Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie (Crumb Top)
One flaky shortening crust filled with 2 pounds of apples tossed with sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, covered with a lumpy brown sugar and butter streusel instead of a top crust, baked at 425°F and then 350°F.
America's "Dutch apple pie" is not from the Netherlands. King Arthur Baking says the "Dutch" in the name refers to the Pennsylvania Dutch community, which tops many of its classic pies not with a second crust but with a buttery streusel crumb. Wikipedia agrees that in the United States "Dutch apple pie" means the crumb-topped style, and says the Pennsylvania Dutch call a pie made from dried apples a schnitz pie, a line it marks as needing a citation.
The funny part is that the Netherlands has a crumb-topped apple pie too. Dutch Wikipedia names the appelkruimeltaart, the crumb version of the appeltaart, as one of the country's two popular kinds. So the American "Dutch" pie and a real Dutch pie can look alike, by coincidence of name and crumb. King Arthur also points out the practical win: with no top crust, there is half as much rolling.
🇺🇸 This one is American
One flaky shortening crust filled with 2 pounds of apples tossed with sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, covered with a lumpy brown sugar and butter streusel instead of a top crust, baked at 425°F and then 350°F.
🇬🇧 The original
England baked apple pies centuries before America: a short pastry crust filled with apples, sugar and spice, the line that settlers carried across the Atlantic. See the English Apple Pie (Cooking Apples Under a Pastry Lid) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
A crumb instead of a crust
The butter, flour and brown sugar bake into a crunchy, caramel-edged lid that lets steam escape everywhere, so the filling cooks down without a soggy top crust.
Lumpy, not sandy
Leaving pea-size lumps of butter in the streusel gives big, crisp clusters instead of a fine, dry dust.
Watch it in 60 seconds
Step by step
- Step 1
Make the crust: mix the flour and salt, cut in the shortening with two knives or a pastry blender until the pieces are the size of peas, then add the ice water a little at a time, mixing with a fork, just until the dough starts to hold together. Gather it into a ball, wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes; handle it as little as possible.
- Step 2
Make the filling while the dough chills: toss the apples with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Step 3
Heat the oven to 425°F. On a floured counter, roll the dough about 2 inches wider than the top of a 9-inch pie pan, fit it into the pan and flute the edge. Pour in the filling.
- Step 4
Make the topping: cut the cold butter into small pieces and work it into the flour and brown sugar with your fingers or a fork until it is crumbly but still slightly lumpy. Spread it evenly over the apples.
- Step 5
Set the pie on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes at 425°F. Lower the oven to 350°F and bake 30 minutes more, until the topping is deep golden brown, the juices bubble around the edge and a thin knife slides easily into the apples. If the topping browns before the apples are tender, cover it loosely with foil and keep baking.
- Step 6
Cool to lukewarm before slicing. Refrigerate leftovers up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 months.
Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie (Crumb Top)
Serves 8 · one 9-inch pie · 1 hr 30 min total
Crust
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 cup (92 g) vegetable shortening, or 8 tbsp (113 g) cold unsalted butter
- 1 to 2 tbsp ice water
Filling
- 8 cups (907 g) peeled, cored, sliced apples, such as Granny Smith, Northern Spy or Cortland
- 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Crumb topping
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed (107 g) light or dark brown sugar
- 8 tbsp (113 g) cold unsalted butter
Method
- Make the crust: mix the flour and salt, cut in the shortening with two knives or a pastry blender until the pieces are the size of peas, then add the ice water a little at a time, mixing with a fork, just until the dough starts to hold together. Gather it into a ball, wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes; handle it as little as possible.
- Make the filling while the dough chills: toss the apples with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Heat the oven to 425°F. On a floured counter, roll the dough about 2 inches wider than the top of a 9-inch pie pan, fit it into the pan and flute the edge. Pour in the filling.
- Make the topping: cut the cold butter into small pieces and work it into the flour and brown sugar with your fingers or a fork until it is crumbly but still slightly lumpy. Spread it evenly over the apples.
- Set the pie on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes at 425°F. Lower the oven to 350°F and bake 30 minutes more, until the topping is deep golden brown, the juices bubble around the edge and a thin knife slides easily into the apples. If the topping browns before the apples are tender, cover it loosely with foil and keep baking.
- Cool to lukewarm before slicing. Refrigerate leftovers up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 months.
