Maple-Apple Pie with Walnut Crumble Topping
I tend to think of pies in terms of two totally different seasons. There is summer pie season, when blueberry pie, peach pie, strawberry pie, and every other berry pie you can imagine are all on display. Then, there’s fall pie season. Apple pies, pear pies, pecan pies, pumpkin pies, sweet potato pies, and a million variations thereof start showing up. Which do you prefer? Given my love for all things fall, it’s probably not a huge surprise that I get much more excited about fall pies than I do about summer pies.
I’ve made quite a few apple pies and have favorites for a classic apple pie and Dutch apple pie, but playing around with variations like salted caramel and this maple crumble apple pie make those classics a bit more exciting.
The filling for this pie is your basic apple pie filling with some sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice, with the added punch of some pure maple syrup. Instead of going for a traditional double crust, I opted to make a crumble topping that includes chopped walnuts.
One of my favorite fall breakfasts is a bowl of oatmeal with chopped apples and walnuts, drizzled with maple syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon. This pie is a perfect imitation of those wonderful flavors, and I think that means that I can eat it for breakfast without feeling guilty, right?!
If you’re a fellow fall pie lover, you’ll love this pie and you’ll love that it doesn’t take much time to assemble!
One year ago: Cinnamon Babka
Two years ago: Moussaka
Four years ago: Banana-Nut Bread
Maple-Apple Pie with Walnut Crumble Topping
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1¼ cups (146 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ¼-inch slices
- ¼ cup (46 g) solid vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into 2 pieces
- 2 tablespoons vodka, chilled
- 2 tablespoons ice water
For the Filling:
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 6 medium Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples, about 2½ pounds, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
For the Walnut Crumble Topping:
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (99 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53 g) light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- ½ cup (64 g) walnuts, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Make the Crust: Process ¾ cup of the flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process for 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining ½ cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
- Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes (or up to 2 days).
- On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate and gently ease the dough into the pie plate. Leave any dough that overhangs the plate in place, wrap the dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes.
- Trim the overhang to ½-inch beyond the lip of the pie plate. Tuck the overhang under itself (the folded edge should be flush with the edge of the pie plate). Crimp the dough around the edges. Wrap the dough-lined pie plate loosely in the plastic and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, Prepare the Filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice to coat. Add the sugar mixture and toss together until all of the apples are evenly coated with the mixture.
- Make the Walnut Crumble Topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt. Add chilled butter cubes; using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Bake the Pie: Toss the apple mixture to redistribute juices and turn into the chilled pie crust. Drizzle with the maple syrup and dot with the butter. Cover the filling with the crumble mixture, gently pressing it into the filling.
- Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the topping is golden, about 40 minutes (cover the top with foil if you find it is browning too quickly). Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake until the apples in the center are tender when pierced with a knife and the filling is bubbling thickly around the edges, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool until barely warm before, about 2 hours. The pie is best the same day it is made; leftovers can be covered tightly and kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This has been a Thanksgiving favorite for several years now. My family loves it!
I do however use my go-to pie crust which is made with vinegar and egg. I also love Michelle’s vodka our crust too.
I mix up my apples and always use a tart apple as well.
So delicious!
Something is wrong about the baking directions. Baking at 400 degrees for 30 out of the 40 minutes caused the walnut crumble topping and top edge of the crust to burn. I pulled the pie out of the oven at that point because the crust I could see through the bottom of the glass pie dish was nicely browned. I pulled off most of the burnt crumble, added finely chopped walnuts to the top of the pie to replace the walnuts lost in the removed crumble, and served the pie that way. The flavors were great, but the pie was very liquidy. Because I had pulled the pie out early, the apples were still fairly “tender-crisp”. If I hadn’t burnt the top, I would have baked the pie longer than I did. Other commenters said that baking for the full time make the apples overly soft. Next time, I will preheat the oven to 400 deg but I will turn down the heat to 350 deg right after putting the pie in the oven. I may then cook the pie for 50 – 60 min, but I will check for doneness a bit earlier. The crust (under the burnt part on the surface edge) turned out great. The flavors of the filling were great. I don’t know how to counter how liquidy the pie became. Any advise?
