This Dulce de Leche Apple Pie is piled high with apples!
A prize winning Apple Pie recipe!
Eating this pie is like eating caramel apples inside of a pie! I first made this pie back in 2009 when I entered it into a community pie contest. I won first place with my Dulce de Leche Apple Pie in the “fruit” category. As I recall, I competed against quite a few great-looking pies. But this one was the favorite. My son Brooks (8 years old at the time) won 2nd place in the miscellaneous category with his Snickers Bar Pie recipe.
About pie crust:
Of course you can pie store-bought crusts for this pie, but I’d only recommend that in a pinch. You need a good-sized bottom crust for this pie because it’s a larger, deep-dish pie. You can use the same crust recipe as I use for my Classic Double Crust Apple Pie. And I often use The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Perfect Pie Crust too. Both of those are good options as crust for this Dulce de Leche Apple Pie.
Can I make this a regular apple pie and not Deep Dish?
Yes! If you wish to convert this to a regular-sized pie, reduce the apples used to 5 cups and use slightly less dulce de leche.
How to make Dulce de Leche Apple Pie:
To make the filling, you’ll combine 7 cups of apple slices with dulce de leche, apple cider and vanilla. And then you’ll toss the apple mixture with brown sugar, white sugar, cornstarch, spices and salt. Then you’ll roll out one pie crust extra-large and place it into your deep dish pie plate and let the excess drape over the edges of the pan. After brushing the crust with an egg white wash, you’ll pile the filling on top of the crust in the pan. Then you’ll roll out the 2nd crust and place it on top of the apples, and then you’ll crimp the edges to seal the two crusts together. Finally, you’ll brush the top crust with the egg white wash, cut a few vents in the top, sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake.
What is Dulce de Leche and where do I find it?
Dulce de leche is basically as thick and wonderful caramel that is sold in a can. You should be able to locate it in your market’s Latin/Mexican food section. Sometimes you can find it near the other canned milks (like sweetened condensed milk).
If you want to make it homemade, that’s an option too. I have a great recipe for making Homemade Dulce de Leche. It turns out so good!
This is a rich and decadent apple pie since all of that caramel goodness is added in. If you really love caramel apples, then this is the pie for you. Enjoy!
Here are a few more pie recipes you might like to try:
- Easy Buttermilk Pie
- Rocky Road Pie
- Cherry Amaretto Pie
- Grasshopper Pie
- Best Banana Cream Pie
- Fresh Pear Pie
- Lemonade Pie
- Old Fashioned Custard Pie
Deep Dish Dulce de Leche Apple Pie
Recipe Details
Ingredients
APPLE PIE FILLING:
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 7 to 8 cups peeled, sliced apples (I like a mix of Granny Smith and Braeburn)
- 1/2 cup dulce de leche (purchased or homemade)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider (not vinegar!)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
PIE CRUST:
- Two pie crusts (purchased or homemade)
TOPPING:
- 1 large egg white (beaten with 1 teaspoon water)
- coarse sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Center rack in oven.
MAKE THE APPLE PIE FILLING:
- In a small bowl, combine the sugars, cornstarch, spices and salt.
- In a large bowl, toss together the apples, dulce de leche, apple cider and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and toss to combine.
PIE CRUST:
- Between waxed paper, roll out pie dough as large as possible keeping it a good thickness. Line the deep dish pie pan with crust and let it hang over the sides. Brush with egg white mixture. Add the apple filling and spread it out evenly.
- Roll out the 2nd crust a little bit too and place it on top of the pie. Crimp the edges together in a decorative fashion to seal. Brush with the egg white mixture. Cut a few holes in the top crust for venting. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Then turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. If the pie is browning too much, cover it with foil and top with a pie-crust-shield to prevent the crust edges from burning. If you don’t have a pie shield, just cover the whole thing with foil. Bake for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and cool on a rack for several hours to allow the filling to set.
Notes
- *If you wish to convert this to a regular-sized pie (& not a deep dish), reduce apples to 5 cups and use slightly less dulce de leche.
- *Dulce de leche can be found in the Latin aisle of most markets. Nestle makes it- look for it in a can. Or make it homemade- it's easy!
Nutrition
This was fantastic! I am not usually a pie maker but the filling, combined with a butter-laden pie crust, was easy and the hit of Thanksgiving. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
Do you serve this hot or cold and what with?
Cold (or warm!) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, maybe?
I’ve never used dulce de leche. Is there something special about it or can I use homemade caramel sauce?
It’s much thicker than caramel sauce. You can usually find it near the Latin products in your market.
Perfection, Lori!!
