Dulce de leche apple pie is made with tart juicy apples, cinnamon, and buttery caramel nestled in a flaky crust. It's an awesome Thanksgiving pie!
I made this caramel apple pie with an adapted homemade apple pie filling and instant pot dulce de leche and it was AMAZING. It takes a bit of time and love to make the caramel and the pie, but it is 1000% worth it. I usually make it with a Cream Cheese Pie Crust too, but if you have a favorite pie crust you like, feel free to use it!
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Our favorite Thanksgiving pies are usually The Best Pumpkin Pie or Baked Banana Pie but I loooove a good apple pie or classic homemade cherry pie. The filling is on the tart side so adding caramel doesn't make it too sweet at all!
Putting dulce de leche in apple pie was a no brainer, I adapted the pie filling with a little less sugar so that the caramel wouldn't make it too sweet.
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What To Expect
- Taste: All the flavors of a classic apple pie but with caramel baked into the filling! It's delicious. The apple filling uses tart apples, so the caramel makes it a little sweeter. I used a little less sugar in the pie filling recipe so that the caramel wouldn't make it too sweet.
- Ease: This is a medium difficulty recipe, if you've made pies before it will be no problem. It just takes time and patience!
- Time: This recipe takes about 3-4 hours to prep, make and cool before eating. It's easy to make the crust and filling ahead of time though! Keep in mind it can take 2-3 hours for the pie filling to cool down enough to pour into the raw pie crust.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Caramel - you can use a thick caramel sauce for this pie, just make sure it's not the thin runny syrup used on ice cream sundaes. I like to use homemade instant pot dulce de leche. You can mix in ⅛ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon vanilla to it to make it a salted caramel!
- Apples - I use a mix of 2 apples, usually Granny Smith and Honey Crisp or Pink Lady because they are easily found at the grocery stores near me.
- Brown Sugar - makes the pie taste even more like caramel without overpowering it!
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Brown Sugar - coconut sugar, or granulated white sugar are good replacements.
- Caramel - you can use either dulce de leche caramel (because it's thick) or another caramel sauce, just make sure it's on the thicker side and not a thin sauce.
- Spices - if you don't care for nutmeg or allspice, you could use cloves instead. We love the classic combination for apple pie spices.
🧑🍳 Instructions
- Step 1. Peel, core, and slice apples into THIN slices, about ¼ inch (about ½ cm) thick. You can do this with an apple peeler/slicer, or with a peeler and knife. (above left image)
- Step 2. Add the sliced apples, butter, brown sugar, and all spices and vanilla to a large pot. (above right image)
- Step 3. Combine lemon juice, water, and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together. If you want a sweeter filling, use water in place of the lemon juice to equal almost ⅔ cup. (above left image)
- Step 4. Pour cornstarch mixture into the apple pie filling and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until the filling is thickened. (above right image)
- Step 5. Let the pie filling cool completely to room temperature (or chilled) before pouring into a prepared raw pie crust. (above left image)
- Step 6. Prepare pie crust recipe (enough for top and bottom crust) and chill while pie filling is cooling. (above right image)
- Step 7. Pour cooled pie filling into prepared pie crust. Spoon caramel onto the pie filling. You can do half the filling, then the caramel, then the rest of the pie filling on top if you wish so there's more caramel in the middle. (above left image)
- Step 8. Roll out the second pie crust to ¼ inch thick and either cut 1 inch strips for a lattice pie crust, OR lay the whole crust on the pie. (above right image)
- Step 9. If doing a lattice, you'll need 10-12 strips of dough, 5 or 6 going each direction. Lay them alternating over and under.It's easiest for me to lay 3 strips down vertically and lift the middle one back before laying a horizontal strip down closest to the bottom edge. Then replace the middle strip straight and lift the 2 edge vertical strips back before laying another horizontal strip. Alternate lifting the middle and edge strips between laying a horizontal strip to complete the lattice. Trim the edges before crimping to help prevent butter dripping while baking. (above left image)
- Step 10. Crimp the edges by pinching two fingers together on the outside of the crust, then pressing a finger between them to make a "V" in the dough. Repeat around the edge until the whole pie is crimped and the edges sealed shut. (above right image)
- Step 11. Brush beaten egg on top of pie crust, covering the entire crust. If doing a solid crust (not a lattice), make sure to cut 3-4 slits in the top of the pie to allow air to escape so it doesn't bubble on top. (above left image)
- Step 12. Sprinkle sugar on top of crust. (above right image) Transfer pie to preheated oven onto the empty baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 ℉, then reduce heat to 350 ℉ and bake for 40-45 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. The filling will thicken a little as it cools.
