Apple Crostata
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy.
If making pie from scratch intimidates you then start with making an apple crostata. A crostata (or galette) is free form pie so no fancy crimping of the edges is needed here. This easy apple crostata made with toasted pecans. It’s so much simpler to throw together than an apple pie. And just as delicious. Top with ice-cream and caramel sauce for a real treat.
Oh pie. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…Is there anything that is homier than apple pie? I think not. A couple weeks ago I took a cooking class at Sur La Table where we learned to cook this scrumptious Tuscan dinner complete with this easy apple galette at the end.
If you’re new to making pies. Or they have you running scared, than a crostata is a great place to start. Like my blueberry crostata or fresh cherry galette. It’s the like the 5k version of pie marathons. You have to start somewhere right?
This apple crostata, is just as delicious as apple pie, but way easier to make. It’s basically an open faced apple pie made with a buttery pie crust, with walnuts, and then topped with caramel sauce and ice cream.
A crostata and galette are basically the same thing. Which is that they are basically a rustic free form pie. To make a crostata you don’t need a pie plate, so on less piece of equipment you need in your kitchen. You just simply fold the dough edges up around the filling! It’s as easy as…well you know.
Bake Pies With Confidence!
If you’ve ever struggled with shrinking crusts, runny fillings, or pies that just didn’t wow—you’re not alone. But here’s the good news: you can bake pies that look beautiful, slice cleanly, and taste bakery-worthy… without the stress.
Inside my Pie Perfection eBook, you’ll learn how to:
- Master buttery, flaky crusts (no soggy bottoms here!)
- Choose the right thickeners for fruit fillings that hold
- Avoid common pie mistakes with my step-by-step guides
- Bake seasonal favorites all year long—from classic apple to no-bake summer pies
Whether you’re brand new to pie baking or ready to take your skills to the next level, this book will give you the tools and confidence to bake pies you’re proud to share.
👉 Grab Your Pie Perfection Ebook Here!
You bring the rolling pin—I’ll bring the secrets. 💛
Ingredients needed
For the full list of ingredients amounts scroll to the bottom of the recipe post.
- Pie Crust – You need a single pie crust for this recipe. You can use homemade pie crust or a store-bought.
- Apples – You will only need a few apples for the filling. I prefer to peel the apples for the best texture. I like to use either Granny smith apples, or Honeycrisp apples which are a bit tart and hold up well when baked. You want to thinly slice them for the apple crostata.
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Spices – I used a combination of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, and ground cloves. You could also just use apple pie spice.
- Salt
- Pecans (or walnuts) – I love stirring in some chopped nuts into the apple filling. I like to toast them first to bring out their flavor. You can check out my tutorial on how to toast pecans or how to toast walnuts. Or omit altogether if need be.
- Egg Wash – I brush the pie crust with a bit of an egg wash before baking to brown the crust. Here is my tutorial on what is an egg wash? that will also give you egg wash alternatives if you’re out of eggs or have an allergy.
Make the pie crust
Now you could make an apple crostata even easier by buying store bought pie crust. But I beg you to try it one time on your own to see just how easy it is. Making pie dough requires just a few pieces of equipment – flour, salt, some sort of fat (butter, shortening, or a combination of both), water, and a little bit of sugar.
You can make the pie dough in your food processor or in a mixing bowl with a pastry cutter. Here is a full step by step tutorial on making pie dough.
Heather’s Baking Tip
Start with cold ingredients. Cold water, cold butter, some even say cold flour. Cold ingredients will result in a flaky pie crust. Cold ingredients will inhibit the formation of gluten. Gluten = tough (or chewiness). You want the butter solid until it hits the oven where it will melt, and the water create steam pushing apart the layers of flour.
Combine the flour sugar and salt. In a food processor combine the flour, sugar and salt and pulse to combine.
Add the butter. Scatter the butter over the top. You want to make sure it’s cubed and COLD so it stays firm until it hits the oven. Cold butter = a flaky pie crust.
Pulse. Pulse until the butter and fat are pea-sized. Do not over pulse it at this point or it will mush the butter into the flour creating a tough, chewy crust.
Add water. Sprinkle in the ice water with the food processor running and stop until the mixture comes together and is crumbly. I like to pinch a piece of the dough to see if it holds together if it doesn’t, then add a bit more water.