Dear recipe girl: I think I failed the “deep dish dulce de leche apple pie”. Your recipe called for apple cider. I assumed that was apple cider vinegar. I also used an entire can of the dulce de leche. Next time I’ll measure. I also used six apples. Next time I’ll use five. And making the pinch on the top crust was a joke. I can’t cook like you but if I video taped this I would be laughed at all day. I had apple peelings on the floor. My eye glasses fell into the apple mixture. The pie before the oven looked like something I made out of play dough when I was a kid. Ha-ha. Maybe I’ll just order a pie from you and pay for it. Happy Thanksgiving.
oh my gosh!
Made this yesterday…turned out perfectly…absolutely delicious…love!
Thank you very very much for this recipe! For some reason, I got it in my head that I want to make an apple pie with a layer of dulce de leche under the apples. I found your recipe and while it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, I made it earlier tonight and I am sold – utterly, completely sold! This recipe is definitely a keeper! The apple pie didn’t last 10 minutes after I let it cool. And to think, it was a 9-inch pie, and there were only 5 of us tonight in the family. Thank you again!
Hi – so, I would like to make this for Christams Eve.. and I did already read something about this…
But, I was wondering – Can I make ahead of time? ( just put it together… not bake it?) And keep it in the fridge until I’m ready to bake it? Would it still come out okay? If anyone can answer- that would be great! Thanks
Hi Tausha, I would bake it the night before, and then just cover and leave it at room temperature and serve it on Christmas Eve.
Tried this and love it! My hubby is an apple pie nut and couldn’t say enough good things about this recipe. Thank you for sharing and congrats on winning the contest!
ok so i just made this, but forgot the cider 🙁 is it ruined???? 🙁 it is in oven now and I am so nervous it is wasted 🙁
I’m sure it will probably be just fine… maybe not as many juices is all.
I am making this pie for the first time tonight. Our Thanksgiving dinner with my husband’s side of the family is actually tomorrow and I have been itching to make this ever since I found it. I (for the first time) made dulce de leche using the 8 hour crock pot method. OMG! I have found a new favorite! It was so yummy and warm when it was done. My pie is now in the oven. So far so good! I did add a cinnamon sugar mix to the top after brushing it with the egg wash. I know it’s going to come out great! I can’t wait for everyone to try it tomorrow. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Great- I hope you all love it!
Thank you, Lori for creating this recipe. It’s an incredible combination of flavors, that burst in mouth like a symphony. I made this scrumptious pie for “pie party live” and it was a huge success. I cut back a little on the dulce de leche and added some butter layered on top. Butter makes everything taste better,not that this pie needed it. This wasn’t a competition, no prizes to be won other than new friendships and the sharing of marvelous pies.
I just made this pie but did not put in the nutmeg as I’m not fond of that spice and did a crumb topping instead. Both my husband and I agree this recipe is a keeper! It is amazing!!! I used the Dulce De Leche from Williams-Sonoma since it’s my all time favorite. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!
Great to hear! And you’re welcome!
I found this recipe searching for a caramel apple pie and OMG it was delicious! I had everything but the nutmeg.
This was the first pie I made completely from scratch. I wrote about it on my blog here. I feel like I have conqured my fear of pie baking. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe!
@mrsblocko, SO happy you had success with it! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
This post comes a little late, but I made it for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. My first time making an apple pie, and my husband said it is hands down his favortie! The only thing different I did was “sweat” the apples with some sugar (I followed the suggestion from Alton Brown to make sure it didn’t get too soggy). Otherwise, I followed to a T, and it was so very good! Thanks for this!
@Jennifer, So glad you liked it!!
Looks great!!!
Nice to see your pie on PW’s website, my pie is there too 🙂
I’m visiting you from the Pioneer Woman Cooks website. This pie sounds INCREDIBLE! I just might be making this next week!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
This looks fantastic! Caramel flavor from the dulce de leche + apples? Yum.
This looks incredible! I might just add it to my dessert menu for Thanksgiving. Quick question – how long does it keep? I have a small kitchen and will be doing a lot of the cooking ahead of time. Should it be OK for a day or two in the fridge? Or is it best fresh? Thanks!
I made this pie for a contest, and it didn’t place. It tasted good, but I don’t think it was extraordinary. I think a big problem was that the judges couldn’t see the name of the pie… the dulce de leche gave the apples a slightly unappealing look (almost gunky, as opposed to the normal syrupy apples in a pie). However, had they known it was not supposed to be a “traditional” apple pie, and that it was supposed to look like that, I wonder if it would have done better. Oh well, it still tasted good. Thanks for the recipe.
@Liz, Liz- that is such a bummer! I’m sorry you didn’t win w/ this recipe. I agree that the title may “explain” why the filling is more muddled looking, though I don’t recall mine looking icky. I guess it probably depends on what kind of dulce de leche you use? In any case, glad you liked the flavor of it.
I made this pie for a pie tasting contest, and I won, too!
Caramel goes great in apple pies. I bet dulce de leche does as well!