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This Caramel Apple Crumb Pie gets requested every holiday season! The sweet cinnamon apple filling, buttery oat crumb topping, and caramel drizzle are complete apple pie perfection!
This recipe and photos have been updated since the original post on 12/1/2014
It’s not Thanksgiving unless there’s apple pie on the table and this Caramel Apple Crumb Pie to be exact! I’ve been making this pie nearly every Thanksgiving for at least the last 10 years and every year someone wants the recipe. I don’t blame them. It’s loaded with apples, lots of cinnamon, a crumbly oat topping and then drizzled with caramel sauce. It’s truly the perfect apple crumb pie in my opinion.
If you’re not into a double crust pie and prefer a buttery, sweet oat, streusel topping then this is the pie for you. If you’re like me and find yourself picking at the streusel, then you may want to make extra so that people aren’t wondering about the bare spots when the pie makes it’s way to the table.
Ingredients For Caramel Apple Crumb Pie
- Pie Crust
- Apples
- Lemon
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
- Vanilla Extract
- Rolled Oats (old fashioned oats)
- Unsalted butter
- Caramel sauce or salted caramel sauce
How to Make Caramel Apple Crumb Pie
Start by peeling, coring and thinly slicing the apples and placing them in a large bowl. Sprinkle flour, brown sugar, salt, lemon juice, vanilla and spices over the apples and stir everything together until all of the apples are coated.
In a smaller bowl combine the oats, flour, cinnamon. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and work it into the oat mixture with your hands or a pastry cutter until crumbles form.
Roll out the pie dough and place it into a 9 inch pie plate and crimp the edges to make the crust. Pour the apple filling into the unbaked pie crust and top it with the oat crumb topping. Bake the pie for 45-55 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. You will likely need to place a piece of foil over the pie halfway through the baking time to prevent the crust and crumb topping from getting too brown.
Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
Time saving tips – Use store bought pie dough. Making homemade pie dough can be stressful for some people, save your sanity and buy some from the grocery store. If you are feeling ambitious, I love this extra-flaky pie crust recipe. Buying caramel sauce will also save you time, but if you make your own I’ve made this salted caramel sauce several times and it’s delicious.
What kind of apples are best for apple pie?
I like to use a mix of a couple different varieties. Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp are my favorite varieties to use. They stand up well to baking and have great flavor.
How thin should the apples be sliced?
I like to slice the apples very thin, no more than 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick. I think the filling bakes better when the apple are thin. If you do thick slices, you’ll risk the apples not being cooked and the crust getting over baked.
Gluten-free apple pie substitutions
If you need to make the apple pie gluten-free you’ll want to look for a gluten-free pie crust or recipe for one. Replace the flour in the filling and crumb topping with a gluten-free all purpose flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats as well.
More Apple Desserts
- Apple Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze
- No Bake Apple Pie Bites
- Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp
- Baked Apple Chips with Snickerdoodle Dip
- Honey Bourbon Apple Crisps in Jars
Caramel Apple Crumb Pie
Ingredients
For the Apple Pie
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- 5 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
- Caramel sauce for drizzling on top
Instructions
To Make the Apple Pie
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Place the pie dough into a 9 inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Create a fluted crust with your fingers or crimp the edges with a fork. Refrigerate until the rest of the pie is prepped.
- Wash, peel, and thinly slice the apples, placing them in a large mixing bowl and tossing them in the lemon juice. Add the flour, sugar, spices, salt and vanilla to the apples and stir together until they are completely coated.
- In a separate bowl stir together all of the oat topping ingredients except the cubed butter. Once the topping ingredients are combined add in the cold cubed butter and work it into the mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until crumbles form.
- Pour the apples into the unbaked prepared pie crust. Top the apple filling with the oat topping. Bake the pie for 45-55 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. If the crust and topping start to get too brown, place a piece of foil loosely over the top. I usually do this about halfway through the baking time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
mine never bubbled when I made this so not sureif its done
When do you put the Carmel sauce on?
The caramel sauce goes on top after it comes out of the oven.
Hey Danae- do you have a Carmel recipe you use or a brand you prefer?
Hi Lindsay I don’t currently have a recipe. I’ve used both the Stonewall Kitchen brand and Smucker’s Simple Delight salted caramel sauce. This is another recipe I’ve used before if you want to make your own. https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/salted-caramel-sauce/
Thank you!! I’ll try two Peas recipe!
Hi! Will other apples go well in this particular pie? After extensive googling, I see that my favorite apple (HoneyCrisp) is also highly recommended for pies because of it’s crispness. Granny Smith are too sour for my taste, but with the addition of caramel sauce, I don’t want to risk that the pie is too sweet for anyone else! (it could never been too sweet for me :) Thanks in advance!
Hi Amanda,
You could definitely use HoneyCrisp apples in this pie, they’re my favorite too. :-) I actually like to use a mix of different apples and often go with Granny Smith and HoneyCrisp or another firm variety. If you’re worried about the caramel making it too sweet you can always serve it on the side. I hope you enjoy the pie!
Is a 9″ pie shell ok for this pie? I’m making it for Thanksgiving!!!
Yep, that will work! Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you!!!
Hi, I just put this pie in my oven. Hope my husband likes it. And I just was your name. My 2 year old’s name is Danae too.
I hope you enjoy the pie, wish I had one in my oven right now! I happy the name Danae is becoming a little more common. ;-)