A Crustless Apple Pie for People Who Don’t Like Making Crusts
Sneak Preview: This Crustless Apple Pie (often called Swedish Apple Pie) delivers all the cinnamon-sweet flavor of a traditional apple pie—without the hassle of making crust. A buttery batter bakes right over the apples, creating its own golden topping.
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Do you love apple pie but dread rolling out crust? You’re not alone. That’s why this old-fashioned recipe, often called Swedish Apple Pie, has become a reader favorite.
Instead of fussing with pastry, you simply layer apples in a pie dish and pour a buttery batter over the top. As it bakes, the topping sinks between the apples and crisps into a golden crust of its own. The result? All the cozy flavors of homemade apple pie with a fraction of the work.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Step-by-Step: How To Make Crustless Apple Pie
⬇️ Jump to the recipe below for exact amounts and detailed instructions.
💡Tips That Make a Difference
• Toast pecans or walnuts before adding—they’ll taste richer and stay crunchy.
• Slice apples evenly so they bake at the same rate.
• For neat slices, chill the pie 2–3 hours before cutting. Reheat individual servings in the microwave to revive that cinnamon-apple aroma.
Crustless Apple Pie Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (312 g) cooking apples (2 large Granny Smith and 1 large Golden Delicious peeled and sliced, 1.5 lb)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 10 tablespoons (142 g) butter melted
- ¾ cup (149 g) sugar
- 1 (50 g) egg slightly beaten
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (98 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (57 g) chopped pecans toasted
Instructions
- Prepare apples: Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate. Fill the pie plate with 2 1/2 cups (312 g) cooking apples. The pie pan should be about 2/3 full. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon lemon juice and stir to coat apples.Sprinkle 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar over the apples and combine.
- Mix batter: Combine 10 tablespoons (142 g) butter, and 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar in a separate bowl. Stir in 1 (50 g) egg (beaten), 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (98 g) unbleached all-purpose flour, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 1/2 cup (57 g) chopped pecans.
- Assemble pie: Spread the batter over the sliced apples.
- Bake at 350˚F (177˚C)for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve: Cool slightly, then serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. For neat slices, chill 2–3 hours before cutting and reheat individual portions briefly in the microwave.
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
Final Thoughts
If you love the flavor of apple pie but not the hassle of crust, this recipe is your shortcut. It’s simple, cozy, and flexible—perfect for everyday baking or when you need dessert in a hurry. For another quick apple fix, try my reader-favorite Microwave Cinnamon Apples . Or, if you’re in the mood for a different fruit pie, my Fresh Strawberry Pie and French Silk Chocolate Pie are always worth a look.
Need help troubleshooting? Email me: Paula at saladinajar.com—photos welcome!
350 F is 176,6 Celcius (not 18) I’m a typo I am sure 😉
Hi Shannon,
I fixed it. Thank you so much for letting me know. Have a good 2025.
This is now my go to Apple ‘Pie’
Recipe! So easy and delicious!
Hi Susan,
Glad you like it. Thank you for the 5-star rating. It’s a great way to celebrate fall!
Hi ! Looking forward to trying this recipe as I’m terrible at pie crusts ! I have a glass 9.5 inch glass & a metal 9 inch… which is best for this pie ? Thank you !
Hi Marti,
For this pie, I would choose the glass. However, the metal pan would also work.
Thanks for sharing this. I’m not good at making crust so this was wonderful to bump into. However, I precooked my apples first.. I used 2 tbsp water and cooked for 4 mins, added 1 tbsp butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Placed in baking dish then covered with ur topping. The topping wasn’t as runny as it looks in ur picture but it came out very tasty. Will make again
Delicious, made this for my wife, who loves apple pie but not the crust. This was the first crust that she liked the apples cooked perfectly the overall taste is just so good. I substituted walnuts.
Ingredients that I had on hand, simple instructions, beautiful results, perfection presentation, and great taste! I did, however, add 1 teaspoon each of vanilla and almond flavoring. First time to this site, but I’ll surely be back.
