Pumpkin Apple Pie with Walnut Crust

Pumpkin Apple Pie is the best of both worlds! Pumpkin pie and apple pie merged together in a pecan crust with streusel topping. The perfect holiday dessert!

 

Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Apple Pie

A showstopping pie that is full of the best fall flavors- what’s not to love?

• Best of both flavors – Can’t decide between a pumpkin or apple dessert? Now you don’t have to!
• Perfect for holidays – With the decorated crust and fall flavors, this pie is always a winner during the holidays.
• Simplify things – No time to make a pie crust? No problem! Just use a store bought crust- but make sure it’s the deepest you can find.

What You’ll Need From The Store

You might have most of these pumpkin apple pie ingredients already on hand, but can easily find the rest at your local grocery store.

Pie Crust

Of course you have the option to ditch the homemade crust (we all know I am lazy baker), but this one is truly delicious and if I can make it, so can you! Swap out for store bought, if you want

• Flour – All purpose flour acts as the binder for this crust. It holds everything together. I haven’t tried using alternative flours, but let us know if you do.
• Pecans – You can use either pecans or walnuts in the crust! Both give it a delicious, nutty flavor.
• Unsalted butter – Unlike most recipes, you want this to be chilled instead of softened. The pockets of butter is what helps create the flaky crust.
• Salt – If you used salted butter above, make sure to omit this. Because no one likes a salty pie crust!
• Brown sugar – I like my pie crust to have an element of sweet. Not too much, but just enough for flavor.
• Heavy cream – This helps to achieve the perfect pie crust consistency. You can also use whole milk.

Pumpkin Filling

• Pumpkin puree -Make sure not to use pumpkin pie filling. Filling is already mixed with spices and will be too sweet. You can also make homemade pumpkin puree.
• Pumpkin pie spice – Generally speaking, pumpkin pie spice contains cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves. Fragrant and delicious, you’ll find nearly every food item, and even some non-food items, all the sudden become pumpkin pie flavored.
• Sugar – Pumpkin on it’s own is not sweet at all, so we need regular granulated sugar for the sweet element of this perfect pumpkin pie recipe.
• Salt – You can use Kosher salt or any other coarse salt. If you use a fine salt, cut volume in half because all salts are not the same.
• Egg – When baking, I always prefer to use room temperature eggs. They mix into the batter better and get a better rise.
• Evaporated milk – This helps to give the filling recipe a creamy texture. I prefer using this instead of heavy cream for the filling.
• Vanilla – If you’ve never tried making your own, you should! It adds warmth and flavor to this pumpkin apple pie.

Apple Filling

• Apples – We need these cored, peeled and thinly sliced. Granny smith apples are the best apples to use for this apple pie filling. They’re perfectly tart and not too sweet. Although you can use any kind of apples you want like pink lady, honey crisp, golden delicious or red delicious apples. Just be aware you won’t get that tart flavor.
• Lemon juice – This both prevents the apples from browning too quickly while also adding some zesty flavor to the pie.
• Apple butter – This is my secret ingredient! Unexpected and adds another dimension of flavor to this pie.
• Ground cinnamon – This helps to add that warmth and flavor that is iconic when thinking of apple pie.
• Sugar – Because we are using tart apples for this pie recipe, we need an element of sweet. Granulated white sugar will work perfectly.
• Flour – All purpose flour is all you need here. This helps to hold the pie filling together.

Streusel

The crunchy sugary topping is also option, but what gives this pie its unique flavor and texture.

• Salted butter – You can also use unsalted butter, just make sure to add a pinch of salt to the streusel.
• Sugars – I like to use a combination of both white sugar and brown sugar for both flavor and sweetness.
• Flour – This is what helps to give that perfectly crumbly texture.
• Pumpkin pie spice – Alternatively, you can use apple pie spice or just plain cinnamon to give this streusel some pizazz.

Best Apples for Pie

Not all apples are created equal! These are my favorites to use for this Pumpkin Apple Pie, or any pie for that matter.

How to Make Pumpkin Apple Pie

Making this pie is a labor of love, but the end result is more than worth it!

Pie Crust

1. Prepare oven and pie plate. Preheat the oven and have a deep 9-inch pie plate ready.
2. Make pie crust dough. In a small food processor, blend the pecans to a paste. Add the flour, butter, salt, brown sugar and heavy cream. Pulse until combined and formed into a crumbly mixture. Slowly add the chilled water until a dough is formed.
3. Chill dough. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and form into a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
4. Roll out dough and add to pie plate. Return the dough to a floured surface or silicone mat. Roll it out into a large circle. Roll the dough up on a rolling pin to easily lay it into a deep dish pie plate.
5. Form scalloped rim and make decorations. Using your fingers gently press the pie crust into all crevices. Using a your thumb and forefingers, pinch together edges to form a scalloped rim. If making a decorative crust using cut-outs, cut off excess and re-roll into a ball, roll it out and cut into leaf shapes (or any desired shape), cover with a damp towel and set aside.
6. Blind bake crust. Place pie weights on the inside or pierce generously with a fork to prevent bubbling. Bake the crust until very lightly browned. Remove and set aside to cool. 

Pumpkin Filling

1. Combine filling ingredients. In a large mixing bowl combine the pumpkin puree with the pumpkin pie spice, sugar, salt, egg, evaporated milk, melted butter and vanilla until no streaks remain. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Apple Filling

1. Slice apples. Combine the lemon juice and ice water in a large bowl. Using a mandolin slicer or very sharp knife, slice the apples into very thin slices. Immediately toss them into the prepared bowl of ice water.
2. Combine apple butter, cinnamon, sugar and flour. In a small bowl combine the apple butter, cinnamon, sugar and flour. 
3. Top apples with apple butter mixture. Drain the apple slices, patting dry and spread them out into a thin layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the apple butter mixture over top, spreading it around with your hands.
4. Make streusel. In a food processor or using a pastry cutter, combine the butter, both sugars, flour and pumpkin pie spice until a crumbly mixture forms. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Assemble the Pie

1. Add apple mixture to crust. Layer the apple slices into the bottom of the cooked pie crust in an even layer. Discard any apple butter mixture remaining in the bowl.
2. Top with pumpkin filling. Pour the pumpkin filling on top of the apple slices.
3. Bake. The pie will not be fully cooked at this time. Use a pie crust saver to prevent browning on crust. 
4. Top with streusel and decorative pieces. Remove the pie from the oven and top evenly with the streusel. If you choose to make decorative pieces using the pie crust discard and cookie cutters, add them now.
5. Bake again. Bake until pie crust pieces and streusel are lightly browned and the center is no longer jiggly.
6. Remove and allow to set. Remove the pie from the oven and allow to set. Serve with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

Storage and Freezing

How to Store Pumpkin Apple Pie

Store this chilled, please! You can serve it warm, room temperature or cold, but store it in the fridge. It should last about 5 days in the refrigerator, covered. If it lasts that long…

Can I Freeze Pumpkin Apple Pie?

Technically, yes, you can freeze this pie, however there is still a lot of moisture in the pumpkin layer and sometimes it thaws to be a little mushy, especially the crust.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday just for the FOOD! Here are some of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving.