Claire Saffitz's Classic Apple Crumble Pie
This pie is perfect for beginners, and an absolute classic.
·Dec 9, 2022
This is a classic apple pie flavored simply with a little bit of brown sugar and cinnamon to enhance the fruit filling. It’s perfect for beginners, as it’s topped with an oat-flecked crumble rather than a top crust or pastry lattice, making the assembly relatively quick and easy. You don’t have to blind-bake the crust first, and it doesn’t matter how much or how little your apples shrink during baking because the crumble moves with the filling. Use your preferred recipe for pie dough for the bottom crust.
For this recipe, Claire used the Made In Pie Dish, available here.
Claire Saffitz's Classic Apple Crumble Pie
This pie is perfect for beginners, and an absolute classic.
Claire Saffitz
- For the Crumble
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar (2.3 oz / 65g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, chilled
- For the Pie
- 1 recipe homemade pie dough, chilled (enough for a single-crust pie)
- All-purpose flour, for rolling
- 3 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into ½-inch-thick wedges
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, chilled
Make the crumble: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until combined. Add the butter pieces and and toss to coat, then use your fingertips to smash the butter into the flour mixture until the butter disappears and no floury spots remain (the mixture will hold together when squeezed). Cover the bowl and refrigerate the crumble while you assemble the pie.
Prepare the pan and preheat the oven: Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or foil and set aside. Arrange an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425F.
Roll out the pie dough: Let the pie dough sit at room temperature for a minute or two to soften slightly, then place it on a lightly floured surface and dust with more flour. Roll out the pie dough, dusting underneath and on top with more flour as needed to prevent sticking, to a 13-inch round measuring approximately ⅛-inch thick.
Line the Pie Dish: Transfer the round of dough to the Pie Dish, centering it and allowing the dough to slump down into the bottom. Use a flat hand to press the dough firmly into the bottom and up the sides. Use a pair of scissors to trim away any excess dough around the edge of the Pie Dish, leaving ½ inch of overhang all the way around. Tuck the overhang underneath itself so you have a thick, rounded edge of dough around the perimeter of the Pie Dish. Using floured fingers, crimp the dough to make a wide, wavy edge all the way around. Transfer the lined pie plate to the freezer and chill uncovered while you make the filling.
Make the filling: In a large bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, and kosher salt and toss thoroughly until all of the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Assemble the pie: Remove the Pie Dish from the freezer and scrape in about a ¼ of the apple mixture. Arrange the apple slices around the bottom of the Pie Dish, fitting them together without gaps, then scrape in the rest of the filling along with any juices that accumulated in the bowl and mound the filling in the center of the crust, pressing to compact the apples. Arrange the chilled butter pieces over the filling, spacing evenly. Remove the crumble from the refrigerator and sprinkle over the apples, breaking up any large clumps.
Bake: Place the Pie Dish on the prepared baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake until the crust is golden brown around the edge and you see apple juices bubbling in spots, another 60 to 75 minutes. If the crumble topping is getting a bit too dark in some areas, drape a piece of foil over the center of the pie and continue to bake. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool completely before serving.
Do Ahead: The baked and cooled pie, covered loosely and stored at room temperature, will keep for up to 4 days but is best eaten on the first or second day while the pastry is still crisp.
