Apple Crumb Pie

Published: Sep 24, 2026 by Kelli Avila · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 41 Comments

Jump to Recipe· 4.8 from 13 reviews

A true classic recipe, this Apple Crumb Pie has a buttery, flaky crust filled to the brim with cinnamon-laced apples and baked under a crisp oat crumb topping.

A slice of apple crumb pie served with vanilla ice cream on a cream colored plate.

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As far as pies go, it's hard to get more comforting than an Apple Crumb Pie. I set out to do justice to what makes this pie a classic: a buttery crumb topping, a glossy spiced apple filling, and a crisp, flaky homemade crust holding it all together.

Just like my Ultimate Apple Pie, this recipe includes a few deliberate steps to ensure it's the best possible pie. The filling uses a mix of baking apples that hold their shape and balance sweet and tart. The apples are macerated first, then layered into the crust by hand, a step many recipes skip, so the filling retains its height rather than sinking under the topping. The crust itself is a simple, buttery homemade dough made by hand, though any of the other pie crust recipes on my site can easily be swapped in. Finally, the crumb topping uses melted butter instead of cold butter, which makes it quicker to assemble and results in a crispier crumb.

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Best Apples to Choose
How to Make This Apple Crumb Pie
How to Tell When the Pie is Done
How to Serve and Store It
More Apple Recipes
Did you make the recipe?
Full Recipe
FAQs

Best Apples to Choose

For a pie, you want an apple that holds its shape during baking and has a nuanced flavor with a slight tartness to balance the sweetness of the sugar. A combination of apples is helpful because it introduces a variety of flavors and textures. My two favorite apples for any recipe are Gala and Granny Smith. They're universally available, inexpensive, and check all those boxes just mentioned. Check out this guide to baking apples if you are looking for further information on choosing the right type of apple for you.

How to Make This Apple Crumb Pie

This recipe calls for one batch of pie dough for a 9-inch pie, and homemade is best! New to making pie crust? Take a look at my Ultimate Guide for All Butter Pie Crust, or any of the other resources on my site for making pie crust by hand, in a stand mixer, or with a food processor. The recipe below is for a straightforward all-butter pie crust made by hand.

The most common problem with apple pie is that the filling sinks as it cools, leaving a gap under the topping. To prevent that, this recipe macerates the apples to draw out some of their moisture before they go into the pie. Then the apples are layered in closely within the pie dough, leaving little room for the filling to settle. The result is a pie that slices cleanly and holds its shape!

Two hands holding a ball of pie dough over a bowl with more flour and butter in it

Step 1: Make the pie crust and rest it for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

The prepared pie crust for an apple crumb pie.

Step 2: Roll out the pie dough, place it into the pie plate, and crimp the edges.

Step 3: Add all the ingredients for the apple filling to a bowl and macerate for about 20 minutes.

A prepared pie shell with a few layers of raw apple pie filling being neatly placed inside of it.

Step 4: Layer the macerated apples into the pie crust, shingling the slices as you go.

Apple slices being layered into an unbaked pie crust.

Step 5: Keep shifting the slices as they are layered to remove as many gaps between them as possible.

The prepared topping for the apple crumb pie.

Step 6: Melt the butter and make the streusel (if melting it on the stovetop, you can use the pot to combine the remaining ingredients in lieu of a bowl).

An overhead view of a unbaked apple crumb pie.

Step 7: Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the apple pie filling.

A whole baked apple pie with a crumb topping cooling on a wire rack.

Step 8: Bake! If your streusel is browning too quickly, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.

How to Tell When the Pie is Done

Some pie recipes call for a prebaked crust or a precooked filling, but this one goes into the oven with every component raw: the crust, the filling, and the crumb topping. That makes the bake especially important. The pie needs enough time in the oven to cook the bottom crust and the topping through and, most importantly, to heat the filling enough to activate the thickener (cornstarch) and fully cook the apples.

There are a few ways to tell when your apple pie is done:

Look for the crumble to be golden and the pie to be puffed up nearly all the way through. It puffs up because the fruit has reached the temperature at which it "boils". As it cools, it will slightly deflate.
Ordinarily, I would suggest looking for the pie to be bubbling in the middle as a sign it is done, but that is difficult to see with the crumble topping. You will likely see some bubbling on the edges of the pie, though.
And finally, the most foolproof way to make sure your pie is baked properly is to use an instant-read thermometer. I always use one to check the temperature of every pie I bake. You want the internal temperature of an apple pie to be above 200ºF.

A slice of apple crumb pie showing tightly layered apples beneath an oat topping.

How to Serve and Store It

Let the pie cool for about 4 hours before serving. If you cut into it while it's hot, the filling will be soupy, and the slices won't hold their shape. (You won't catch me saying "don't do it," though, because that's still delicious, just messy!)

Serve this pie slightly warm or at room temperature. It can be served as-is, with whipped cream, or a la mode with vanilla ice cream!

A baked apple pie can be stored covered at room temperature for 1 day. Cover it and place it in a refrigerator if you are storing it longer. It can always be reheated later to take off the chill and to crisp up the pastry.

More Apple Recipes

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4.8 from 13 reviews

Apple Crumb Pie

Recipe by Kelli Avila

This Apple Crumb Pie is all about a tall, sliceable filling tucked under a buttery oat crumble. The recipe calls for weighing the apples whole before prepping them, then cutting them into thin, flat slices so they layer together without gaps. Macerating the slices in sugar and spices draws out their juices before baking, which softens them and keeps the filling from sinking away from the topping. The crumb topping is made just a bit simpler by using melted butter instead of cutting it in cold, which helps it bake into a crisper crumb that holds up against all the juicy apple filling.

