Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Apple pie will never be the same again without this homemade salted caramel sauce. It transforms an ordinary apple pie filling into gooey, caramely goodness with perfectly cooked juicy apples.

And the crust! It's the perfect flaky, buttery, golden vessel for the most beloved pie filling. 

Serve each slice with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and even more caramel sauce! 

For more apple recipes, try Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling, Caramel Apple Skillet Dump Cake, and Apple Streusel Coffee Cake.

Why you'll love this salted caramel apple pie

• Flaky, Buttery Pie Crust: My go-to all butter pie dough that creates an ultra flaky, tender crust that's perfect with any pie filling. 
• Caramel Apple Filling: Think perfectly cooked apples coated in homemade caramel sauce with fall spices. Um YES PLEASE.
• Salted Caramel Drizzle: Because you can never have too much caramel!!

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: Weigh your flour! Homemade pie dough is very simple, so long as everything is measured precisely!
• Salt: Use kosher salt, not table salt.
• Butter: Since there are so few ingredients in pie dough, it gets all of its flavor from the butter, so be sure to use high-quality unsalted butter.
• Ice Water: Pie must be cold at all times, so it's important that the water is iced!
• Apples: I used McIntosh apples, which are sweet and juicy, but a bit softer than other baking apples. I love baking with honeycrisp apples, because they have the perfect balance of sweetness and hold their shape well in the oven. You could also use another baking apple, such as granny smith or pink lady.
• Lemon Juice: Add this to the apple slices to prevent them from browning.
• Salted Caramel Sauce: You could use store-bought or make this recipe!
• Fall Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cloves, and cardamom.
• Flour: You'll need some all-purpose flour to add to the caramel sauce, which thickens the filling.
• Brown Sugar: Use light or dark brown sugar here!

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

There's no sugar coating it, homemade pie is a process to make. But it isn't necessarily difficult to make! It requires careful timing of when each element is made and A LOT of chill time, but if you read through this recipe at least once (twice wouldn't hurt though😉), you'll be rewarded with a gorgeous homemade apple pie!

For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Make the dough. Make the pie dough and chill overnight. For more detailed step by step instructions, see this 3 Ingredient Pie Crust Recipe.  

STEP 2: Prep apples. Peel and cut the apples into thin slices, and squeeze lemon juice all over. Set aside. 

STEP 3: Mix. Weigh out the caramel sauce, then stir in the flour and spices. Set aside. 

STEP 4: Cook. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then add the apples. Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the spiced caramel, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

STEP 5: Cool. Pour the caramel apple pie filling onto a baking sheet. Spread into an even layer and set aside to cool completely. 

STEP 6: Assemble. Before assembling the pie, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with a baking sheet on the lowest rack. Roll out 430g of the pie dough and place in the pie dish. Pour the cooled pie filling into the crust, making it slightly mounded in the center. Place in the fridge. 

STEP 7: Top and chill. Roll out the remaining pie dough, and cut out six 11"x2.5" strips. Arrange the lattice on top of the pie filling, then trim the excess dough. Fold over the edges of the dough, then place the pie back in the fridge for 15 minutes. Take the pie out and crimp the edges as desired, then chill for another 30 minutes. 

STEP 8: Bake. Brush the egg wash all over the pie, except for the crimped edges, and sprinkle turbinado sugar all over. Bake the pie for about 60 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden. Allow to cool for at least four hours or overnight. 

Expert Baking Tips

• For more detailed step by step instructions on how to make homemade pie dough, see this post.
• If you have vodka on hand, you can add a tablespoon or two to the pie dough before the water. You'll end up adding less water, so still pay close attention to the hydration level. Vodka does not develop the gluten as much, which makes it perfect for hydrating pie dough and creating a super tender pie crust!
• The most important thing with making pie crust is to always keep the dough cold at all steps. So use ice cold water and cold butter, and any time you touch the dough you should put it back in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. 
• If making homemade caramel, I recommend making at least an hour before (or up to a week before) making the apple pie filling to give it time to cool down and thicken up. 

Make-Ahead Tips 

You can make the pie dough up to 3 days ahead of time stored in the fridge or up to 3 months ahead of time if stored in the freezer. If it's stored in the freezer, be sure to thaw it out in the fridge overnight before using. 

The caramel sauce can be made up to a week ahead of time stored in the fridge. 

And the apple filling can be made one day before baking the pie stored in the fridge. 

The day the pie is assembled, it must be baked! I highly recommend baking it the day before serving, as it needs at least four hours to cool and set. This gives the filling enough time to set so you can get clean cut pie slices!

Storage Tips

Store leftover pie slices covered at room temperature or in the fridge for 2-3 days.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x