As soon as apple season begins, it’s time to prepare apple crumble pie, which is the perfect dessert for those dark fall evenings. While there are many different apple pie recipes out there, I’ve made this one the most because it’s an extremely easy apple crumble pie recipe, and I always have all the necessary ingredients at home. Good news is, that this particular recipe is great because both the bottom crust and the crumble topping are made from the same pie dough, so there’s no need to think of anything too complicated. Also, there’s no need to use a premade pie crust; you can simply put the entire dish into the oven at once.
We often enjoy this crumble pie not only as a dessert, but as a simple snack at home. My husband likes it when I cut the pie into very small pieces so he can pop a piece into his mouth all at once. It’s nice to grab a little piece of pie when heading to the kitchen. Additionally, it’s great to take apple crumble pie with you when leaving for work in the morning because, I must admit, sometimes we can’t manage to have breakfast all together in the morning. Sometimes the kids don’t wake up until after my husband has already left, or they wake up just as I’m starting to prepare breakfast and I simply can’t get the food ready in time. So it’s very convenient to have apple crumble pie or even cinnamon cookies on hand.
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How to Make Apple Filling
During the fall apple season, it’s a good idea to clean and slice fresh apples from the garden and place them on the pie crust. In this case, be sure to sprinkle sugar over the apples so that the apple juices and sugar can combine to create a nice caramel sauce; otherwise, the apple filling may be too tart and dry. It’s actually great to use tart apples for apple pie because the sugar sweetens them anyway, and eating tart apples on their own is usually not very pleasant. However, it doesn’t matter what kind of apples you use for the filling; anything goes.
If it’s not apple season, a quick solution is to use pre-made apple sauce for the topping. Since there’s often an abundance of apple sauce in the cellar during the fall, it’s a good way to use it up. Using apple sauce makes the pie delicious, and because you don’t need to clean and chop apples, the whole pie-making process becomes quick and easy.
Of course, crumble pie filling doesn’t have to be limited to apples, you can make all kinds of fruit pies. A tasty pie can also be made with ingredients like blueberries or rhubarb, for example. There are plenty of garden produce options to use. Why not try making a savory crumble pie?
What You’ll Need for Making Crumble Pie
To make the perfect apple crumble pie, you don’t need many ingredients. In fact, you’ll be surprised at how few ingredients are required to make a delicious crumble pie. The pie dough consists of just three main ingredients, and these are usually always available in every kitchen, so you can make crumble pie on a whim without having to go to the store.
Often, baking powder is used in crumble pie recipes, but I don’t see a need for it at all. Additionally, eggs are one of the components that I’ve omitted from the recipe. Eggs are usually added to the bottom crust, but in my opinion, they are unnecessary. They don’t improve the pie, and besides, if you use eggs in the crumb dough, you’d need to make a separate crumb topping, as you can’t incorporate eggs into the crumb dough. If you’re worried that the bottom crust will break apart and not hold without eggs, that’s not the case at all. The pie holds together perfectly, and it only breaks apart when it’s extremely hot and just out of the oven.
Sugar – You may use white or brown sugar but I prefer brown.
All-purpose flour
Unsalted butter – When making a whole large tray of crumble pie, as I like to do and as this recipe is designed, it requires quite a bit of butter. Since butter is a common ingredient in many recipes, I always try to ensure that I never run out of butter in my kitchen. If I notice that there are only a couple of packs left, I make sure to buy more in larger quantities from the store.
Pie filling – Apple sauce or apples and sugar
Cinnamon (optional)
Salt – Like almost every good dessert, adding salt makes the crumble pie tastier. You can omit salt from the dough if you prefer.
How to Make Apple Crumble Pie
As I mentioned earlier, I always make crumble pie on a large baking sheet. I’ve also made it in a smaller tart pan, but in that case, the entire pie is usually eaten in one day, and unfortunately, I don’t have the time to bake something sweet every day, even though it would be nice if I did! Usually, when I make a large tray of crumble pie, most of it is eaten on the first evening, but a significant portion remains for the next day or even sits on the kitchen table for several days before it gradually disappears.
The first thing you should do is prepare the apple filling: wash and core the apples and peel them if necessary. I never peel apples from the garden, and if the apples aren’t dirty, there’s no need to wash them. The apple skin becomes soft when baked, and you won’t even notice it when eating the pie.
