I know everyone has their own opinions on this, but I believe Thanksgiving is the best holiday. At least, the way my family does it. We go to Door County, Wisconsin and stay in a timeshare for a week. So right off the bat, the celebration is a week long. The Wifi is spotty, the food is good, the nature is right outside the door. I get to spend the time with my family, I am on my phone less than usual, I’m walking and running more than usual, and we are eating well. Thanksgiving includes a morning Turkey Trot, a local parade, football, board games, cooking, drinking, and eating. There’s no added pressure of gifts or ceremony (which, I love too, but it’s nice to not need to plan). All you need to do is be thankful for spending time with the people you love. What more can you want out of a holiday! It’s the perfect lowkey holiday!

I’ve been baking during this Thanksgiving week for years, but there’s been surprisingly few posts from Door County. Usually because we’re a bit disconnected from the rest of the world, and our usual baking and photography setup isn’t here. But I planned for this pie this year, camera and all. I brought my “mise en place” in a Ziploc bag, so pulling this together in a kitchen that is not my own was very easy.

I’ve made more fruit pies this year than maybe ever before. I made a pear pie a few times in probably 2008, but otherwise have been pretty scared of making them, or just uninterested. But this year has changed that! I took the Dutch crumble that I loved from my summer rhubarb pie, and switched the caramel in this pie to butterscotch to make a pie that I knew would be a hit. And I was right! It was a smash hit.

I find it weird that I have in my head that I don’t like fruit pies. It’s like a holdover from my childhood that I haven’t shaken out yet. It’s just not true! I love a fruit pie! Especially if there’s ice cream! And I think the most critical part of my enjoyment of fruit pies is the crumb. A Dutch crumb is just superior to a top layer of pie crust in simply every way. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. I just tell you about them.

So, cheers to my favorite holiday, and the last day before the beginning of Christmas (the second best holiday), for those who celebrate like I do!

Butterscotch Apple Pie with Dutch Crumb

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Author: Audrey
Array: Array
Total Time: 0 hours

Ingredients

Pie crust, either homemade or store-bought

For the Butterscotch Sauce:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon large-flake salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Apple Filling:

10 cups 1/4-inch-thick apple slices (about 8 large peeled and cored apples)*
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice OR ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the Dutch Crumb:

1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, use a little less if using table salt
3/4 cup butter, melted (1 and 1/2 sticks)

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Instructions

Prepare your homemade pie crust, if making.
For butterscotch sauce: Melt the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan (not non-stick) over medium heat.
Add the brown sugar, salt and heavy cream and stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until it’s well blended. Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping down the sides occasionally, and boil it for 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the butterscotch sauce to a container to cool.
Make the apple filling: In a large bowl, stir the apple slices, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, allspice/cloves, and nutmeg together until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish that’s 1.5 to 2 inches deep. Tuck the dough in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth.
Spoon the apple filling into the crust. It will seem like a lot of apples; that’s ok. Pile them high, and tightly together. Drizzle evenly with 1/2 cup of the butterscotch sauce. It’s ok if the butterscotch sauce is still a little warm. (If homemade sauce has solidified, warm it on the stove or in the microwave until it’s pourable.)
Finish assembling: Combine all the ingredients for the Dutch Crumb, and mix until there are no dry bits, but it’s crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie.
Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Then, keeping the pie in the oven, reduce the oven temperature down to 375°F. Place a pie crust shield or foil on the edges to prevent them from over-browning. Continue baking the pie until the caramel apple filling is bubbling around the edges, 35–40 more minutes. This sounds like a long time, but under-baking the pie means an unfinished filling with firm apples with paste-like flour. Tip: If needed towards the end of bake time, remove the pie crust shield and tent an entire piece of foil on top of the pie if the top looks like it’s getting too brown.
Remove pie from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving. Filling will be too juicy if the pie is warm when you slice it. Drizzle the entire pie or each slice with remaining butterscotch.
Cover and store leftover pie at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.