You want to then dump the contents onto plastic wrap and wrap up into a disc and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Or try my trick of dumping the pie crust mixture into a tea towel and wrapping it up. It brings the dough together in a pinch! If the dough is dry sprinkle it with a bit of water and gently work it into the dough.
Heather’s Baking Tip
Handle the dough as little as possible. Again, we are aiming for tender flaky crust. So the less we handle the dough the better. This will keep the butter solid and not melt into the flour.
And let the dough rest for at least an hour in the fridge. Again, you want your dough cold and handled as little as possible. This will help firm up the butter and let the dough relax to make it easier to roll out.
Make the apple filling
For the apple filling, you want toss your apple slices with the sugar, flour, spices, and nuts (if using).
Once you have the apple mixture made, you want to roll out your pie dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
I transfer the dough to a lined baking sheet at this point before I add the apple mixture. To transfer the pie crust, roll dough around a rolling pin, or fold it into quarters.
Then mound the apples in the center, leaving a border to fold up the crust around.
Shape the apple crostata
And then fold the crust over the filling. I simply overlap the dough as I go around in a circle. Then dot the top with butter.
Make sure to egg wash the top of the crust before baking. The egg wash helps to brown the crust as its baking. I use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash on lightly onto the crust.
You could always brush with a bit of milk or heavy cream (but it may make for a bit of a darker crust).
How To Tell When It’s Done
The crust should be golden brown and the filling should be bubbling a bit. Bubbling is key to ensure it’s thickened properly. If you pierce an apple slice with a knife it should also be soft. And make sure to let it cool properly so it thickens up a bit more and isn’t runny.
Then serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce!
Ready To Bake Pies With Confidence?
Imagine making a homemade pie from scratch that everyone raves about! Grab my Pie Perfection eBook and learn how to master flaky crusts, flavorful fillings, and picture-perfect pies—no stress, just sweet success.
👉 Get The Ebook Here!
Apple Crostata
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- 1 ¼ cups (150 g) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113 g) cold unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
For the filling
- 1 ½ pounds (about 3 large) sweet tart apples peeled, cored and sliced into 1/8-inch slices
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar plus more for sprinkling on top of crust before baking
- ¼ cup 50 g) packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (31 g) toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 large egg beaten with a tablespoon of water
- coarse sugar sprinkling on top
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces
Instructions
For the pie crust
- Place flour, sugar and salt int the bowl of a food processor or large mixing bowl. By pulsing or using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is the size of of small peas. 1 ¼ cups (150 g) all purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup (1 stick, 113 g) cold unsalted butter
- Sprinkle ice water, a tablespoon at a time, over the flour mixture. Pulse or stir the mixture until large clumps form. When enough water has been added to allow the dough to hold together, transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Gather the dough together to form a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk about 6 inches wide, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using. 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
To Make The Crostata
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205℃) and place a rack in the lower third. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Generously flour a work surface and place the chilled dough disk on the floor. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll chilled dough into a circle, turning and flipping the dough as needed with a bench scraper to prevent sticking until the circle measures 14 inches wide and 1/8-inch thick. Starting at one edge, roll the dough around the rolling pin and transfer to baking sheet. Chill crust while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
- Peel, core, and slice apples in 1/8-inch thick pieces. Transfer apples to a large bowl, and add 1/4 cup sugar, brown sugar, flour, spices, pecans and salt. Toss evenly to coat. 1 ½ pounds (about 3 large) sweet tart apples ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar ¼ cup 50 g) packed light brown sugar 3 tablespoons all purpose flour ½ teaspoon cinnamon ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg ⅛ teaspoon allspice ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ cup (31 g) toasted pecans,
- Remove the crust from the fridge.
- Mound the apple filling in the center of the chilled pastry crust, leaving a 3-inch border, and dot filling with the butter. Fold the border up and around the fruit. Working around the border, pinch the dough together to make an attractive pleat. Brush the top of the pleated dough, with the beaten egg wash and sprinkle with additional sugar. Top with butter. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter1 large egg beaten with a tablespoon of water coarse sugar
- Bake crostata until is golden brown and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Use a metal spatula to lift the crostata slightly and check the underside of the crust, which should be golden brown like the top. Transfer the crostata to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. Slice and serve warm topped with vanilla icecream and caramel sauce.
