Quick and easy Salted Caramel Apple Pie is a delicious spin on your favorite old fashioned Apple Pie recipe made with our tasty caramel sauce, and lightly salted with sea salt. Topped with a buttery, flaky pie crust, or with your favorite streusel topping, this homemade pie will make any Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner one to remember.
This is the perfect pie for Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays. It brings a fun variety to a family favorite pie. You can also make this recipe during apple season in the fall.
Make this homemade pie with our delicious homemade caramel sauce. It's so easy to make, doesn't require a candy thermometer, and gives the pie a great consistency.
We love a good pie, be sure to check out our other delicious seasonal pies like, Double Layer Pumpkin Pie, traditional Banana Cream Pie, or delicious Banoffee Pie.
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What You'll Love About This Recipe
- Quick and Easy- this pie is quick and easy to make. Unlike other apple pie recipes, this recipe is a fool proof way to make a tasty pie on a quicker time schedule. This recipe is ready to go in the oven in about 30 minutes!
- Make Ahead- You can make this pie ahead and store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve to help save oven space on big days like Thanksgiving.
- A fun twist on a pie everyone loves- This adds a fun variety to pie that everyone loves. It's a great flavor combo of caramel and apples, keeping with the fun fall vibes.
- Variations and Substitutions- Make this pie your very own by checking out our various substitutions and variations to put your own personal touch on the recipe in order to fit dietary needs.
- Whipped Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream- This pie tastes delicious topped with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream adding a new level of flavor.
Ingredients
- Double Pie Crust- make your favorite double pie crust, or if in a pinch, buy a store-bought double pie crust.
- Apples- use apples that won't breakdown when baked like Granny Smith or Honey Crisp apples.
- Caramel Sauce- Make our delicious and easy homemade caramel sauce, or use your favorite store bought sauce like Ghirardelli or Smucker's brands.
- Lemon Juice
- Granulated White Sugar
- Cornstarch- to help keep the filling thick and falling out of crust, cornstarch helps thicken the juices.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Sea Salt
- Egg Yolk- this recipe only calls for egg yolk, save the egg whites in an air tight container for breakfast the next morning.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Mix together the sliced apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt.
2. Press pie crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan. Add the seasoned apples to the pie crust.
3. Pour the caramel over the seasoned apples. Make sure to distribute the caramel evenly. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the caramel.
4. Cover the top of the caramel apples with pie crust. Seal the edge. Make an egg wash with water and an egg yolk and brush the top of the pie.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 400*F. Let cool completely before slicing. Serve with extra caramel and whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Hint: Make sure the apples go a couple inches over the top of the pie pan so when when the apples settle, there won't be a gap between the filling and the crust.
Substitutions
- Tart -Like a tart apple pie? Use Granny Smith apples for that tart taste you love. With the sweet caramel sauce, tart Granny Smith apples give a delicious balanced taste.
- Sweet- Honey crisp apples should be used if you want a sweeter tasting pie.
- Homemade Caramel Sauce - use our homemade caramel sauce for a great texture and consistency. You can find the recipe here.
- Store-bought Caramel Sauce- Have a favorite caramel sauce? Use that for the delicious pie. Note that the consistency may change from the original recipe as it was made with our homemade recipe.
- Gluten Free- Use your favorite gluten free homemade or store-bought crust.
- Vegan- Use a vegan crust instead of a traditional pie crust to make this recipe vegan .
Variations
- Streusel Topping/Crumb - use this recipe here to make a streusel topping instead of traditional pie crust topping to have a dutch style pie.
Equipment
For best results, use this list of equipment while making this recipe.
- 9 inch glass pie pan
- Large Mixing Bowl
Storage
Store baked pie loosely covered with plastic wrap or tin foil in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If you are tight on refrigerator space during holiday cooking, store covered in a cool place like a window sill or garage.
Freeze this pie covered for up to 4 months. Thaw and warm to serve!
Top tip
Depending on what type of caramel you use, this may make your pie a little runnier. Using our homemade caramel sauce helps the pie not be runny. Allowing the pie to fully cool and set will also help the filling stay together when cut into.
We recommend using our homemade caramel sauce
FAQ
Firm apples that won't break down are ideal for making apple pie. Whether you want it tart or sweet you can use Granny Smith apples for a tart taste or Honey Crisp apples for a sweet taste. Both these types of apples are firm apples.
No! Do not pre-bake the apples before making apple pie. It will make the apples mushy and break down.
No! Do not pre-bake your crust before cooking apple pie. The pie is in the oven long enough that the filling and the crust bake evenly together making sure that the crust or the filling is not overdone.
Use cornstarch to help thicken the filling. This recipe uses cornstarch and also the caramel topping to make a thick consistency.
Recipe
Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 double pie crust
- 5-6 Honey Crisp or Granny Smith apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup caramel sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Start by making or buying your favorite double pie crust. You will need a enough pie crust for the bottom of the pan and the top of the apples. Press the pie dough in a 9 inch pie pan.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel and cut your apples, either Honey Crisp or Granny Smith, into thin, quarter inch slices.
- Put the sliced apples into a large bowl. Pour lemon juice over the apples and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine white sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.
- Pour the spice mixture on top of the sliced apples and stir gently until the apples are well coated.
- Pour the seasoned sliced apples into the prepared pie crust. The apples should go about an inch higher than the rim of the pie pan. This will help prevent a gap between your pie crust and apples when the apples bake and settle.
- Pour warmed caramel sauce evenly over the apple pie filling. Some of sauce will stay on top of the apples while some of the sauce will seep down. This is perfect! The flavor will be well distributed. Sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the top of the apples.
- Top the pie with the top portion of the crust and seal the sides. An easy way to seal the sides is wetting the bottom lip of the pie crust and pinch together the two crusts.
- In a small dish, mix together the egg yolk and water. With a cooking brush, brush the pie with the egg wash. Make sure to cover the whole pie, but don't leave any puddles of egg wash.
- Sprinkle with course crystal sugar.
- Make three slits on the top the crust to help with ventilation as the pie cooks.
- Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake your Caramel Apple Pie for 40-45 minutes.
- Let cool before cutting and serving to help maintain the shape of the apple pie.
- Serve with additional caramel sauce for the top and ice cream or whipped cream!
Notes
- Use Honey Crisp or Granny Smith Apples for best results
- Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet while baking to prevent spilling in your oven.
- Save the egg white for another meal!
Shara Nelson
This was absolutely delicious! The caramel and the seasoned apples worked together perfectly! So yummy!
JC
I don't usually like apple pie, but I really enjoyed this one.
Jed
I was worried it would be too runny. I used the caramel recipe in the link and it turned out perfect
Lauren Michael Harris
My husband loves two sweets more than anything - apple pie and caramel. I've never thought to put caramel in an apple pie before, but it was amazing! We really enjoyed it!
Zach
I did add some extra sugar/cinnamon mixture, but it was a great twist on my favorite holiday treat.
Sara Welch
This was everything a gourmet dessert should be, and then some! Excited to serve this again for Christmas; will be the perfect ending to a holiday meal!