This Chai Spiced Dutch Apple Pie has become one of my favorite apple recipe together with the Classic Apple Pie. It comes with a homemade all butter flaky pie crust, a generous apple filling prepared with Chai spices, and a sweet and buttery streusel crumb topping. Serve with vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!
This may have become my all time favorite fruit pie. I’m completely obsessed with all the textures (a flaky crust, a crumble topping, a soft and generous apple filling) and all the chai flavors that comes with it. This Chai Spiced Dutch Apple Pie is the real thing; the one dessert you need for Thanksgiving or any other fall celebration. But if you want my opinion, it works year round too!
What is a chai spiced Dutch apple pie?
A Dutch apple pie is typically topped with a streusel crumb topping of butter, flour and sugar, making it different from the classic apple pie usually covered with pastry or a lattice pie crust. The streusel crumb topping also makes this dessert easier to make and oh so delicious! In this chai spiced version, I simply added a chai spice mix to the apple filling that brings additional flavors.
The recipe ingredients
You pretty much need the same ingredients for a Dutch Apple Pie than you need for a Classic Apple Pie. The only thing that changes here are the chai spices. So here what you need:
- Apples. I like a mix of sweet and tart apples for baking, and went for Golden and Granny Smith here. Other apple varieties could do too, and if you are working with mostly tart apples, you may need to use additional sugar.
- All-purpose flour. It is used both for the crust and for the crumble topping.
- Butter. I always go for all butter pie crust, using cold, diced butter. You will also need some melted butter for the apple filling and the crumble topping.
- Granulated sugar. You will need it mostly for the apple filling, plus a little bit to sweeten the crust.
- Brown sugar. I use brown sugar in the crumble topping; it brings some irresistible caramel notes. I recommend light brown sugar over dark brown for aesthetic reasons only, although both options work.
- Lemon. The acidity from the lemons prevent the apple from turning brown during the process of making the recipe.
- Chai spice + vanilla extract. The chai spice mix requires some cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove. I also add a little bit of vanilla for warm notes to the filling.
How to make Dutch apple pie?
- Start with making the butter pie crust. Tip: make sure you use cold butter and ice cold water, and don’t pass on the chilling time. This is key to get a perfect flaky crust. Then, roll it out into a large circle and line the pie dish with the crust.
- Make the streusel crumb topping by combining all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, using a rubber spatula. Make sure you use melted butter. Once ready, set in the refrigerator to chill while you’re making the filling.
- Prepare the apple filling + the chai spice mix. It takes some time because you need to peel the apples, core and slice them. The rest is super simple. Transfer over the crust, making the apple slices as flat as possible, and pile them until the top of the pie dish.
- Break the streusel crumb topping into small pieces and cover the apple pie with them. And there you go, your Dutch apple pie is now ready to go to the oven!
What if I don’t want the chai spices?
Whether you don’t like Chai spices or just don’t have them all, you can absolutely go for this Dutch Apple Pie recipe without them at all, and use vanilla extract only. Or you can use ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
How to serve this Dutch apple pie?
To be fair, this recipe doesn’t need much more than it contains already. I like to serve it lukewarm or at room temperature, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, sour cream or homemade whipped cream. To reheat slightly, just warm up your oven at 200°F (100°C) for about 15 minutes, tenting with a piece of foil to avoid the crumble topping from browning.
More amazing pie recipes:
- Blackberry Apple Pie – When you can’t choose between apples and berries!
- Classic Pumpkin Pie – My favorite pumpkin pie recipe, prepared without condensed milk!
- Homemade Cherry Pie – A great classic everyone is obsessed about.
- Blueberry Pie with Oat Crust – The perfect gluten-free option (as long as you go for GF oats)
- Apple Galette with Hazelnut Crust – An easy to fold apple tart with extra fall flavors to it!
With extra apples, you can also make…
Depending on the size of the apples you use, it is possible that you end up with more than you need to make this pie. If this happens, not to worry, you can use your peeled and sliced apples to make my Best Apple Crisp, these Healthy Apple Pancakes or this Healthy Whole Wheat Apple Bread.
Chai Spiced Dutch Apple Pie
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Cakes and pies
- Cuisine: American
This Chai Spiced Dutch Apple Pie has become one of my favorite apple recipe together with the Classic Apple Pie. It comes with a homemade all butter flaky pie crust, a generous apple filling prepared with Chai spices, and a sweet and buttery streusel crumb topping.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 ¾ cup (7.5 oz/210g) all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- ⅔ cup (5 oz/140g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (2.5 oz/75 ml) water
For the crumb topping:
- ½ cup (90g) light brown sugar
- ¾ cup (90g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- A pinch of salt
- 6 Tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the apple filling:
- 3 medium golden delicious apples, peeled cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 3 medium granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (26g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground clove
Instructions
- For the crust. Mix flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Dice the butter into small pieces and crumble it with the flour until lumps are the size of small peas. Add sugar and stir well. Pour in the iced cold water, little at a time, mixing with a fork. Finish by hand, shaping into a ball. Wrap into cling film, place in the refrigerator and chill for about 30 minutes.
- Remove dough, roll out into a 12 ½-inch (32 cm) circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to a 9-inch (23 cm) deep pie dish. Fit to plate, and flute edges if desired. Refrigerate until well chilled about 1 hour (or freeze for 15 minutes).
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line crust with parchment paper, add pie weights to fill just level to the top, and bake pie for 15 minutes. Remove parchment paper and pie weights, then prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and return to oven and bake for 8-12 minutes longer.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°C (180°C).
- For the crumb topping. Whisk together flour, brown sugar, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl stir in vanilla in melted butter, then pour into the flour mixture. Toss until evenly moistened and transfer to refrigerator.
- For the apple pie filling. In a large mixing bowl, toss sliced apples with melted butter and lemon juice. Add sugar, flour, and spices. Toss mixture to evenly coat.
- To assemble the pie, layer a handful or two of apple mixture into the pie dish at a time, spreading and pressing into an even layer and turning slices flat (this will help ensure you’ll fit all of them in). Remove crumble from refrigerator, break into small clumps and sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie.
- Bake in the preheated 350°C (180°C) oven until apples are almost fully tender, about 45 – 55 minutes. If the topping is browning while baking, tent with foil. Remove the pie from oven and let cool for about 2 hours before serving.
Did you make this recipe?
Lastly, if you make this Chai Spiced Dutch Apple Pie, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!