- In a large bowl, prepare the pie dough by combining flour, sugar, salt, and cold butter. I recommend cutting the butter into cubes to make it easier to chop. As mentioned earlier, both the pie crust and the crumb topping are made from the same ingredients, so there’s no need for a separate bowl for the crumble topping. Start mixing the ingredients together with your hands. Try to break the butter into small pieces, so it mixes evenly with the flour and sugar to form a crumbly dough. You may use a pastry cutter if you’d like to.
- Grease the baking sheet with butter or coconut oil to prevent the crust from sticking. No need to use parchment paper.
- Once all the pie dough ingredients are mixed together nicely, take about 2/3 of the dough and place it on the baking sheet. Then press the dough with your hands into an even layer covering the entire bottom of the tray.
- Add the apple filling. Be generous with the filling; otherwise, the pie may turn out dry and tasteless. If you’re using fresh apples, spread apple slices or cubes on top of the dough and sprinkle with sugar and, optionally, cinnamon. If you’re using apple sauce, spread it on top of the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon only.
- Now, take the remaining crumble dough and crumble it over the top of the pie. The sauce doesn’t need to be completely covered with crumble, but it can be. You can decide how thick of a crumble layer you want on the pie.
- Set the oven temperature to 200 °C (392 °F) and bake the pie on the middle rack for about 40 minutes. The crumble pie is ready when it’s golden brown on top.
- Remove the crumble pie from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving, as hot pie crust tends to crumble and is difficult to cut.
Ideas and Tips
- If you want to bake a smaller crumble pie and use a standard-sized cake pan or pie plate, reduce the amount of dough by about half.
- If you’re serving apple crumble pie for a special occasion, you can dust it with powdered sugar. This makes the crumble pie look even more delicious and appetizing.
- Apple crumble pie pairs wonderfully with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Definitely don’t use butter that is at room temperature. With butter like that, you won’t be able to make the flaky crust.
- You can also use premade crust, but in this case, I highly recommend using a homemade pie crust, as it allows you to customize your own flavors. In spite of that, you can also use store-bought pie crust.
- Crumble pie allows for a lot of creativity. You can make the pie thinner or thicker, create multiple layers, and experiment with different flavors. You can even use quark as a filling.
Classic Apple Crumble Pie Recipe (really easy)
It's an extremely easy and delicious apple crumble pie recipe, and I always have all the necessary ingredients at home.
Ingredients
- 150g of sugar - you may use white or brown sugar but I prefer brown.
- 600g of all-purpose-flour
- 400g of unsalted butter - When making a whole large tray of crumble pie, as I like to do and as this recipe is designed, it requires quite a bit of butter. Since butter is a common ingredient in many recipes, I always try to ensure that I never run out of butter in my kitchen. If I notice that there are only a couple of packs left, I make sure to buy more in larger quantities from the store.
- Pie filling - 500ml of apple sauce or apples and sugar
- Cinnamon (optional)
- 0,5 tsp. of salt - Like almost every good dessert, adding salt makes the crumble pie tastier. You can omit salt from the dough if you prefer.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, prepare the pie dough by combining flour, sugar, salt, and cold butter. I recommend cutting the butter into cubes to make it easier to chop. As mentioned earlier, both the pie crust and the crumb topping are made from the same ingredients, so there's no need for a separate bowl for the crumble topping. Start mixing the ingredients together with your hands. Try to break the butter into small pieces, so it mixes evenly with the flour and sugar to form a crumbly dough. You may use a pastry cutter if you'd like to.
- Grease the baking sheet with butter or coconut oil to prevent the crust from sticking. No need to use parchment paper.
- Once all the pie dough ingredients are mixed together nicely, take about 2/3 of the dough and place it on the baking sheet. Then press the dough with your hands into an even layer covering the entire bottom of the tray.
- Add the apple filling. Be generous with the filling; otherwise, the pie may turn out dry and tasteless. If you're using fresh apples, spread apple slices or cubes on top of the dough and sprinkle with sugar and, optionally, cinnamon. If you're using apple sauce, spread it on top of the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon only.
- Now, take the remaining crumble dough and crumble it over the top of the pie. The sauce doesn't need to be completely covered with crumble, but it can be. You can decide how thick of a crumble layer you want on the pie.
- Set the oven temperature to 200 °C (392 °F) and bake the pie on the middle rack for about 40 minutes. The crumble pie is ready when it's golden brown on top.
- Remove the crumble pie from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving, as hot pie crust tends to crumble and is difficult to cut.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 360898Total Fat: 1300gSaturated Fat: 390gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 473gCholesterol: 860mgSodium: 24688mgCarbohydrates: 91773gFiber: 6269gSugar: 76485gProtein: 909g
