Dutch Apple Pie

This delightful Appletaart - Dutch Apple Pie recipe is a classic dessert combining a brown sugar crust and tender apples to create a dessert that will have you coming back for seconds.

Ingredients and substitutions for Dutch Apple Pie

• Butter: Plain unsalted was used here, though you could substitute with salted, though you might want to omit the salt from the dough. You could substitute in equal measure with non dairy butter, however, I have not tried this so cannot be sure of the outcome.
• Flour: Plain or all purpose flour is best for a nice light pastry, though you could use bread flour, if that is all you have on hand.
• Baking powder: This helps our dough rise making it a lighter pastry than you might be used to.
• Eggs: The eggs binds and adds structure to our dough resulting in that soft interior that compliments the sugar and butter.
• Sugar: The brown sugar in our pastry contributes to it's beautiful golden color. Whilst the superfine or caster sugar helps not only add sweetness to our filling, draw the liquid from the apples resulting in a tender center.
• Lemon juice & Cinnamon: The lemon juice helps draw out moisture from the apples and stops browning, plain fresh lemon juice was used here as it has no additives. Ground cinnamon helps to give a depth of flavor, though you can omit if you don’t like the flavor.
• Semolina: The semolina helps soak up some of the juice from the apples as they bake. You could substitute with plain flour, if you prefer.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Dutch Apple Pie:

Step 1: Dry butter: Stir the dry ingredients together and toss in the butter.

Step 2: Rough sand: Cut into the flour until the mixture resembles rough sand.

Step 3: Eggs a do: Add in the eggs and form a pastry with a pastry cutter.

Step 4: Form: Form into a disc, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 5: App-le: Cube your apples unevenly and toss into a bowl with the remaining filling ingredients.

Step 6: Two thirds: Roll out two thirds of your dough and press firmly into your cake tin.

Step 7: Filling: Add the apple filling and even out.

Step 8: Pastry strips: Roll out the remaining dough and cut into even strips. Laying the strips on top of the apples and trimming any excess dough off.

Step 9: Bake: Bake until golden and bubbly.

Step 10: Cool: Allow to cool for several hours, preferably overnight before removing from the tin and placing on a serving plate.

Step 11: Serve: Slice and serve with a large dollop of whipped cream. Dig in!

FAQ's for the best Dutch Apple Pie

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Dutch Apple Pie (Appletaart)

Sylvie Taylor

This Dutch Apple Pie recipe has a brown sugar crust filled to the brim with apples. A slice is never complete without a big dollop of whipped cream and don't forget to serve this with your favorite hot drink!

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Dutch

Servings 10

Calories 469 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Pastry

• 385 grams / 2 ⅓ cups + 1 tablespoon plain flour see note if in UK
• 4 grams / 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 175 grams / ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
• 225 grams / 7.93 ounces butter chilled and cubed
• 90 grams / 2 medium eggs room temperature

Apple filling

• 1 kilo / 2 pounds granny smith apples
• 50 grams / ¼ cup superfine/caster sugar
• 7 grams / 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 12 grams / 2 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
• 34 grams / 3 tablespoons semolina

Instructions

 

Pastry

• Place the flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl and stir to combine.
• Add in the butter and cut into the flour mixture until it resembles course breadcrumbs and no pieces are larger than a pea.
• Add in the egg and incorporate until the dough begins to form.
• Turn onto your work surface and shape into a disc.
• Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Apple filling

• Meanwhile, peel, core and cut the apples into uneven cubes.
• Place the apples, sugar, ground cinnamon, lemon juice and semolina in a bowl and stir to combine.

Apple Pie prep

• Preheat your oven to 180C/350F.
• Cut ⅓ of the dough away and set aside.
• Place the remaining pastry onto a lightly floured work surface and roll out to ¼ inch thickness.
• Press firmly to fit within a 20cm or 8 inch springform cake tin and trim the edges.
• Roll out the remaining dough into a large rectangle and measure out equal lattice strips of 3cm/1.18 inches.
• Spoon the apples into the pastry base and shake lightly to even out.
• Top with the strips of dough and weave, you want, though traditional Apple Tart doesn’t need this additional step - you can just lay half the strips one way and overlay the remaining half the other way.
• Press the edges together firmly and trim any excess pastry.
• Place in the oven and bake until golden and bubbling, approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Remove and allow to cool fully before removing from the cake tin.
• Slice and serve up pieces with a large portion of whipped cream.
• Enjoy.

Video

Notes

• UK flour to use: In the UK, due to the lower protein in plain flour I always use 50/50 bread flour and plain flour for pastry. UK bread flour has almost exactly the same level of protein as US plain flour and this affects how easy it is to handle and how the baked pastry will turn out. I recommend measuring out the below flour amount in bread flour versus plain flour.
• Best tin for this: Dutch Apple Pie’s are always really tall which means they are absolutely best made in a springform cake tin so you can remove the tin and the tall pie will hold it’s own. A spring form tin that is 20 cm or 8 inches was used, however, a standard cake tin of similar size would also work.
• Apples: Granny Smith apples were used and it is recommended to use either Granny Smith, Honey Crisp or Royal Gala. These apples have a firm texture that hold their shape during baking and a slight sweetness which requires less added sugar.
• Semolina: The fine semolina helps soak up some of the juice from the apples as they bake. You could substitute with plain flour, if you prefer.
  Flour in UK for your pastry: Plain flour in the UK has a lower protein amount which contributes to the dough strength, type of crumb and texture of your pastry, in this case. Plain flour in the Unites States for example has the same level of protein as Bread flour in the UK so the best flour to use here will be 175 grams / 1 ¼ cups bread flour.
• You can use store-bought pie crust for your pie: If you're short on time or prefer convenience, you can certainly use store-bought pie crust here.
• Freezing the pie: Once cooled, simply wrap well and store in an airtight container before freezing. Simply thaw and reheat whenever you crave a slice of homemade goodness.

Adapted from food.com

Nutrition

Calories: 469kcal

Keyword apple, pie

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