step 2. Stir in the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, gently combining the dough without overworking it.

Step 3. Dampen the countertop with a little cold water to anchor one sheet of wax paper. Place the pie dough in the center of the wax paper and lay another sheet of wax paper over the top. Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Remove the top sheet of paper and invert the crust, still on the other sheet of waxed paper, over a 9-inch pie dish. Ease the dough down into the plate and slowly peel the paper off. Tuck the overhang of dough under the edge of the crust to form a thick edge. If there are any thin areas, cut some of the overhang from elsewhere and tuck it under the thin spot to make it thicker. Crimp the edge decoratively and prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork to prevent the crust from bubbling up.

Step 4. Par-bake the crust until it is pale golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and keep the oven on.

Assemble the pie:

Step 1. Transfer the apple pie filling to the par-baked crust. 

Step 2. Crumble the topping evenly over the filling. Place a pie crust protector around the pie to keep the edges from over-browning.

Step 3. Bake the pie until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow the baked pie to cool on a wire rack to room temperature (or until just warm) before slicing and serving. A scoop of ice cream or whipped cream on the side is excellent! Also great: drizzle of caramel sauce over top.

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