This caramel apple pie features an ultra-flaky pie crust, a sweet-tart apple filling, and a chewy crumble topping, all finished with a drizzle of caramel sauce.
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“I made this pie today and it was the best pie I have ever made. I make pies regularly and it is by far my favorite! I did substitute the flour in the filling with arrow root and added an extra heaping tablespoon and the consistency was perfect.” -Shannon, FoodieCrush reader
Thank You, Ree Drummond, for Another Knockout Pie Recipe!
In Ree Drummonds’s signature style, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations replicates the recipe style that’s made legions of The Pioneer Woman fans melt with each blog post.
When deciding what I might make from her book, I had plenty of choices thanks to the 140 recipes packed into 400 pages. Then I flipped to this caramel apple crumb pie, a standard at Ree’s Thanksgiving feast. I was a goner when I read her words, “This apple pie will make you cry. But in a good, cleanse-your-soul way.”
Who couldn’t use a good cry thanks to pie? Especially when it’s with tears of joy while savoring a mix of oatmeal crumble, creamy caramel, and classic apple pie.
Thank you, Ree, for helping my soul become pure once again with your caramel apple pie.
Enjoy!
Ingredients You’ll Need
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Pie crust — You can either buy your favorite pie crust from the store or halve my butter pie crust recipe to make just one crust. (Or make the entire recipe and freeze the other crust for a future pie!)
- Apples — Granny Smith, with their firm texture and tart punch, are the classic pie filler. I found Braeburn and Pink Ladies are a great combo too.
- Lemon juice — Prevents the apples from turning brown.
- Sugar — There’s granulated sugar in the apple pie filling for a neutral sweetness, and brown sugar in the oat crumble for moisture and flavor.
- All-purpose flour — Some folks say that thickening your apple pie filling with flour makes it turn cloudy, but I still prefer it to cornstarch which can sometimes give it a jellied texture.
- Butter — Makes for an ultra rich and buttery crumble topping.
- Quick oats — Old fashioned oats work too, but your crumble will be chewier.
- Pecans — Chop them finely so nothing sticks out from the crumble and burns.
- Caramel sauce — I won’t lie, I never make my own caramel sauce (who has time for that??). Use your favorite jarred caramel sauce here; a salted caramel sauce would be especially divine.
How to Make a Caramel Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
- Shape the pie crust. You’ll first need to prep and roll out your pie crust, then place it in the pie dish and crimp it. This is my go-to butter pie crust recipe, but you’re welcome to use your favorite store-bought pie crust too.
- Meanwhile, prep the filling. Peel and thinly slice the apples, then toss them with a little lemon juice, sugar, flour and salt.
- Make the crumble topping. It’s essentially an apple crisp topping that’s made with quick oats instead of the usual rolled oats. A pastry cutter makes it so easy to incorporate the butter into the topping!
- Assemble and bake. Mound the apples in the pie crust, then sprinkle the crumble topping over them. Bake the apple pie with crumb topping until it’s golden brown.
Heidi’s Tip: When you first assemble the pie, the mound of apples looks massive. Don’t worry, the apple pie filling cooks down a lot in the oven and flattens out by itself.
- Cool before serving. This pie cuts best when it has cooled completely and firmed up, so allow yourself at least several hours of resting time before cutting and serving. Then if you’re dying for a piece as a warmed up base for cold ice cream, just pop it in the microwave for a few minutes.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Caramel Apple Crumb Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Apple Pie
- 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust
- 7-8 cups peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples
- juice of half of a lemon
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Crumble Topping
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (or 1 ½ sticks)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar , packed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup quick oats
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- ½ cup jarred caramel topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Shape the pie crust. Roll the pie crust on a lightly floured surface until about 1 inch larger in diameter than the top of a 9-inch pie pan. Fold the crust in half and transfer it to the pie pan and unfold it. Carefully cut the edges of the pan so it hangs just below the lip and then tuck the edges underneath to form a neat crust rim then crimp the edges of the crust.1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust
- Make the filling. Toss the apples with the lemon juice, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl and set aside.7-8 cups peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples, juice of half of a lemon, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Make the crumble topping. In another large bowl, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar and salt and blend with a pastry blender into pea size pieces. Add the oats and pecans and combine.¾ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup quick oats, ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- Assemble the pie. Mound the apples into the pie crust then sprinkle with the oat topping.