Adapted from King Arthur Baking, "King Arthur's Dutch Apple Pie" (King Arthur Test Kitchen; updated July 11, 2024), one pie. We follow it as written: a crust of 1 cup (120 g) flour and 1/4 tsp salt with 1/2 cup (92 g) shortening (or 8 tbsp cold butter) cut in to pea size and 1 to 2 tbsp ice water, chilled 30 minutes; 8 cups (907 g) peeled, sliced apples tossed with 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar, 1/4 cup (30 g) flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg; the dough rolled 2 inches wider than the pan and fluted; a topping of 1 cup (120 g) flour and 1/2 cup (107 g) brown sugar with 8 tbsp (113 g) cold butter, left slightly lumpy; on a baking sheet, 15 minutes at 425°F and 30 minutes at 350°F; cooled to lukewarm; refrigerated up to 5 days or frozen up to 3 months. King Arthur gives no doneness cue; ours are the browned topping, bubbling juices and the knife test, and the foil tent is ours. History from Wikipedia, "Apple pie". King Arthur Baking. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- King Arthur's apple picks: firm, juicy, tart ones such as Granny Smith, Northern Spy, Paula Red, Ginger Gold, Cortland or Cox's Orange Pippin.
- King Arthur allows cold butter in place of the shortening in the crust, for more flavor and a little less tenderness.
- A stand mixer can make the crust, King Arthur says.
- Bake it on the baking sheet: the juices often bubble over.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Dutch apple pie is from the Netherlands. Documented as false: King Arthur and Wikipedia say the name refers to the Pennsylvania Dutch and their crumb-topped pies.
- The "Dutch" is a mishearing of "Deutsch". Folklore here: often repeated, but King Arthur says only that it refers to the Pennsylvania Dutch community, and we read no source on the word.
- The Netherlands has no crumb-topped apple pie. Documented as false: Dutch Wikipedia names the appelkruimeltaart as one of the two popular kinds.
- Dried apple pie is called schnitz pie. Disputed: Wikipedia says so but marks it "citation needed".
- Shortening or butter. Documented: King Arthur's recipe allows either for the crust.
Every other apple pie
English Apple Pie (Cooking Apples Under a Pastry Lid)
Chunks of tart cooking apples with honey, cinnamon and mixed spice piled into a deep pie dish under a single lid of butter shortcrust, glazed with egg and baked hot at 400°F until golden and bubbling.
Wiener Apfelstrudel (Viennese Apple Strudel)
A soft egg and oil dough stretched over a floured tablecloth until it's paper thin, brushed with butter, layered with hazelnut breadcrumbs fried in butter, sliced apples, rum-soaked raisins, cinnamon and cloves, rolled up and baked at 350°F until golden.
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Apple quarters packed in a skillet and softened in butter, covered with a light amber caramel cooked to 355°F, topped with a chilled disk of butter pastry, baked at 350°F until the edges bubble thick and syrupy, then flipped onto a platter.
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A tall springform pie with a cookie-like brown sugar crust pressed in by hand, packed with precooked Golden Delicious apples, golden raisins and speculaas-style spices, topped with a crisscross of dough strips and baked at 375°F for about 75 minutes. Served "met slagroom", with whipped cream.
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Classic American Apple Pie (Double Crust)
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Apple Pandowdy (Old New England Pan Dowdy)
Apples with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, molasses and butter baked between two crusts in a square pan at 425°F, then the top crust is slashed and pushed down into the juices in rough chunks, "dowdied", so it turns half crisp, half pudding.
Vermont Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust
A butter crust with grated sharp Vermont cheddar folded in, filled with sliced apples, sugar, maple syrup and apple pie spice, layered with thin slices of more cheddar under the top crust and baked at 375°F until browned. Vermont's 1999 state pie law names cheddar as one way to serve it.
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Skillet Apple Crisp (One-Pan, About an Hour)
Apple wedges sautéed in butter in one ovensafe skillet and coated with reduced cider, covered with a pecan, oat and brown sugar crumble made with melted butter, and baked hot at 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes until the fruit is tender and the top deep golden.
Fried Apple Hand Pies (Inspired by McDonald's, Not Official)
A copycat of the original fried fast food apple pie, inspired by McDonald's, not official: diced apples sautéed in browned butter with brown sugar and cinnamon, sealed in rectangles of pie dough and deep-fried at 375°F until golden and shatteringly crisp.
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