Hi Judy,
Welcome! Glad you liked the pie. I like your additions. That is the beauty of a simple recipe. It’s leaves room for the creative cook to customize to their own tastes. Thank you for writing.
Hi, just made this for the first time. It is delicious. I cut back on the sugar by about half, as I dont like too sweet things and that was just enough. My wife thought it was a bit oily so I am trying to think how to cut down on the butter without making it too dry. Do you think I could substitute milk or water for some of the butter without losing too much taste? Gin might also be nice 🙂
Hi Lyndon,
I haven’t experimented with any substitutions for the butter. Let me know if you try it.
Hi, I made this again yesterday. I had to get rid of some apples I bought that dont taste so nice on their own. (think red or golden delicious) I had to adjust everything up because I used 550 gm of apples. I cut back on the butter and instead of the adjusted 320 gm I used 160 gm butter and 50 gm milk. This worked ok because the extra apple adds some water, the batter tastes a bit like shortbread. If I can find some nice, fresh grannies, I will make this again.
I’m don’t really care to eat pie crust so I was so excited to make this recipe. Everyone loved it! Definitely a pie that will be made often.
So happy everybody loved it. Thanks for coming back to say so.
This looks to be very similar to a recipe my mother made years ago that she called English Apple Pie. Our family always had it with whipped cream and we loved it. I’ll try your recipe soon. Thank you!
Hi Ches,
Yes, this recipe has been around for a long time. Whipped cream or ice cream is a must! Hope it is as good as you remember it.
I just popped another pie in the oven! This will be the fourth pie for us in about three months. It’s perfection. I use slightly less sugar in the batter. It’s way to0 important to have it in order for the crust to form it’s killer crispy cheweyness, so don’t reduce it too much. I also add a wee bit of freshly grated nutmeg because we love it. Be sure to bake it until there is a lovely golden crust on top. It’s winter and we keep our home pretty chilly, so the batter is a bit stiff and for that reason we put dollops of batter evenly over the top and spread it out. It smells so good in here right now I can’t stand it! This pie gets better each day, if it lasts that long. Cheers!
Hi Sheila,
What a ringing endorsement! Thanks so much for adding your tips. They will surely help other bakers.
Your recipe has an error in the amount of apples. 3 large apples, probably 1 1/2 lbs., do not slice up to only 2 1/2 cups, but quite a bit more. The 2 1/2 cups is very skimpy for a 9″ pie anyway. I decided to go with 1 1/2 lbs. of apples, which did fill the pie pan to the 3/4 level, as you said.
The topping baked up a little denser than I would have preferred, but the flavor was fine.
Hope this helps others who want to make this recipe!
P.S. Hello to you, a fellow Home Economist from another one!
Hi Pam,
Thanks for writing. I need to add a weight for the apples to avoid confusion. As you probably know, 9-inch pie plates are not all equal in the volume they hold, so there can be some discrepancy there, too.
I made this recipe and with a couple small modifications – slivered almonds instead of walnuts – and more butter, and some nutmeg and allspice, and the result was great. One question: you state 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of flour… you didn’t mention if it was sifted or not before measuring. If you measured your flour by weight the distinction would not be necessary. I measured it not-sifted, and the batter seemed a bit thick, so I thinned it a bit and everything came out great! So I assume your measure was for sifted flour.
Hi Kent,
I like the way you made this recipe your own. I do not sift flour normally, only for cake recipes that specify it. However, you are exactly right about weighing the flour. I have added weights to my bread recipes for that very reason, but I still need to add weights to my dessert recipes. Thank you for the reminder.
Always a favorite- especially for one such as me who has not perfected pie crust 101. Flavor is yummy!
Hi Debbie,
Yes, this one is always good to have in your back pocket; even if one makes good pie crust, sometimes there is no time for it. Thanks for writing.
