Easiest and best ever apple crumble pie with a pie crust bottom, gooey cinnamon apple filling, and a sweet n’ salty crumble topping with melty vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
Why This Recipe Works
Apples โ Tis the season โ apple season! While I like to use fuji or gala apples, you can really use any apples you like or have on hand. Anything goes in this apple crumple pie recipe. Granny smith apples will make for a tarter flavor, if you are into that.
Store-bought pie crust โ If you want to make your own pie crust for this apple crumble recipe, that’s great! But, for me, I’m often in a time crunch so that’s why I love to keep pre-made crusts on hand.
Quick โ An apple pie in under an hour? Yes, please! It doesn’t get much faster than this easy apple crumble with that delicious brown sugar cinnamon goodness!
Delicious โ Just writing about this pie is making me sad that we ate it all. It’s so good you guys, you’ll want to make it again and again. Those fresh apples that make the apple filling and that crumbly topping, served warm with all the ice cream or whipped cream? Heaven.
How to Make Apple Crumble Pie
Ready to make apple crumble pie? Here’s a run-down of all the ingredients you’ll need, plus a step-by-step list of directions. Let’s get baking!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
- 5 medium apples, fuji, gala or another of your favorite apples.
- Cinnamon
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Butter
- Ice cream (optional)
- Whipped cream (optional)
- Course sea salt (also optional)
Step By Step Directions
- First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare your pie crust. For a premade crust, thaw and press into a round pie dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Next, stir the cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar together, then toss the apple slices in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Pour the dusted apples into the pie crust, moving them around with your hands or a spoon to try to get them as tightly packed as you can. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top.
- Now, take out a medium mixing bowl and whisk together the flour and the rest of the sugar. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers. It should be crumbly. Now scatter this over the apples.
- Bake the apple crumble pie for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top (if desired) and serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
Expert Tips and Tricks for Making this Apple Crumble Pie Recipe
- To make this apple pie ahead of time, what I do is cut up the apples, roll them in cinnamon and sugar, and put them in the fridge. Then I make the crumble separate and put that in the fridge. Then, when I’m ready to bake the pie, I get out the crust, layer and tamp down the apples, then add the crumble top and bake.
- You can store this apple crumble pie, uncovered in the fridge up to 3 days. Individual slices can be heated in the microwave later if desired.
- To freeze this apple crumble pie recipe, first bake it, then let it cool to room temperature. Next, cover in foil or put in a storage container made for pies. Put in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw before warming up in oven.
- Does your crumble top keep sinking? This has happened to me before. This happens because apples are full of moisture. So when they’re baked, they release that moisture and shrink as they cool. This shrinking causes the crumbly topping to sink down into it. One way to prevent this from happing is to pre-cook the apples in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, that way they’ll have already shrunk down before they get baked in the oven. I pre-cook mine in a saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes, then add to pie crust, top with the crumble recipe and bake.
- Apples turning brown? There’s a fix for that, too. Simply roll your cut apples into a tablespoon or two of lemon juice before adding cinnamon and sugar. The lemon juice will keep them from oxidizing and turning brown.
- Are you worried about the saturated fat content of this pie? The good news is, you’re only using one pie crust, which helps cut down on the fat amount. And if you prefer, you could use coconut oil or low-fat butter. Just make sure both are cold before cutting into the flour mixture.
- Not sure what types of apples to choose for your apple crumble? Try using a mixture of two or three. That way you get a bit of a different taste with each bite! Just be sure to dice them uniformly so they all bake together.
More Amazing Dessert Recipes You’ll Enjoy
- Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
- Frosted Pumpkin Cookies
- Best Ever Baked Apples
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Cinnamon Roll-Ups
Did you make this tasty apple dessert recipe? YAY! Please rate the recipe below!
Apple Crumble Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust - (your favorite homemade or store-bought)
- 5 medium fuji or gala apples - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ยฝ cup sugar
Topping
- ยพ cup flour
- โ cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons chilled butter - diced
For Serving
- vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, coarse sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare your pie crust (if using homemade press into a round pie dish) and bake for 10 minutes.
- Stir together cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Toss apple slices in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Arrange apples in the pie crust, trying to get them as tightly packed as you can. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour and remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers, til crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apples.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until top is golden brown. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top (if desired) and serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
- Store uncovered in the fridge up to 3 days. Individual slices can be heated in the microwave later if desired.
absolutely delicious! It was very easy to make and everyone asked for seconds. I used half brown sugar and half white for the apples, and I made the crust myself, adding a bit of cinnamon (1 cup flour, 1 stick of butter at room temp, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, bake for 10 mins). Thank you for an awesome go to dessert!
Hi Victoria- So excited to hear that you loved this! Sounds like your substitutions turned out well- nice job! Thanks for sharing ๐
This is fabulous! Thank you, Tiffany. Making again for Thanksgiving with mcintosh apples. highly recommended!
Can I usa brown sugar?Moira
Yes, you can
Can I use this recipe with peaches?