You can serve it with ice cream, homemade cream cheese whipped cream, or more caramel drizzled on top!
📌 Top Tips & Hacks
- Make it ahead! You can make the pie dough and pie filling up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it. I encourage making one or both ahead of time, as it can take 2-3 hours for the pie filling to cool down enough to pour into the raw pie crust.
- Cool your pie filling! If it's warm going into the raw pie crust, it will melt the butter and the crust won't be flaky.
- Cool to room temp for even slices. You can eat the pie hot (I love it this way) but the filling will be a little more runny, it sets as it cools. If you want more crisp, even lines when you slice the pie up to serve then make sure you cool it to room temperature.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
You could, but it can result in runny pie filling and soggy crust. Using fresh fruit is a risky business in pie making, and there is no guarantee it will turn out perfect, which is why I ALWAYS cook my pie filling first. It doesn't hurt it at all to bake inside the crust!
A firm, tart apple is best. I like to use Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Pink Lady because they are almost always available at the grocery stores I shop at. Ones to avoid would be red delicious, gala, or fuji because they could turn mushy or be too sweet with the added sugar in the filling.
Make sure to let the pie cool for 3 hours before cutting into it to prevent runny filling, the filling will set more firmly as it cools.
Soggy crust usually comes from too much moisture in the filling (which is why I cook mine first) or from not baking it long enough.
Room Temperature: 3 days
Refrigerated: 5 days
Frozen: up to 3 months. If you make the pie and freeze it raw, make sure to thaw it completely before baking.
🥧 More Delicious Pie Recipes
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📝 Printable Recipe
Caramel Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust recipe, top & bottom crust
- 4 lb Granny Smith & Honeycrisp apples about 3 lb peeled and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons butter salted, 56 g
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed 225 g
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup water 118 mL
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 30 mL
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch 24 g
- ½ cup thick caramel 230 g
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 Tablespoon granulated or raw coarse sugar for top of pie
Instructions
- Peel, core, and slice apples into THIN slices, about ¼ inch (about ½ cm) thick. You can do this with a apple peeler/slicer, or with a peeler and knife.
- Add the sliced apples, butter, brown sugar, and all spices and vanilla to a large pot. Over medium heat, cook apples for 20 minutes until soft with a little bite to them.
- Combine lemon juice, water, and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together. If you want a sweeter filling, use water in place of the lemon juice to equal almost ⅔ cup.
- Pour cornstarch mixture into the apple pie filling and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until the filling is thickened.
- Let the pie filling cool completely to room temperature (or chilled) before pouring into a prepared raw pie crust.
- Prepare pie crust recipe (enough for top and bottom crust) and chill while pie filling is cooling.Preheat oven to 400℉ with empty baking sheet inside. Roll pie crust into a large enough circle to fill a 9 inch pie dish, about ¼ inch (.63 cm) thick.
- Pour cooled pie filling into prepared pie crust. Spoon caramel onto the pie filling. (you can do half the filling, then the caramel, then the rest of the pie filling on top if you wish so there's more caramel in the middle)
- Roll out the second pie crust to ¼ inch thick and either cut 1 inch strips for a lattice pie crust, OR lay the whole crust on the pie.
- If doing a lattice, you'll need 10-12 strips of dough, 5 or 6 going each direction. Lay them alternating over and under. It's easiest for me to lay 3 strips down vertically and lift the middle one back before laying a horizontal strip down closest to the bottom edge. Then replace the middle strip straight and lift the 2 edge vertical strips back before laying another horizontal strip. Alternate lifting the middle and edge strips between laying a horizontal strip to complete the lattice. Trim the edges before crimping to help prevent butter dripping while baking.
- Crimp the edges by pinching two fingers together on the outside of the crust, then pressing a finger between them to make a "V" in the dough. Repeat around the edge until the whole pie is crimped and the edges sealed shut.
- Brush beaten egg on top of pie crust, covering the entire crust. If doing a solid crust (not a lattice), make sure to cut 3-4 slits in the top of the pie to allow air to escape so it doesn't bubble on top.
- Sprinkle sugar on top of crust. Transfer pie to preheated oven onto the empty baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 ℉, then reduce heat to 350 ℉ and bake for 40-45 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool to room temp for more even slices. Or warm for melty caramel goodness!
Sara says
Adding dulce de leche to apple pie is a no brainer. It's so good and always a family favorite. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Please leave a comment here and share your feedback with a star rating. I really enjoyed creating this recipe and post for you!