So good I used gluten free all purpose flour and it came out great
Absolutely delicious! And with vanilla ice cream!… yammy!!
Great recipe! And especially like since I don’t have tp make a crust! Love pies but pie crust is not my specialty. Maybe I need to make more!
Thanks so much on your tip on coring apples. I love apples and use them in many recipes. Thanks again for an amazing blog. I get really excited when I see an email from you. Wishing you and your family a blessed Thanksgivings.
Hi Connie,
So nice to hear from you again. Your kind words made my day! Paula
i love this recipe. my batter came out stiffer then yours and i had to use my hands to spread it evenly, but it baked into a delicious pie. i also added an apricot and a peach to the apples, just to use them up, they were the last in the fruit bowl, and i think this pie would be equally nice made with just apricot or just peaches. can’t wait to make it again. this first one was gone in one day.
Do you know the Weight Watchers smart point value? Or nutrition info?
What can I substitute for regular flour? Would coconut flour or almond flour work? Too many carbs in regular flour. LOL
enjoy this yummy!
enjoy!!
Thank you, Paula, Sandy and Amanda! This pie was fantastic and so easy to prepare. It’s like a cross between apple crisp and pie – heaven! It will certainly grace my Thanksgiving Day table this year.
Continued thanks for all you share on your blog, Paula. Your styling and photography are top-notch, just like your recipes 🙂
We enjoyed this recipe again for TDay 2019 and it was the most popular dessert on the table. Thanks for re-sharing the post and reminding me of this quick and excellent pie, Paula!
I’m so glad to hear this!!!!! Thanks for writing.
I have done this recipe for years as I’m not a pie crust eater. This recipe can be done in a gluten-free version as well and if you don’t like pecans, I’ve used walnuts too. Great recipe for great eating 🙂
AMAZING!!! This is literally te best recipe I have ever found online! Even my apple hating brother can’t resist the taste of it. I’ve made more than three times in the last two weeks so good so buttery so sweet. Thank you so much for sharing such an amazing recipe.
Glad to hear it. Easy too since you don’t have to make a crust! Thanks for writing.
Love your blog! Could you tell me what kind of apples you used. I think I’ll try this recipe for Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing 🙂
After perfecting the 1st attempt, this is surely a keeper. Not that I’m a crust-a-phobe, but it just makes life easier, (talking about a novice in the kitchen plus a 20 month old toddler, whew!) and you still get all that cinammony goodness, yum!
Thanks a lot for sharing. Stay inspired Paula!
Angie,
So glad you liked the pie and thanks for writing to say so. Sometimes no crust can be a good thing.
Good luck with your toddler and cooking. Could be a challenging combination. 🙂
I love this recipe. Since I’m diabetic, I made it with Splenda. Because splenda makes things a bit dry, I added a splash of milk to the “dough” to help it go over apples easier. It worked pretty well though nothing would have been as good as pure sugar! If a person doesn’t like the amount of butter, I guess they could use Smart Balance. But nothing tastes as good as real butter! Thanks for posting the recipe.
Georgie,
Inspired. Love how you improvised to suit your particular diet. Thanks for taking the time to write and share.
This pie is amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe. It’s so easy to make and so delicious!
What size pie plate did you use since 2.5 cups of apples is not a whole lot.
Gary, 9-inch. You are right–not a lot of apples. But this is not the traditional apple pie. It’s not cake either but the apples are bound together by a very thin but rich batter which is why you don’t need a crust to hold it. This is definitely one of the most popular recipes on this blog although certainly not original with me.
Great! Thanks for your swift reply. It’s on the weekend menu!
I am so excited about this recipe. I like different recipes that I have never tried before. Thanks.
I had the pleasure of meeting two special members of your family last night at a book signing – Sandy & Amanda. It was fun to learn about your creative website. I look forward to making Sandy’s pie, as well as a few other recipes from salad-in-a-jar.
