This scrumptious Skillet Apple Streusel Pie is made of tender slices of Granny Smith apples, coated with sugar and Apple Pie Spice, and gets topped with a crumbly oat, sugar, and butter streusel.  But wait…then it gets a drizzling of homemade caramel when it’s served.  I call this a perfect pie!

What would Fall be without apple desserts, and this Skillet Apple Streusel Pie will certainly remind you that it’s Fall, from each and every bite of warmly spiced tender apples to the wonderful aroma wafting through the air.  This delicious pie takes a few minutes to prepare and bake.  However, the pie dough and streusel topping can be made in advance to save you time.  Also, if you’re really pressed for time, you can opt to use store-bought caramel topping and pie crust.

I’ll walk you through the steps for making this scrumptious pie…

Pie Crust

The pie crust is easy and you really don’t have to worry about making the edges look fancy on this pie.  It’s an iron skillet pie, and they’re meant to look rustic.  This is a simple butter pie crust.  The two main things to remember here are to use cold butter and refrigerate the pie dough for a few minutes after forming it into a disc.  If you’re pressed for time, you can opt to use store-bought pie crust.

Streusel

The streusel is so easy and takes 5 minutes to prepare.  It can even be made up to 5 days in advance and refrigerated until you’re ready to make the pie.  It’s a simple combination of old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, butter, and flour.  The main thing to remember here is to use old-fashioned oats, not quick oats.  You also want to have it made and ready before making the filling.  You don’t want the apples sitting any longer than they have to, after slicing them.  Not a fan of streusel on your pie?  If you prefer just plain old double-crusted apple pie, check out my recipe for Country Apple Pie.

Filling

Ahh yes, the filling!!!  Make sure you use a good cooking apple, such as Granny Smith, the one listed in the recipe.  You want an apple that cooks up tender but doesn’t get mushy.  Granny Smith apples are also tart, which is perfect for an apple pie since the pie itself has plenty of sweet sugar in it.  The filling for this pie has one simple spice, Apple Pie Spice.  And of course, there’s sugar…two to be exact…brown and granulated.  Then a tiny bit of cornstarch for thickening, some salt and a sprinkling of lemon juice in the end.  The lemon juice can be omitted.  However, it does help keep the apples from turning brown while you’re preparing everything.

Caramel

The caramel is easy to make and takes just a few minutes of cooking time.  It’s made of brown sugar, whipping cream, sour cream, corn syrup, and butter.  YUM!

See anything you would’ve done differently in the picture above?  Well, this idiot sees something she would’ve done differently.  If it weren’t for hindsight!  Miss piggy here, decided I couldn’t wait to eat a piece of this scrumptious pie while it was still warm.  I really didn’t even want to take the time to take pictures.  So what the heck, I’ll just drizzle the caramel, that hasn’t even cooled yet, all over the already warm pie before cutting me a piece to top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Stomach over brain as usual.  Okay then ….sure Cindy.  Just drizzle the very warm caramel over the already warm pie and watch it immediately seep into every crack and crevice of the streusel and filling and disappear.  So, what’s wrong with that you ask?  Well nothing, if others eating this pie want to have no say in the matter.

Thank goodness I saved some of the caramel sauce.  Wouldn’t you agree?

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Skillet Apple Streusel Pie

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  • Author: Cindy Gibbs
  • Prep Time: 75 Minutes (includes refrigerating pie dough)
  • Cook Time: 1 Hour
  • Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 8 Slices 1x
  • Category: Pies

Description

This scrumptious Skillet Apple Streusel Pie is made of tender slices of Granny Smith apples, coated with sugar and Apple Pie Spice, and gets topped with a crumbly oat, sugar, and butter streusel.  But wait…then it gets a drizzling of homemade caramel when it’s served.  I call this a perfect pie!


Ingredients

Units Scale

Dough:

  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 56 tablespoons ice water

Streusel:

  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

  • 4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced about 1/4” thick
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Caramel Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, full fat
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt


Instructions

Dough:

  1. Add the flour, salt, and sugar to a large bowl and whisk together with a fork.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.  Add 5 tablespoons of the water and mix with the pastry blender until a moist dough forms, using the last tablespoon of water if needed.  The dough should be moist but easy to handle.
  2. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes.  Place dough on a lightly floured work surface.  Sprinkle a small amount of flour over the dough and flour your rolling pin.  Roll dough into a 13-inch circle.  Transfer the dough to a 10-inch iron skillet, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides of the skillet.  Fold the edges under.  It’s supposed to look rustic, so don’t worry about doing anything fancy with the edges.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Streusel:

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt.  Add the melted butter and mix just until the mixture becomes crumbly.  Note:  You can make this up to 5 days ahead of time but keep it refrigerated.

Filling:

  1. Add the apples, sugars, cornstarch, apple pie spice, and salt to a large bowl, mixing until all the apples are coated with the sugar/spice mixture.  Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples and mix once more time.  Spoon the mixture into the crust.  Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the apples, making sure all the apples are covered.
  2. Bake for approximately until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.  I always insert a sharp knife into one of the apple slices to see if it’s tender.  Loosely cover the pie with a sheet of foil the last 10 minutes of baking, to ensure crust doesn’t get too brown before the apples are tender.  Transfer pie to a wire cooling rack to cool.  Serve with caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce:

  1. Add the sugar to a small heavy saucepan.  In a measuring cup, stir together the water and corn syrup, and add it to the sugar.  Stir until sugar is moistened.  Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture becomes a golden color, about 8 minutes.  I gently swish the mixture around in the pan frequently to ensure that it is not sticking to the pan.  Remove pan from the heat and add butter.  The mixture will foam up.  Whisk until butter is melted and blended in.
  2. In a small microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the whipping cream and sour cream.  Microwave until mixture is very hot, but not boiling, 45 to 60 seconds.  Return the pan to low heat.  Slowly add the whipping cream mixture to the pan, stirring constantly.  Cook for about 1 minute and remove from heat.  Stir in the salt.  Serve over pie or refrigerate.

Cover pie and refrigerate.  Refrigerated pie will keep up to 3 days.


Notes

  • You can drizzle the caramel sauce over the entire slightly warm pie or drizzle it over each piece as you serve it.  I drizzled some over the entire pie, but in hindsight would’ve simply drizzled it over each piece when serving it.  When you drizzle it over the entire pie, a great majority of the caramel seeps down into the pie before you have a chance to cut and serve it.
  • Not a fan of streusel on your apple pie?  Check out my recipe for Country Apple Pie.  It’s delicious too!

Recipe adapted from Fall Baking, Collector’s Edition