Classic Dutch Apple Pie

This easy homemade deep-dish Dutch apple pie recipe has been the star of my family’s holiday gatherings for generations. Truly a classic, favorite dessert.

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This Dutch apple pie recipe is hands-down my ultimate comfort food dessert. My aunts have been making this apple pie for family gatherings and holidays for as long as I can remember.

The original recipe comes from a cookbook that’s a collection of recipes from the members of Women’s Missionary Society of the First Mennonite Church of Berne, Indiana. My aunt Carol has a lot of family in Berne, so she’s the one who introduced that cookbook to our family.

When I finally got my own copy Our Swiss Pantry from Amazon, I was excited to start cooking and baking some of my favorite childhood recipes.

This pie recipe is very simple to put together. I’ve streamlined and simplified it over the years to make it even easier, too.

What kind of pie crust to use for Dutch apple pie

First things first – I often “cheat” and use a storebought, frozen, deep-dish pie crust. It works out beautifully and saves time since you don’t need to mix, chill, roll, or crimp your crust.

And since it comes in an aluminum pie plate, you can bake your pie right in it. That makes it perfect when you’re taking pie to a potluck or holiday gathering.

The next easy-but-still-kind-of-cheating option is storebought pie dough. It often comes in sheets, sometimes pre-rolled discs and is usually found by the refrigerated biscuits and cookie dough at your local grocery store.

You still use your own pie plate and will need to crimp or flute the edges of the crust. But you don’t need to actually make the dough.

Growing up, my aunt Janis always made her own pie dough. Her go-to recipe is the Betty Crocker standard pastry dough. I absolutely love this recipe. It’s really solid and always turns out well.

That pastry recipe also comes with various sets of the ingredient amounts to use, depending on the size of your pie plate and whether you’re making a single- or double-crust pie.

In fact, that’s my go-to pie crust recipe that I use whenever I make my beloved Rhubarb Custard Pie, which is another that I learned from my aunts.

If you’re making your own pie dough, there are a few things that will make things easier in the kitchen.

One of my absolute favorite tools for making homemade pie crust is a silicone pastry mat. These are helpful for a few reasons. First of all, it provides a barrier between your countertop and the flour that you need to sprinkle on it to keep the crust from sticking.

When you’re done working with it you just roll up the mat and can pour the extra flour out right into the garbage. It makes cleanup much easier.

The mats also have measurement markings and equivalents right on the mat. I like that it shows the different diameters, too. You can roll your dough right on the mat and be sure that it’s the proper size for your pie plate.

Since they’re made from silicone, the pastry mats stay put on the countertop and don’t slide around. I really can’t recommend them highly enough. In fact, one of the last times my aunt Janis came to visit me here in New York, she liked mine so much that I bought one for her. She said she absolutely loves it and uses it a lot.

What kind of pie plate to use for Dutch apple pie

There’s a lot of debate over what type of pie plate you should use when baking pies. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they don’t like glass pie plates, but I have one that I use quite often and like. Metal and ceramic pie plates are also quite common.

I looked into it and there’s a great article about the pie plate debate over on NY Times Food. This article gives a lot of information on the pros/cons of the different materials and the reasons why they work or don’t work.

Whichever type of pie plate you use, my biggest recommendation is to set it on top of a sheet pan so it’s easier to transfer it to and from the oven. I like using a quarter sheet pan since it’s smaller but still big enough to catch any drips. There’s nothing worse than a pie that overflows and starts burning on the bottom of your oven.

What types of apples to use for Dutch apple pie

Whenever the question comes up for what type of apples to use for baking an apple pie, my default answer would be Granny Smith. It’s a reliable, firm yet tart apple that holds up well to baking.

There are other good varieties of apples that work when baking, including Jonagold, Braeburn, Pink Lady, and Honeycrisp. There’s also a really extensive article over on Serious Eats about the different types and textures of apples, and which apples are best to use when baking.

Personally, when I’m baking with apples, I like to use a mix of a few different types. I like the complexity of flavor that the variety adds.

So since this apple pie requires 4 large apples, I chose 4 different types of apples.

Most recently, I used a mixture of apples that we picked from our annual apple picking trip here in the Hudson Valley.

I peel the apples for this pie. You’ll want to slice them evenly, about 1/4-inch thick. You can also use an apple peeler machine like this one, which will peel and slice the apples all at once. We bought a similar one many years ago from a local orchard’s farm shop and use it often when peeling large quantities of apples. It’s easy to use and fun for kids to help out, too.

This time around I just peeled my apples with a vegetable peeler and sliced them with a paring knife. If you have an apple corer, you could absolutely use that to remove the core instead.

How to assemble Dutch apple pie

This pie is ridiculously easy to assemble, and as I mentioned above, I’ve managed to streamline the process and make it even easier than before, too!

The original recipe included a few separate bowls and sifting of ingredients. But I do things a little differently and the results are just as good!

While the oven is preheating, I like to place the pie plate on top of a quarter sheet pan. I’ll then place my peeled, sliced apples right inside of that. I sprinkle the filling ingredients (sugar and cinnamon) on top and toss the apples with my fingertips, right inside the pastry shell, until they’re all coated.

The topping involves using a fork or pastry cutter (also called a pastry blender) to incorporate cold cubes of butter into a mixture of white and dark brown sugar and some flour. Once it gets crumbly, pour it right on top of the apple mixture and pop it into the oven!

This pie starts at a higher temperature (450°F) for 10 minutes, and then you lower the temp to 350°F for another 30-35 minutes. Sometimes it takes a little longer to get the top nice and golden brown. It’s worth the wait!

I love serving this pie warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Dutch apple pie has been a family tradition for many, many years, and I’m glad to keep the tradition alive!

I’ve served this pie for Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas… just about any holiday is a great excuse for this apple pie. It’s also great on any day you want to have a delicious dessert with minimal effort.

I have a few other recipes coming up to help you use up your apple-picking bounty but don’t think you need to wait to go apple picking to make this! You can absolutely just grab a few apples from the store and get cracking!

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Recipe for Dutch Apple Pie

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