- Bake. Lightly cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cover the entire pie with aluminum foil if it seems to be baking too quickly.
- Cool before serving. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Drizzle with caramel sauce, slice and serve.½ cup jarred caramel topping
Notes
Nutrition
More Apple Desserts to Make This Fall
More Pies We Love on Thanksgiving
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Nancy
Christmas. And apple pie is always on the menu. I plan to try Ree’s recipe this year.
paula
My favorite Holiday is Christmas. And my favorite dish is all our breakfast dishes we have Christmas morning. We all gather at my parent’s home & have breakfast together. The food is wonderful but not near as wonderful as having my whole extended family together!
Bri
I love Ree’s recipes and her humor!
Urban Wife
Thanksgiving and pecan pie
Carolsue
That’s hard to answer. I love sweet potato casserole, however, so I’ll go with that!
TaraO
Thanksgiving is my favorite; I love turkey, pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes!
cteeobrien[at]cox{dot}net
Mary-Clay @ Cooking with the King
Christmas! And this goes with Thanksgiving, too, but SAH-WEET POTATO CASSEROLE so help me God.
Cheryl W.
My favorite holiday is Independence day. My favorite dish for that holiday is grilled corn on the cob with cilantro butter.
julianne
thanksgiving or christmas.. and my {to-be} mother-in-law’s chorizo stuffing! it is to DIE for!
Katie B
My favorite holiday would have to be Christmas! I just love seeing everyone’s trees and how they decorate them! I may love Christmas a little more because my birthday is a few days after and its really the holiday I look forward to all year long!! My favorite food to go along with Christmas (and Thanksgiving) would be my grandma’s homemade noodles! Every Christmas she makes a big ol’ pot of noodles and we (yep 7 granddaughters can chow down!) sit and eat all day long! They are absolutely delicious! I definitely need to learn how to make them! I believe Grandma told us this past week that she’s going to have a noodle making lesson for all of us girls!
Trina H
My favourite holiday is Christmas and in Australia most people eat lots of prawns on this day. So my favourite dish is just a plate full of nice fresh prawns.
Anastacia
My favorite holiday is Christmas but it doesn’t coincide with my favorite holiday food. The crown would go to Corned Beef and Cabbage from St. Patrick’s Day. I happen to really love that dish. I wait all year for it.
Charlene
My only regret is that it is just after midnight on Thanksgiving. And all of my pies are made and I can’t stand the thought of one more trip to my local grocery store. The good news is that Christmas is a great excuse to try this pie!!
Tracey C.
This pie is my favorite, with my Mom’s sausage stuffing a close second. I’ve been making this pie for YEARS, and everyone who tries it, their eyes go wide, and when they finish their bite, say “OH my goodness, this is SO GOOD!” so yeah – mmmmm.
Elizabeth
Thanksgiving pumpkin pie
Noel
I love all the food we have on 4th of July. Burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, etc.
Janice
The pictures look so scrumptious, can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorites because of all the food! I love stuffing and gravy best.
Lisa
Christmas is my favorite and I love all the cookie baking!
Leanne T
Christmas with a beautiful Prime Rib Roast!!
Maryz
Thanksgiving is my favorite! Family and friends all together and no gifts! I happen to love all the sides that go with the turkey…sweet potato casserole, stuffing and cranberry sauce!
Jessicaisbaking
Christmas !! Prime Rib!!!
Christina
Halloween and anything pumpkin
natalie g
My favorite holiday is Christmas, and my favorite dish to go along with it is pots de creme.
natalie
I love Halloween the most, and Oreo “Dirt” is the perfect dish that goes with it.
Maureen
I love Christmas and I love the eggnog related items that go along with the holiday. I make eggnog bread and I make eggnog cheesecake bars.