Video
Notes
- Making ahead: You can make the both the pie crust and filling up to 3 days ahead of time. Simply keep separate and then assemble and bake as directed.
- Freezing: Freeze for up to 3 months. Just place this dessert on a cookie sheet on parchment paper, then freeze until solid. You can then wrap in plastic wrap and place in a zip-loc bag. If baking from frozen, no need to thaw. Just bake frozen and add a few extra minutes of baking time.
- Apples: I love using Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Cortland. Choose a firm tart apple.
This is my favorite recipe I’ve tried this fall! It was so easy to make and was such a hit after dinner tonight! 🙂
ThanI’m so glad that everyone enjoyed =)
I love crostata because they’re so unfussy to make! Apples have got to be the most delicious filling for this time of year. I love the spices and pecans you mixed in!
Thanks for your sweet feedback, Marie! I make this nonstop in fall, too 😀
This is such a gorgeous apple recipe! It definitely does not look as intimidating as homemade apple pie!
so happy that you’re inspired!
Saving this one! My pies are never very pretty so I know the crostata will be the perfect recipe for me to make. I love that the crust is made in a food processor too ~ so easy!
i agree – the processor makes it a cinch – =)
I love making these! So simple, and always a crowd pleaser!
I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed =)
My kids have been urging me to make a pie for years but I’ve been apprehensive because I’m not much of a baker. This seems like a great compromise – all the classic pie flavors but a bit simpler. They’ll be thrilled when I surprise them with this.
Yay!!! maybe it inspired you to try a pie – it’s easier than you think 😍 https://www.bostongirlbakes.com/easy-as-apple-pie-series/
Crostata is such an easy yet fantastically delicious dessert. It’s perfect for putting fall apples to a good use. And great alternative to Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.
thank you Iryna, apple season has me 😍
This crostata is so easy to make no fuss and a perfect replacement for a pie. Making it for Thanksgiving this year. Super easy homemade dessert.
anything to make the holidays a little smoother always helps, thanks!
My mom and I loved this crostata recipe! It had the perfect crust-to-filling ratio and the pastry was delightfully crisp and flaky. We used granny smith apples and the mix of spices in the filling was just heavenly. I’m sure we’ll be making this recipe again and again!
Thank you so much Ruth! I’m so glad you loved the crostata 🙂
This crostata was unbelievably delicious and pretty easy too. We ended up with a more rustic looking crust, but the pastry still tasted SO good! Delightfully flaky with the perfect ratio of heavenly filling inside. This recipe is a keeper for sure!!
Rustic is ok in my book Ruth 🙂 that’s one thing I love about making crostatas! Glad you liked it!
Good tip on handling the dough as little as possible. This looks so yummy
Yes it’s super important! Thank you 🙂
ugh – I’m drooling!! I love making crostatas (I think the fact that they’re easier and less fuss than pies has a lot to do with it). This one looks incredible. I love the addition of walnuts for added crunch + texture 🙂
I agree Tiffany! They are so much easier and have all the yummy goodness of a fussy pie!
This looks absolutely delicious! Get in my belly!
Thanks 🙂 Enjoy it if you make it!
That looks delicious! Pinning to make later!!
Thanks Krista!!! And thank you for pinning 🙂
This looks absolutely delish! I am going to have to try it this week!
XOXO
Ansleigh
http://www.sweetsoutherncurls.com
Thanks Ansleigh! And let me know how you like it if you do make it!
Walnuts and apples go together so well. I agree that coffee will go very well with this!
Thank you …coffee and pie? Um yes please!
Ahh I love the classes at Sur la Table. You gotta try the macaron one. I think they have it every month. Anywho…this crostada looks amaaaaazing. I love that it’s not just apple, but that it also has walnuts. It sounds so great. Thanks for sharing!
Oh my gosh would you believe I already took that class too ..ok I kind of love their classes 😉 And thank you!!!
What a delicious dessert. All I need is a cup of coffee to go with it.
Thanks! I agree a cup of coffee is the perfect partner to this!
such a gorgeous crust and color…perfect for the season!
Thanks Chef Mireille 🙂 that means a lot coming from you!
This looks amazing. I love apple anything!