You’ll love this dutch-style apple pie with graham cracker crust! It’s filled with sweet, cooked apples and warm fall spices, sits on a buttery graham cracker crust and topped with a delicious crumb topping!
Like a true New Englander, I keep it classy when it comes to fall pie. Have you tried my classic apple pie with shortening pie crust? It’s a must-try. If graham cracker crust is your thing, I also make an amazing pumpkin pie in a graham cracker crust.
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⭐ Why you’ll love this recipe
This pie has all the warm and cozy flavors of a Dutch apple pie without the fuss of regular pie crust! It’s the perfect recipe for beginners. The trick to serving apple pie on a graham cracker crust is to pre-cook the filling so the crust doesn’t get soggy.
Graham cracker crusts are awesome for their convenience, but they also taste really good. If you’re not up to making a graham cracker crust from scratch, store-bought crust works just fine.
📋 Ingredient notes
- I use honeycrisp apples because they’re sweet, juicy, hold up well during baking and are easy to find here in Rhode Island. You can use just about any apple though – I list my top recommendations below.
- Lots of warm fall spices go into this pie – cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and a pinch of black pepper (adding black pepper to pies is a trick that the best bakers swear by!). Cardamom is optional but adds a subtle floral note.
- The graham cracker crust is made from graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt. That’s it!
- Crumb topping covers the top of the pie and is made from a simple mixture of light brown sugar, flour and softened butter.
Recipe substitutions
- Here are some other apples that work well for this recipe: Braeburns – sweet and tart, Gala apples are sweet and mild, Granny Smiths are more on the tart side and my favorite apple for snacking. Or you can use Macintosh. All of these apples hold up well to baking.
- Feel free to substitute dark brown sugar for light brown sugar. You can also replace the unsalted butter with salted butter if that’s all you have.
- Feel free to use store-bought graham cracker crust if you don’t want to make the crust from scratch.
- This recipe also works with a traditional shortening pie crust or all-butter pie crust.
🔪 Step-by-step directions
Prepare the crust
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter and toss until the graham cracker crumbs are moistened. The crumb-mixture should be fine and grainy.
Step 2: Pour the crumb mixture into the pie plate and tilt/gently shake the plate so the graham cracker crumbs cover the bottom evenly. Use the edge of a dry measuring cup to press the crumbs along the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
Step 3: Bake the graham cracker crust for 10 minutes then remove it from the oven and let it cool.
Cook the filling
Step 1: Wash the apples and pat them dry. Peel, core and cut the apples into ¼-inch thick slices and place them in a large, heavy-bottomed pan.
Step 2: Add the flour, sugar, butter and spices. Toss the apples until coated.
Step 3: Cook the apples over medium-low for 5-10 minutes. Watch the apples carefully and stir frequently to keep them from burning.
Step 4: Pour the apple mixture into the pie shell and set it aside.
Top and bake the pie
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the flour, brown sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the softened butter and cut the butter into the flour/sugar mixture using a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly.
Step 2: Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie and bake for 40 minutes.
Step 3: Remove the pie from the oven and let cool to room temperature (about 1-2 hours). Transfer the pie to the refrigerator and chill for a full 4 hours.
💭 Tips & tricks
- I highly recommend cooking the filling – you don’t want your pie crust getting soggy so don’t skip the cooking step!
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the crumb topping. I find that using your fingers to combine the butter, sugar and flour melts the butter and causes the topping to spread during baking.
- Let the pie cool completely and chill before serving, this is what keeps the filling from running out.
🥧 Serving suggestions
Once fully cooled, cut the pie into slices and serve with:
- Whipped cream, whipped ‘topping’ or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (this is called à la mode)
- A drizzle of caramel (or homemade dulce de leche for a Latin-inspired twist!)
- A slice of sharp cheddar cheese – I’ve never seen this but apparently it’s a thing in New England where I’m from, ironically. Honestly, I’ll never be mad at sharp cheddar.
❓Recipe FAQ’s
The crumbly texture of graham cracker crust makes it a popular choice for pies with sweet, smooth fillings like custards, cream pies and cheesecakes. Fruit pies and tarts can also be made with graham cracker crust.
It’s not always necessary to blind-bake apple pie, but some bakers do. Blind-baking is when you bake the pie crust before adding the filling. The term usually refers to pie crusts made from dough.
Graham cracker crusts are often pre-baked to bind the sugar and graham cracker crumbs together, which is essentially the same concept as blind-baking. Pre-baking prevents the crust from falling apart or becoming soggy when the filling is added.
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Yes – in many cases regular pie crust can be substituted for a graham-cracker crust, this recipe included. You can make regular pie crust from scratch or use a store-bought pie crust.
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Apple Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
Equipment
Ingredients
Pie crust
- 1 and ⅓ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Filling
- 2.5 lbs honeycrisp apples
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg ground
- ½ teaspoon allspice ground
- ½ teaspoon ginger ground
- ½ teaspoon cardamom ground
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
Crumb topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup butter softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- vanilla ice cream or whipped topping for serving optional
Instructions
Make the pie crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter and toss until the graham cracker crumbs are moistened. The crumb-mixture should be fine and grainy.
- Pour the crumb mixture into the pie plate and tilt/gently shake the plate so the graham cracker crumbs cover the bottom evenly. Use the edge of a dry measuring cup to press the crumbs along the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
- Bake the graham cracker crust for 10 minutes then remove it from the oven and let cool.
Cook the filling
- Wash the apples and pat them dry. Peel, core and cut the apples into ¼-inch thick slices. Transfer to the apples to a large, heavy-bottomed pan.
- Add the flour, sugar, butter and spices. Toss the apples until coated.
- Add the cubes of butter and cook the apples over medium-low for 5-10 minutes. Watch the apples carefully and stir frequently to prevent them from burning.
- Pour the apple mixture into the pie shell and set aside.
Top and bake
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the flour, brown sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the softened butter and cut the butter into the flour/sugar mixture using a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let cool to room temperature (about 1-2 hours) then transfer the pie to the refrigerator and chill for a full 4 hours.
- Cut the pie into slices and serve with whipped topping or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- Cooking the filling is highly recommended for this recipe – you don’t want your pie crust getting soggy. Don’t skip the cooking step!
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the crumb topping. I find that using your fingers to combine the butter, sugar and flour melts the butter and causes the topping to spread during baking.
- Let the pie cool completely and chill before serving, this is what keeps the filling from running out.
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