Hi Tricia, Welcome. Know you must have had a great time seeing Pioneer Woman. Sandy’s pie is fabulous. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks for stopping by.
Paula, would you please thank Sandy for me? My family loves the Swedish Apple Pie.
I’m going to share your website with a friend who is a blue ribbon pie baker at the TX State Fair. Thanks so much – and I think your new photo with your treasured bowl is really cute.
Thanks Tricia, and I’ll pass the word on to Sandy.
I have been making this recipe for 10 years now and will never go back to a traditional 2 crust apple pie. It is always requested that I bring it for potluck’s and family get togethers. Over the years I have tried using margarine and sugar substitutes but nothing compares to the original recipe.
I have not tried any substitutes myself so good to know. I’m always amazed at how popular this dish is considering how easy it is.
I stumbled upon your website last week when I was searching for a balsamic salad dressing recipe, your creamy balsamic dressing was great but this pie recipe is to die for! Even my husband who is not usually a desert lover asked for seconds! I did cut the butter down to 8 T and am going to work on a few other edits to cut down on fat and calories as I know I will want to be making and eating this often! Thanks for posting, it was delicious.
Can’t wait to try it! I’v passed it along to all on my mailing list….
I don’t want to eat anything that contains nearly one cup of sugar and 10 tablespoons of butter. I’ll pass … thank you.
David, Each to his own. Only a small slice is needed for a special treat. Thanks for dropping by.
Negative Nancy…I mean David – strikes again. Seriously, if you don’t have anything nice to say or constructive, why say it? Just…move along.
I am definitely going to try this recipe today for Thanksgiving….as I realized I am out of shortening to make my crust! Thanks for the recipe, Paula.
You’re welcome, Tresa. Hope you liked it. paula
Thanks for sharing this fabulous looking recipe! I can’t wait to try it—I have always hated to make pies because of that obnoxious crust thing!! I’ll take this to the next Brother’s Keeper get-together at church…..
You will be the hit of the party. Be sure to serve with ice cream or whipped cream and of course, warm.
This looks wonderful, Tyler LOVES Apple Pie- so I might have to do this one…
I am going to have to try this recipe! Thank you!
Ooh, one of my downfalls is apple pie! YOu’d think it was chocolate, but sitting here Sunday night was a French Silk Pie and a little apple galette I made with the leftover crust and I only took a little bite of the pie and ate way too much of the galette! Love the easy idea of no crust!
What a fabulous looking pie! (And pie dish!) I am definitely going to be making this one before the end of the week! Can’t wait to taste it!
These are some of the most wonderful apple pie photos I’ve ever seen… this looks WONDERFUL! Now… are “cooking” apples Granny Smith or Golden Delicious? I just inherited a bunch of Fuji’s from work…. and yes, I’m a recovering crust-a-holic. I’ve made one too many bad ones!
such a delicious recipe, am so glad it made it to the blog!
♥ from one apple pie lover to another!
Thank you Paula for featuring one of my favorite recipes. I usually only make it on special occassions when there are plenty of friends and family to help me eat it. Your pie turned out beautiful and I could almost taste it just by looking at it. Thank you for the kind words. I love having an extended family.
Nice idea to skip the crust, I’ll count that as a calorie savings, making this a reduced calorie apple pie. See how I am working it into my diet.
Mimi
Looks great and perfect for me as I am not a pie crust lover. Unfortunately, my husband is but he will eat anything sweet!! Well, anything really! Can’t wait to try it!!
You always make the most YUMMIEST (is that a word?) recipes!
Love not having to make a crust. I’m going to have to try this one out….
Hunk and the rugrats are sure to love it.
I love the idea of no pie crust! I will have to try this recipe!
Mmmm, I think I should have taken some leftovers home. 🙂
That looks so delicious, and how nice that there’s no crust to roll! The topping looks a little questionable before baking, but it sure looks good after!
I would really love a piece of this. Looks so pretty and delicious. Beautiful photo.