This Smoked Apple Pie is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert. It’s cooked on a smoker and topped with a buttery crumble. You’ll want to make it all year long.
Smoked Dutch Apple Pie
This apple pie recipe is a Dutch apple pie, which means it has a crumb topping. Butter, flour, and sugar make a crispy crumble over the baked apples. Each bite blends spiced apples, flaky pie crust, and sweet crispy crumble perfectly.
If you want a traditional apple pie with a crust topping, double the recipe below. You can design the crust however you like. The crust is homemade and uses only butter, so it’s full of flavor, flaky, and tender.
If you choose a double crust, I love a classic lattice pie topping. But you can get creative with this one.
Dutch Apple Pie Cooked on a Smoker
This pie isn’t technically “smoked.” When you cook baked goods on a smoker over an open flame, it won’t pick up much smoked flavor. However, it will taste really good. At temperatures above 275°F, the grill focuses more on heat and keeping the coals steady. You won’t get much smoke from the smoke stack, but the food will still taste better than if cooked in the oven.
For most of history, people cooked food over an open fire. In the last 50 years, baking in electric or gas ovens became common. Don’t be afraid to go back to traditional cooking. You’ll be amazed by how much better your baked goods taste.
Tips for Making Smoked Apple Pie
This apple pie is easy to make, but I have some tips for smoking the perfect pie. Keep these in mind before you start.
- Serve warm or cold. If you serve the pie hot from the smoker, the filling may be loose. Let it cool to slice better and hold its shape.
- Use crisp apples. For a tart pie, choose granny smith. For a sweet pie, go with jonagold or honeycrisp.
- Refrigeration matters! Chilled pie crust won’t shrink as much during baking and holds its shape better than unchilled crust.
Baking Desserts on Your Pellet Smoker
When baking desserts on a pellet smoker, keep a few things in mind. First, use light woods like maple, pecan, cherry, or apple. You want the baked good’s flavors to stand out, so the wood should not overpower the sweetness. Apple is the best choice for this recipe!
Smoked Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoon very cold salted butter
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoon sugar
- 4 Tablespoon ice water more as needed
- 5 1/2 cup baking apples peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 Tablespoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
Instructions
- Prepare the pie crust. Cut the chilled butter into cubes. Put the butter back in the refrigerator. Prepare the flour. In a large food processor with a steel blade, place the flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter to the flour. Pulse the food processor 12-15 times, until the butter pieces are the size of peas.
- Start the food processor. While it runs, pour the ice water down the feed tube. Stop when the dough begins to form a ball. Stop the processor as soon as the dough starts to come together, even if there are still unincorporated pieces in the bowl.
- Place the dough on a floured board and form it into a ball. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Put the dough in the refrigerator. Preheat your pellet smoker to 375°F. Use any wood you like, but I suggest apple. At this temperature, you won't get much smoke flavor. If you prefer, you can bake in the oven. Move the oven rack to the lowest shelf.
- Unwrap the dough and place it on a floured surface. Roll it into a 12-inch round. Carefully transfer it to a 9x3 inch deep dish pie tin and crimp the edges. Put the pie tin back in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling and topping.
- Combine the pie filling ingredients in a large bowl. Gently toss with a rubber spatula to mix without breaking many apples.
- Place the apples in the pie crust and set them aside.
- In another bowl, mix the ingredients for the crumb topping. Use a fork or pastry cutter to spread the butter evenly.
- Spread the crumb topping evenly on the apples.
- Place the pie in your preheated smoker, close the lid, and bake for 60 minutes. If the pie crust edges darken too much, cover them with foil.
- Remove the pie and let it cool before serving.