This homemade caramel apple pie features an ultra-flaky crust, a perfectly balanced sweet-tart apple filling, and a chewy crumble topping. Finished with a luscious caramel drizzle, it’s the ultimate fall dessert!
In Ree Drummonds’s signature style, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations replicates the recipe style that’s made legions of The Pioneer Woman fans melt with each blog post.
Plus it features this recipe for Caramel Apple Pie. I mean, what’s not to like?
If you’re looking for a cookbook that introduces fancy cooking techniques and intricate recipe stylings, keep on looking through those bookshelves, because this is NOT that book. And that’s exactly why it’s so good, because it’s a treasure trove of family favorites and other scrumptious excuses to gather around the table for a year of holiday celebrating.
With regular appearances by her basset hounds Charlie and Walter, plus photos and stories featuring life on the ranch with her two-legged family members, A Year of Holidays features real-life food for the family with hundreds of step-by-step photos. There’s so much in there it’s sure to turn even the most novice chef into a confident cook in the kitchen.
And as with everything Ree does, it’s delivered with a humorous twist.
Along with holiday do-ahead game-plans—what to do the day before, and the day of the big day to make your celebrating easy for even the hostess— here’s why, in Ree’s words, you need to make the recipes in this book:
For New Years Day, Ree says her Coconut Ginger Baked French Toast is, “So wonderfully tropical you’ll be struck with the sudden urge to rub zinc oxide all over your nose.”
Huevo In the Heart is a tex-mex version of Frog In the Hole using tortillas and salsa to create a bleeding heart, which Ree says, “May not be terribly romantic at all. But at least it tastes good.”
Peach Cobbler heads up the summertime cookouts where Ree declares cobbler to be a very controversial subject. “I don’t care which cobbler is the correct version! I’ll eat it however I can get it!”
She just might be my soul sister. And I like a sister who will feed me good food and make me laugh all at the same time.
A Year of Holidays is sure to become a go-to resource for every home cook, sharing the basic building blocks to create many new recipes and family memories.
When deciding what I might make from her book, I had plenty of choices thanks to the 140 recipes packed into 400 pages. Then I flipped to Caramel Apple Pie, a standard at Ree’s Thanksgiving Feast. I was a goner when I read her words, “This apple pie will make you cry. But in a good, cleanse-your-soul way.”
Who couldn’t use a good cry thanks to pie? Especially when it’s with tears of joy while savoring a mix of oatmeal crumble, creamy caramel and classic apple pie.
Thank you Ree, for helping my soul become pure once again with your Caramel Apple Pie.
What’s in This Caramel Apple Pie?
This caramel apple pie is essentially an apple pie with crumble topping that’s been drizzled with caramel sauce. It requires a little more prep work than your average apple pie recipe from scratch, but I pinky promise the few extra minutes in the kitchen are worth it.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this caramel apple crumble pie:
- Single pie crust
- Apples
- Lemon juice
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Quick oats
- Chopped pecans
- Jarred caramel topping
What Are the Best Apples for Apple Pie?
It’s taken me years to figure out which apples are best for pies. Granny Smith, with their firm texture and tart punch, are the classic filler. I found Braeburn and Pink Ladies are a great combo too thanks to this guide.
How to Make Caramel Apple Pie
You’ll first need to prep and roll out your pie crust, then place it in the pie dish and crimp it. I’ve linked my go-to butter pie crust recipe in the recipe card below, but you’re welcome to use your favorite store-bought pie crust too.
Once the pie crust has been prepped, you can move onto the apple pie filling. Peel and thinly slice the apples, then toss them with a little lemon juice, sugar, flour and salt.
Next, prep the apple crumble pie topping. It’s essentially an apple crisp topping that’s made with quick oats instead of the usual rolled oats.
Mound the apples in the pie crust, then sprinkle the crumble topping over them. Bake the apple pie with crumb topping until it’s golden brown. You’ll need to let it cool before drizzling with caramel sauce and serving.
How to Store Apple Pie
This caramel apple pie can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you plan on making this pie in advance, I recommend waiting to drizzle the caramel sauce over top until you’re ready to slice and serve it. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy as the apple crumble pie sits on your counter.
Can You Freeze Apple Pie?
Yes, this apple pie with crumb topping freezes incredibly well. Again, you’ll want to freeze it without the caramel sauce, if possible. You can freeze the pie whole in its pie plate, or wrap slices in plastic wrap and freeze them individually.
Tips for Making Caramel Apple Pie
When you first assemble the pie, the mound of apples looks massive. Don’t worry, the apple pie filling cooks down a lot in the oven and flattens out by itself.
This pie cuts best when it has cooled completely and firmed up, so allow yourself at least several hours of resting time before cutting and serving. Then if you’re dying for a piece as a warmed up base for cold ice cream, just pop it in the microwave for a few minutes.
The pilgrims planted the first United States apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Okay, not necessarily a recipe note, but throw that apple fact out at the Thanksgiving dinner and you’re sure to impress.
Best Caramel Apple Pie Recipe | Easy & Homemade Dessert
Ingredients
Apple Pie
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- 7-8 cups peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples
- juice of half of a lemon
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Crumble Topping
- ¾ cup butter or 1 ½ sticks
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup quick oats
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- ½ cup jarred caramel topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll the pie crust on a lightly floured surface until about 1 inch larger in diameter than the top of a 9-inch pie pan. Fold the crust in half and transfer it to the pie pan and unfold it.
- Carefully cut the edges of the pan so it hangs just below the lip and then tuck the edges underneath to form a neat crust rim then crimp the edges of the crust.
- Toss the apples with the lemon juice, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- In another large bowl, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar and salt and blend with a pastry blender into pea size pieces.
- Add the oats and pecans and combine.
- Mound the apples into the pie crust then sprinkle with the oat topping.
- Lightly cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cover the entire pie with aluminum foil if it seems to be baking too quickly.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Drizzle with caramel sauce, slice and serve.
