This salted caramel apple pie has got it all! Buttery flaky pie crust, sweet-tangy granny smith apples, and creamy decadent salted caramel sauce! It is the perfect way to kick off the fall season. Did I mention your house is going to smell like pure heaven?

In the spirit of this fall season, I and a few other blogger friends decided to get together and share our favorite apple-themed recipes! So be sure to read this post all the way to the end where I included their delicious recipes with pictures and links to check them out!

I was inspired by one of my favorite fall treats the caramel apple with crunchy peanut coating! So darn good! So for this pie, I had to make sure to include the key ingredients; homemade caramel sauce, delicious apples, and crunchy peanuts (which are optional of course).

Salted Caramel Sauce

This apple pie is seriously next level and I really believe it is because of the salted caramel sauce. I’ll be honest, I had to try 4 different recipes before I could get the caramel sauce just right! I almost gave up, but I’m sooooo glad I didn’t. I realized a lot of the things I was doing wrong were simple fixes. Just follow my recipe and helpful tips below and I think you will be more successful than I was on your first time around. It turned out so good I’m surprised I had enough caramel for the pie recipe after my husband and I were done “taste testing” it!

If you don’t want to bother with making the caramel sauce you can absolutely just purchase some from the store. Just make sure you have at least 1 cup of sauce for your pie.

I made this caramel sauce the day before I assembled my salted caramel apple pie. If you do this, I recommend storing it in a microwave-safe container so you can easily heat it up later. I put my sauce in the microwave to reheat it for 1 minute and it worked perfectly.

Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe *with tips

Salted Caramel Sauce

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Equipment

Deep Sauce Pan
Measuring Tools (1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, Tablespoon, and teaspoon)

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter salted or unsalted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Using a deep sauce pan, add the sugar and water. *A deep sauce pan is
important as it will protect you from any hot liquid splashing on you when you
add ingredients.
Turn stove top to about medium heat and cover the sauce pan with a lid. *RESIST the
urge to stir this mixture. If you over mix, you risk crystals forming. You
don't want that. The lid will trap steam and coat the edges of your sauce pan.
This will also help prevent crystals from forming.
Let your sugar water mixture heat up to a simmer until it turns a medium to dark
honey color. *This should take about 4-8 minutes depending on how hot your
sauce pan gets. Be aware that some sauce pans hold heat more efficiently than
others. Your sauce will continue to cook from the residual heat from your pan
even after you remove it from the stove top.
Once you notice your mixture change to a medium to deep honey caramel
color, remove the pan from the heat.
Add your butter, salt, cream and vanilla. Lightly stir and allow to cool for a few
minutes before pouring your liquid in a microwave safe container. *Be careful
during this part as hot liquid could splash up and burn you!

Granny Smith Apples

I chose granny smith apples for a few reasons. The sweet tangy flavor compliments the salty caramel sauce really well. They rarely turn out too mushy or too firm even after baking in a hot oven for a long period of time. In my opinion, they are the best apple for baking.

I used a little over 3 pounds of granny smith apples for this salted caramel apple pie. Once they were peeled and the cores were removed, I made sure to cut the apples into slices about 1/4 inch thick.

Crunchy Peanuts (optional)

My local grocery store did not have any chopped peanuts so I just took 1 cup of the whole salted peanuts, placed it in a zip lock bag, and pounded it with the flat side of a meat tenderizer and I got perfect little chunks. This step is optional as I know some people don’t like the taste and/or may be allergic to nuts.

Pie Crust

I used my homemade buttermilk pie crust for this recipe. It complements the salted caramel apple pie flavors very nicely. You can read the blog post for my buttermilk pie crust recipe here and watch a video tutorial here.

If you do not have time to make a homemade crust ahead of time, you can absolutely use a store-bought crust. Just make sure you have two for a top and bottom crust.

My favorite gadgets for making a pretty pie crust

I really wanted to make sure none of the salted caramel fillings spilled out of the edges of the pie while it was baking in the oven. To achieve this, I decided to use ALL of my pie crust dough. When making a pie, I normally trim any access dough hanging over the edge of the dish, but this time I didn’t do that. I decided to save every last scrap of pie dough and fold all of the excesses around the edges to make a giant pie crust!

For those of you who know me, you know it’s all about the crust. The bigger the better. Not only did this look amazing, but it served its purpose well in keeping all the delicious apple pie filling juices in the pie while baking. I used this decorative wheel gadget to create a gorgeous braided effect. Seriously, how cool does that look? I love the fact that it took me about 30 seconds to do this and it turned out beautiful.

To preserve that gorgeous decorative edge, I used this really handy reusable pie shield. You can absolutely use tin foil instead and kind of crimp it around the edges of your pie before you put it in the oven. I used the tin foil method for a long time before I started investing in some more quality baking tools. After a while, I kinda got sick and tired of fidgeting with foil. I noticed the edges of my pies cooked a little uneven.

After using this handy pie shield, I wish I had gotten it a little sooner. I think it’s an excellent gift for a fellow baker too! If you are an avid baker, I think this would be a great investment. I kept the shield on the salted caramel apple pie crust for the first 30 minutes of baking and then removed it. It was just the right amount of protection this pie needed to keep the edges from burning. The giant pie crust edge cooked evenly and the color was the most perfect golden brown!

Salted Caramel Apple Pie Recipe