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My grandma’s brown bag apple pie with crumb topping 🥧 is the best apple pie I’ve ever had! I grew up making it with her, and everyone who has ever eaten it can’t believe how delicious it is. It’s made with a homemade crust, filled with Granny Smith apples spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and topped with a streusel. If you make it this holiday season, let me know in the comments how it went. I also have a pumpkin pie recipe if that’s more your jam!
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Brown Bag Apple Pie Recipe
I know some of you might be thinking, “Paper bag, what?” But trust me on this one. It may sound like a fire hazard 🔥, but my grandma made this traditional apple pie recipe for YEARS with no issues. However, watch your oven and be safe, of course.
This dessert was always a staple on our holiday table growing up. Baking it in the brown paper bag makes the filling soft and juicy and the top crunchy. It’s magic! Once you open it, everyone will be saying, “Can I have another slice?” 🙋
🥧 Brown Bag Apple Pie Ingredients
- Bottom Crust: All-purpose flour, sugar, butter, and water
- Topping: All-purpose flour, butter, sugar
- Apples: Peel and slice green Granny Smith apples.
- Brown Sugar for sweetness
- Lemon Juice to balance the sweetness
- All-Purpose Flour to thicken the apple pie filling
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
- Graham Cracker Crumbs: Sprinkle them on the bottom crust to prevent it from getting soggy.
👩🍳 How to Make Apple Pie from Scratch
- Make the Apple Pie Crust: Stir the flour and sugar together and then mix in the butter with a stand mixer. Once it resembles coarse crumbs, add the water until the dough forms. Or, skip the water and just press the dough into the pie dish. If you add the water, form the dough into a ball and roll it out. Then, carefully transfer it to the pie plate.
- Make the Apple Pie Filling: Mix the apples, brown sugar, lemon, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a bowl.
- Make the Crumble Topping: Combine the flour, sugar, and butter.
- Assemble the Pie: Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the pie dough. Add the apples and crumble the topping over it.
- Bake the Pie: Place the pie in a brown paper bag and close the bag, ensuring the pie doesn’t touch the tops or sides of the bag. Bake the pie at 425℉ oven for one hour.
📹 Watch me make this easy brown bag apple pie recipe here.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Paper Bag Alternative: If you don’t have a brown bag, create one from parchment paper. Staple two large pieces together, slide the pie inside, and fold the leftover parchment to close the bag.
- Pie Dish: Use a pan with a narrower rim so it more easily fits in the bag.
- Oven Safety: Make sure the paper bag doesn’t touch the heating element at the top or bottom of the oven. You can also place the paper bag on a baking sheet if you prefer.
🗒 Substitutions
- 🥧 Crust: You can use store-bought if you don’t want to make a pie crust.
- 🍏 Apples: Swap Granny Smith for Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or Braeburn.
- 🍋 Lemon: Substitute orange juice.
- 🫚 Spices: Replace all three spices with pumpkin pie spice.
🍽️ Best served with
Apple pie is delicious any time of year, but if you’re serving it for Thanksgiving or Christmas, here are some of my family’s favorite dishes:
👝 How to Store Apple Pie
- Let the pie cool. Then, tightly cover it with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight pie storage container.
- The USDA says that apple pie can be left at room temperature for one to two days or in the refrigerator for seven days.
- To serve, reheat it in the microwave or oven until warm.
🤔 Common Questions
1. The paper bag traps steam, helping the apples soften.
2. The bag covers the pie, protecting it from over-browning.
3. If the pie bubbles over, the bag traps the mess, keeping your oven clean.
Some recipes require you to bake the apples, but my grandma’s recipe doesn’t. Skipping that step saves a lot of time.
I sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the crust before adding the apple filling. That extra layer prevents the crust from getting soggy.
Flour thickens the apple pie filling as it cooks.
Brown Bag Apple Pie
Equipment
- Pie dish
- Stand mixer or pastry cutter
Ingredients
Bottom Crust
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 ½ tablespoons cold water, or more as needed
Filling
- 5 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons graham crackers
Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup softened butter
- ½ cup superfine sugar, or granulated sugar
Instructions
Bottom Crust
- Stir the flour and white sugar together using a stand mixer or pastry cutter. Add the butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- If I roll the dough, I add water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms. If not, don’t add the water–pour the flour/butter mixture into the bottom of the pie dish and press it along the bottom and up the sides.
- If rolling the dough, form the dough into a ball and roll it out to a circle about ⅛-inch thick. Gently ease the dough into an 8-inch pie dish.
Filling
- Stir the apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a large bowl.
Topping
- Mix ½ cup of flour, ½ cup of softened butter, and ½ cup of superfine sugar with your hands until it clumps together.
Pie
- To assemble the pie, cover the bottom of the pie crust with a light, even layer of graham cracker crumbs. Fill the pie with the apple mixture. Add the top of the crumb pie filling.
- Put the pie in the brown bag and close the end, making sure the pie does not touch the tops or sides. Bake at 425℉ oven for 1 hour. Don’t peek inside the brown bag while baking.
- Remove from the oven and carefully cut open the bag. Top with bourbon whipped cream or cinnamon ice cream!