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Total Time01:40
Yield1 9-inch pie

Ingredients

For Pastry:

1-½ cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon (2 grams) coarse kosher salt (see note)
8 tablespoons (110 grams) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1" pieces
1 tablespoon (15 grams) apple cider vinegar
¼ cup (60 grams) ice water, more as needed

For Apple Filling:

3-½ pounds baking apples (about 6-8), weighed whole, then peeled, cored, and cut into flat slices no thicker than ½ inch
1 tablespoon lemon juice (about half a lemon)
3 tablespoons cornstarch (or 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour)
⅓ cup (70 grams) packed brown sugar
¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon (2 grams) coarse kosher salt
1-½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumble Topping:

8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (80 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
¼ cup (55 grams) packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

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Instructions

Prepare the Pie Crust:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Toss in the butter and coat it with the flour. Using your fingers, work the butter into the flour. Continue until most of the butter looks shaggy. Some larger pieces can remain, up to the size of a marble.
Add the vinegar to the ice water, then drip ¾ of it into the flour mixture and toss with your fingers. When the dough is hydrated enough, it should easily squeeze together with your hands. Drip in more water if needed. Add only enough water to bring the dough together.
Using your hands, gently press the shaggy dough together into a ball and then flatten it into a disk shape. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the wrapped dough out until it stretches to the edges of the plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
Roll out the pie dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit the pastry into a standard 9-inch pie plate, making sure to press the pastry into the sides and the bottom. Crimp the edges as desired. Chill the pie crust in the refrigerator until ready to fill.
Preheat the oven to 425ºF and place an oven rack in the lower part of the oven.

Prepare and Bake the Pie:

In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples and lemon juice. Add the cornstarch, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla and mix together. Let sit until the apples have released some of their juices and shrunken in size, at least 20 minutes.
Melt the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave or in a medium pot on the stovetop, then turn off the heat. To the bowl or pot, add the flour, oats, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix until well combined.
Layer the macerated apples tightly into the pie crust, leaving as little space between the slices as possible. Lightly pack them down to close any remaining gaps. Pour any juices left in the bowl over the apples, then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top, packing down as needed.
Bake the pie on a rimmed baking sheet on the lowest rack for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 400ºF and bake for an additional 45-55 minutes, or until the pie filling is bubbling and it reaches an internal temperature above 200ºF. If the crust or streusel is browning too quickly, loosely cover with aluminum foil.
Remove the pie from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let the pie cool for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

Use a mix of baking apples, such as Gala and Granny Smith.

Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. If you aren't going to weigh it, make sure to spoon it into the measuring cup and then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level, it could change the outcome of the final product.

This recipe was tested using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. If you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt, decrease by half for volume, or use the same amount by weight.

A baked Apple Crumb Pie can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 1 day. For longer than 1 day, store in the refrigerator and reheat as necessary.

Want to make this apple pie without the crumble? Make the recipe as-is, then top it with another pie crust to make it a double-crust or lattice-crust pie.

See the FAQs about this pie below this recipe for additional information.

This recipe was originally published in 2019. Over the years, this recipe has been regularly retested and periodically updated to ensure it continues to deliver great results for readers. The ingredients and method largely remain the same, with some minor adjustments.

Prep Time: 00:40
Cook Time: 01:00
Category: Sweet Pie
Method: Bake

FAQs

This recipe was originally published in 2019. Over the years since, it has been regularly retested and periodically updated to ensure it continues to deliver great results for readers. Because this is a legacy recipe, I can compile some of the most frequently asked questions I get from readers about it!

Can I use store-bought pie crust?

You can. I'll be honest that I haven’t had much success with store-bought pie dough. I personally would reach for store-bought puff pastry, but if you have a brand that you've had success with before, go for it!

Can I use quick cooking oats in the topping?

Yes. Old-fashioned rolled oats give the topping the most texture, but quick-cooking oats will also work.

Can I substitute the apple cider vinegar in the crust?

Yes, replace it with the same amount of water.

How should I prepare the apples?

Weigh the apples first, then prepare them. If you prep them before weighing, you'll end up with too many apple slices. Without a scale, 6-8 apples is a good estimate, but you'll need to judge the amount by eye. Once weighed, peel, core, and cut the apples into thin, flat slices. This is crucial for fitting them together in the pie with no gaps. Wedge-shaped slices leave gaps that flat slices don't.

Will all of the apples fit in the pie?

It will look like a lot of apples at first, but they shrink quite a bit as they macerate. The sugar draws out their juices, and the slices soften, becoming more pliable and smaller. The apples also need to be layered in tightly rather than poured in. Shingling them in like a puzzle and lightly packing them down reduces the gap between the filling and the crust as it bakes, and helps the filling stay tall. If you've done both of these steps and still have extra apples, set them aside for another use, such as cooking them down on the stovetop.

Can these be made ahead of time?

Yes. Refrigerate the pie dough for up to 2 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. The shaped crust, the macerated filling, and the fully assembled unbaked pie can each be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 day. To freeze the assembled, unbaked pie, freeze it on a sheet pan until solid, at least 12 hours. Then wrap it twice in plastic wrap and once in foil. Bake within 3 months, either thawed overnight in the refrigerator or straight from frozen.

How do I keep the bottom crust from getting soggy?

Make sure the oven is fully preheated and bake the pie on the lowest rack. If the bottom still isn't baking through, place a pizza stone on the bottom of the oven, or bake the pie a little longer. But more importantly, cook it longer!

Can I bake two pies at the same time?

Yes. If the pies are on separate racks, switch their positions halfway through baking.

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