Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

I’ve been staring at this Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie recipe in an old cook book for a long time and thinking that I should make it. Well, I could kick myself for not doing it sooner! I tweaked the recipe a bit and it turned out to be so…stinkin’…good!

The topping on this apple pie is what sets it apart. It’s a brown sugar, pecan, and butter topping. Are you drooling yet?! By the way, that little tool down there is a pastry cutter (You can find one HERE) and it’ll make your life a lot easier for quick little jobs like this one. The butter needs to be cold for the topping so you can also use a fork to cut it in but you’ll get a serious arm workout. (Which may be welcomed after eating this pie!)

The filling of the apple pie (you know…the actual apple part) is nothing crazy but it’s just as an apple pie filling should be. It’s perfectly happy living in the shadows of the topping and being used to hold up all that crunchy goodness.

Once you’ve made your topping and your apple filling, you can start assembling the pie. Here’s a little secret that no one will know. You can totally use a store-bought pie crust and no one will know. The rest of the pie will out-shine the crust so there’s no need to fuss over a homemade pie crust…unless you want to of course!

Finally, that glorious pecan, brown sugar, butter topping gets sprinkled over the top of the pie. It’s going to seem like a lot. It is. That’s a good thing. 🙂  And in case you’re wondering, I haven’t forgotten about the caramel. It goes on last so it can soak into the warm pie.

When the pie comes out of the oven, the caramel sauce immediately gets drizzled over the warm pie so it can soak in and make everything even better than it already was. Is that even possible?!

Here’s another perk of this apple pie, as if the apple pie isn’t enough. Your house will smell so ridiculously good! It’s like an air freshener and dessert all in one. I have yet to find anything that smells better than this pie baking in the oven.

Print Recipe

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time50 mins

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Author: Coco and Ash

Ingredients

For the Topping

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup cold butter (cubed)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the Pie

• 1 store-bought or homemade pie crust
• 6 granny smith apples (peeled and sliced to about 1/4" thick)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp apple pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Add the sliced apples to a large bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, pie spice, and salt then set aside.
• Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a board or counter top and lay out your pie crust. Using a rolling pin, roll the crust out so that it will hang off the edges of your pie plate about an inch.
  
• Lay the pie crust in the pie plate and tuck the edges under so there's a smooth edge around the pie. You can decorate the edges however you like but I just use my fingers to create a little crimp. It doesn't have to be perfect!
• Poke the bottom and sides of the pie crust several times with a fork to prevent it from bubbling. Bake the pie crust in the oven for 15 minutes then remove from the oven.
• Add the apple mixture to the pie crust and distribute the apples as evenly as possible.
  

For the Topping

• In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oats, and flour.
  
• Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the sugar mixture. Using a pastry cutter or 2 sturdy forks, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles wet sand and the butter chunks are about the size of peas.
  
• Once you've incorporated the butter, add in the chopped pecans and mix everything together. Set the topping aside.
  
• Sprinkle the entire pie with the topping.
  
• Cover the pie loosely with foil making sure to cover the pie crust edges and bake for 35 minutes.
• Carefully remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
• As soon as the pie comes out of the oven, drizzle the pie with the caramel sauce and allow it to fully cool before serving. (The liquid will thicken as the pie sits)