Made this today as I felt in need of some comfort food. This pie is so, so very delicious! Just what the doctor ordered. ❤️
Oops! Forgot the stars! Would give it ten if I could.
I made thss pie a couple of weeks ago after we went apple picking. It is the best apple pie I’ve ever made! A fried of mine, and my mom both said it was the best apple pie they ever had eaten too! I followed the directions, the only thing I had to change is that I cannot have cinnamon, so I substituted a teaspoon of quality vanilla extract and it complimented the maple syrup flavor. This is a keeper recipe, Thanks.
Wow. Made this yesterday for a birthday and I’m not generally a huge fan of apple pie but this was Amazing. Somewhat labor intensive, and the times listed in the header are a little off, but definitely worth the trouble/time. My crumb topping was a solid layer instead of Michelle’s pretty look, but it it tasted heavenly.
Can this pie be frozen?
Hi Judy, Yes!
Baked this one last night and trying it out on my family today! I am so excited to have found your site. So far everything I have tried is delicious and your recipes are so easy to follow. Mmm can’t wait! -Stef
I love the idea of a walnut crumble topping on an apple pie!
Hi, I made this and it was very good. I particularly loved the topping. I baked the pie for a total of 65 minutes and that was probably too long because some of the apples were pretty mushy. If I had baked it the total 85 minutes as recommended it would have been applesauce pie.
I love pies! It’s the combination of crunchy biscuit dough and soft, sweet fruit filling that I adore…. Maple and walnuts, is there a better combination? I think not! ;) Speaking of pies, I recently made a Russian apple pie, my grandma’s recipe. It’s more like a sponge apple cake and made of Granny Smith apples.Very fluffy.
One of my favorite guilty pleasure is pie for breakfast. This would definitely fit the bill!
Looks yummy! I look forward to baking this today to take to a “girls night in”. Am confused about bake time though. Cooking time is written as 55-65 minutes. Yet step 8 states 40 min. @ 400*, then 45 min @ 350*. This would total 85 min. ???
I’m confused, too. Did you make it anyway, without a clarification, Jo? If so, how long did you bake your pie, and at what temperatures?
Hi Jo, My apologies, the error is in the header, the times in the instructions are correct. Enjoy!
I was just thinking about apple pie and about how that season is upon us. Which is super exciting because apples and pumpkins and corn mazes are my favorite, but also it means that the Chicago winter is around the corner. Uh-oh…
That looks *amazing*! I moved to the USA 3 years ago, and one of the highlights were the pies – they dont quite make the same anywhere else. I’d definitely say I’m a fall pie kinda gal.
great post!
Apple pies are my favorites. Can’t wait to try this one. It looks delicious!
I don’t even like most summer pies but I LOVE fall pies. Is that weird? haha
Love Fall pies! By far my favorite season. This pie looks amazing!!
Definitely fall pies for me. Fall is my favorite season too. When I was a kid it probably had more to do with that my birthday is in October but now as an adult it is all about the comfort food and baking. I tend to lean towards crisp recipes because of the topping. This pie looks fabulous my favorite topping!
You’re so right, there are totally pie seasons – during the summer my favourite hands down is blueberry , but in the fall/winter – warm me up with some apple pie please!!
I agree with your pie seasons. As for apple, I have made classic, caramel, pecan, and blackberry apple pies. I need to add this one to the list.
Looks delicious! You can’t go wrong with any variation of apple pie.
There ARE two pie seasons! And I like this one better in some ways, because it makes the colder temps more bearable.
And with a topping like that…heck yeah!
Yum! I love this mix-up between a pie and a crumble. Looks delicious and perfect for fall!