A deep dish style apple pie with cinnamon spiced apple filling and a pecan streusel crumbled on top.
So I’m having a bit of a pie summer … I’ve made 8 pies in less than 2 months. But it’s all good because I’ve decided that pie is therapeutic to make … and of course pie is therapeutic to eat!
This is a monster pie. It’s basically 2x the size of a normal pie. It uses 5 lbs of apples and 1.5 of a normal crust recipe. I felt like a bit of weakling when I picked it up to put in the oven. You’ll need a springform pan to make it because a normal pie dish won’t hold enough apples for this pie. Don’t use a normal cake pan because you’ll need to remove the sides, so you can cut into easily.
IT’S ALIVE!!!
The only slightly annoying part about this recipe is peeling and cutting up the apples. My grocery store only had teeny granny smith apples, so I had to peel and cut up 18 apples…. but it was worth it!
The first time I made this pie, I made the mistake of adding all the extra juices that the filling had created after sitting for 40 minutes. This made for a really runny filling when I cut into the pie. It was like the dam walls had been opened and filling juice was running all over my counter. A lot of bakers say that you need the juices that the apples let off and by draining the apples you’re losing a lot of flavor … I honestly didn’t notice any difference and my biggest pet peeve with pies is when the filling isn’t set.
I tested heavily spiced vs just cinnamon in the filling. I liked just having cinnamon in the filling better and leaving the spices to the streusel topping. I also decided that I liked the apples cut into chunks rather than slices for this pie. The pie is really thick, so it’s easier to get your fork through it if the apples are more bite sized. 
Throw a scoop of ice cream on top and you’ve got the ultimate slice of pie!
- 5 lbs granny smith apples
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1¾ cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½ Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 Tablespoons salted butter, cold and cubed
- ⅓ cup water
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter, cold and cubed
- Cut the apples into 16 slices and then cut each slice in half so you have 32 chunks per apple.
- Toss the apples with the flour, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Refrigerate while you make the crust and streusel. The filling needs to rest for 30-40 minutes to release some of the juices from the apples.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Mix flour, sugar, and salt together with a spatula.
- Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the cold butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal. The butter chunks should be as small or smaller than green peas.
- Mix in the cold water and stir with a fork until the mixture is raggedy. If it is a little crumbly, don't worry because you'll take care of that in the next step. If it seems way too crumbly though, add more water 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Transfer dough to a floured work surface and gently work the dough together with your hands.
- Flatten the dough into a disc and roll the dough out with a floured rolling pin into a 16-inch circle. As you are rolling the dough, turn the dough circle a couple times to make sure it is not sticking to the counter and add more flour to your work surface as needed.
- Transfer the 16-inch dough circle to a 9-inch springform pan. To transfer the dough without tearing it, loosely wrap the pie dough around your rolling pin and then unroll it over your springform pan.
- Trim the edges so there is only about ½ inch of overhang. Crimp the edges by first folding over the overhang. Then using both hands, pinch the edges between your thumb and first finger of one hand and your thumb and first finger of the other hand.
- Mix the flour, sugars, spices, salt, and pecans together in a bowl.
- Cut the cold butter in using a pastry blender, a fork, two knives, or your fingers. Set aside.
- Using a slotted spoon, spoon the apples into the crust and discard the juices.
- Place the springform pan on a baking sheet in case of any leaks.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 375°F.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle the streusel on top of the apples.
- Drop the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 60 minutes more. Cover the pie with tin foil if the top begins to brown too quickly.
- Let cool at room temperature for at least 4 hours. I like to refrigerate the pie for another few hours before removing the sides of the pan and cutting into it.
I have made this pie 3 times and it has been incredible. Not only does it taste amazing, it looks beautiful! I follow the recipe exactly as it is!
Hi Pamela! I am so glad you’ve had such success with this recipe! It’s such a crowd pleaser especially this time of year! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of apple pie!