Salted Caramel Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

THIS is the pie I want to eat throughout the entire fall season, including Thanksgiving and right up through Christmas. 

It's just about as packed with apples as you can get without having them spill out over the sides of the pie plate. Plus, it's topped with buttery, crunchy, brown sugar crumb topping.

AND - not only are the apples inside the filling coated with Salted Caramel Sauce, the entire pie is covered in even MORE salted caramel sauce.

There are 4 delicious parts to this pie:

1. Flaky fool-proof pie crust
2. Crisp, tart green apples coated in rich salted caramel sauce
3. Buttery, brown sugar crumb topping piled high over all that caramel apple goodness
4. Even more salted caramel sauce, poured over the entire pie after baking. Because, let's be real. You can NEVER have too much salted caramel sauce.

Apple pie covered in liquid gold. That's what we've got going on here.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare This Recipe

• Enough pie crust dough to cover the inside of a pie plate. My favorite recipe is this Fool Proof Pie Crust. But, if you have a favorite recipe, use that. Or, use a refrigerated or frozen crust from your local supermarket.
• Tart, green apples. My favorite apples for this pie is Granny Smith or Macintosh. peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch slices
• 1 lemon. A bit of lemon juice will help keep the apples from browning while you slice them and help the apples retain their shape while the pie bakes.
• Brown sugar. Preferably dark brown sugar. There's a very small amount of brown sugar in the filling for this pie to keep it from being overly sweet. I like to use dark brown sugar to get the most flavor from the little bit that's in there.
• Cornstarch. A couple tablespoons of cornstarch acts as a thickener so that the caramel apple pie filling is rich and saucy, not runny.
• Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are the perfect warm compliment to apples and caramel.
• Salt! Can't have salted caramel without it! There's also a bit of salt in the apple pie filling and in the crumb topping because salt balances sweet and intensifies all the other flavors in this pie.
• Salted caramel sauce. Use my favorite recipe to make a batch of homemade salted caramel sauce (so good!), or add as much salt as you like to a jar of prepared caramel sauce.
• Almond extract. Adding a bit of almond extract to both the salted caramel apple pie filling and the crumb topping is optional. I love the little bit of nutty flavor it gives this pie, but if you don't think you'll like it, just leave it out.
• All-purpose flour AND whole wheat flour. I've added a bit of whole wheat flour to the mix for this pie's crumb topping because of one reason and one reason only - flavor. White flour makes the crumb topping tender and whole wheat flour adds flavor.
• Granulated sugar. A combination of white and brown sugar in this pie's crumb topping creates the perfect slightly-crispy-but-still-tender texture.
• Butter. There's obviously got to be some butter in a buttery crumb topping. I used salted, but if you want more control over the amount of salt in your crumbs, use unsalted.

How to Make a Pie Crust That Can Hold a LOT of Caramel Apple Filling

#1. Start with a tried-and-true pie crust recipe.

My go-to pie crust for my entire adult life has been this recipe for Fool Proof Pie Crust because it is, quite literally, fool proof. 

Every time I publish a pie recipe that calls for Fool Proof Pie Crust, I receive comments like this one:

"I made this pie, including your Fool Proof Pie Crust, yesterday. I had given up making homemade pie crust many years ago! Although my rolling pin skills are poor, this pie turned out fantastic. The blueberry filling is not overly sweet, so you can still taste the fruit, and the crust was delicious and flaky. 62 years old and I finally made a good pie crust- better late than never!" - Comment from Karen on Perfect Blueberry Pie

#2. Crimp the edge of the crust so that it extends at least a half inch above the top of the pie plate.

The filling for this pie includes a lot of apples because the apples will shrink down as they bake. It's important that the crust is tall enough to contain all those apples PLUS the crumb topping AND plenty of caramel sauce.

#3. For this pie, I tried something I've never done before with pie crust: I rolled it out with graham cracker crumbs instead of flour.

The graham cracker crumbs added a touch of flavor and sweetness to the baked crust that was subtle but delicious. The crumbs also absorb some of the juice from the apples, which helps keep the bottom crust from getting soggy.

I won't go as far as saying that rolling the crust out with graham cracker crumbs made a big difference in the taste of the crust. But, if you happen to have some graham crackers on hand, give it a try. 

How to Make Salted Caramel Sauce

You have two option here:

1. Add salt to a jar of prepared caramel sauce
2. Make a batch of homemade salted caramel sauce

If you've never made homemade caramel sauce, I want to tell you that it's easier to make than you might think and delicious enough to be worth the extra effort.

Plus, the recipe makes more than you'll need for this pie and will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. I don't think I need to tell you how fantastic it is to have salted caramel sauce in your refrigerator. 

Having said that, an even easier option is to purchase a jar of caramel sauce and just add some salt to it:

1. Heat the caramel sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat just until it begins to bubble.
2. Add a teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring for a minute or so to allow it to dissolve.
3. Taste the sauce and add more salt if you like.

How to Make Caramel Apple Pie Filling

Squeeze some lemon juice into a saucepan. Prepare the apples by peeling them, cutting out their core, and cutting them into slices. As you slice, toss the apples with the lemon juice in the pan which will prevent them from turning brown.

Toss in some brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and stir the apples around so that they are coated with the flour, sugar, and spices.

Pour a cup of salted caramel sauce into the apples and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil and starts to thicken.

Dump the apple pie filling into the pie crust. There will be a LOT of apples and you might think you have too much apple pie filling for one pie. But, the apples will shrink as the pie bakes, so just pile them all on there.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes, which is just enough time to make the crumb topping!

Pro tip! Bake your caramel apple pie on a baking sheet that's been lined with a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil. This will catch any apple caramel drips that bubble up and make their way over the side of the pie plate, saving you from having to clean a caramel mess from the bottom of your oven.

How to Make the Buttery Crumb Topping

Add all-purpose and whole wheat flours, granulated and brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a bowl and give it a stir.

Pour in some melted butter and, if you like, a touch of almond extract.

Use your hands to smoosh everything around in the bowl until all the dry ingredients are moistened with the butter.

Remove the pie from the oven, pile on the crumb topping, and put it back in the oven to finish baking.

Let the pie cool for 2 hours, then pour the remaining salted caramel sauce over the top.

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