Easy Apple Galette with Streusel

This Easy Apple Galette has thinly sliced cinnamon apples tucked into a flaky homemade crust and covered with buttery brown sugar streusel. It's everything I want from apple pie without the pie stress, and takes about 30 minutes of hands-on prep before chilling and baking.

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An Apple Galette is basically a free-form apple pie, which means there is no pie plate, no top crust, and no need to make anything look perfect. Roll out the pastry, pile the apples in the middle, add a generous amount of streusel, fold up the edges, and bake it until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.

My first successful apple pie was actually a galette. This came after an unfortunate attempt involving big chunks of apples, store-bought dough, and what can only be described as raw apple soup wrapped in a couple of wet hand towels. A galette is much more forgiving, and this Apple Galette with Streusel is basically that first successful pie minus the trauma.

Why you'll love this recipe

• Easy - A galette gives you everything you love about apple pie without fitting dough into a pie plate, crimping edges, or making a top crust.
• Flaky - Very cold butter and a couple of short trips to the refrigerator give the homemade crust lots of crisp, flaky layers.
• Streusel - Buttery brown sugar and cinnamon streusel adds another layer of crunch on top of the tender apples.
• Forgiving - Uneven edges, imperfect folds, and little patches in the dough are not only allowed, they're kind of the whole point.
• Versatile - Serve it for breakfast or brunch with coffee, or add vanilla ice cream and call it dessert.

Ingredients & Substitutions

These are the ingredients you'll need to make this apple galette. Let's go over some of them and where you have some room to make substitutions.

• All-purpose flour - You'll use it in both the crust and the streusel. Regular all-purpose flour gives the pastry enough structure while still allowing it to bake up tender and flaky.
• Cold unsalted butter - Cold is doing a lot of work in this recipe. Cold butter in the crust creates flaky layers, and cold butter in the streusel gives you those crumbly clusters on top. If you only have salted butter, skip the additional salt.
• Ice water - Keep it really cold. I actually add ice to my water before measuring it because there is no sense putting cold butter into your dough and then warming everything back up with room temperature water.
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar - A little acid helps keep the pastry tender. Either works well here. I add it directly to the ice water.
• Apples - Honeycrisp and Envy are my usual choices because they have a nice sweet-tart flavor and hold their shape during baking. Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Braeburn, or another firm baking apple will also work.
• Cornstarch - This thickens the juices released by the apples as they bake so they don't run all over your sheet pan or soak into the bottom crust. You can substitute with double the amount of flour, but don't skip the thickener.
• Cinnamon - I keep the spices simple and use cinnamon in both the apple filling and the streusel. You can add a little nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger if you'd like.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Equipment You'll Need

One reason I love a galette is that you really don't need much equipment. A food processor makes the pastry quick and keeps your warm hands away from the butter, but you can absolutely make the dough by hand with a pastry cutter or your fingers.

You'll also need a rolling pin, parchment paper, and a large rimmed sheet pan. A melon baller is surprisingly handy for neatly removing apple cores, but a small spoon or paring knife works just fine.

Step-by-Step Instructions

There are three basic parts here: the crust, the streusel, and the apples. None of them is difficult, and the process pictures will show you what everything should look like along the way.

Make the crust

Step 1: Add all-purpose flour, granulated (caster) sugar, salt, and 10 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter to a food processor. Pulse about 5 or 6 times, until the mixture looks crumbly but you can still see small pieces of butter.

Step 2: Mix ice and ice water with 1 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the cold water mixture just until the dough begins to clump together, about 10 seconds. You might not need every drop of water. Stop as soon as the dough starts to come together.

Step 3: Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. There may still be some loose, floury bits, but that's fine. Use the plastic wrap to help press everything together, shape the dough into a disc, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Step 4: Use the plastic wrap to help press everything together, shape the dough into a disc, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Make the streusel

Step 5: Combine all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, a tiny pinch of kosher salt, and the butter in a medium bowl.

Step 6: Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly with no large pieces of butter or dry pockets of flour. Refrigerate the streusel while you prepare the apples.

Prepare the apple filling

Step 7: Peel 3 to 4 apples, cut them in half, and remove the cores. I like to use a melon baller for this, but a small spoon works too. Slice the apples about ¼ inch thick.

Step 8: Toss the sliced apples with granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt until evenly coated.

Assemble the galette

Step 9: Roll the dough into a rough 14-inch circle. It does not have to actually be a perfect circle. Transfer to parchment paper and move onto a large rimmed sheet pan. It will hang over a bit on the sides.

Step 10: Arrange the apples in the center of the dough, spreading them out and leaving about a 2-inch border all the way around. Dot the apples with 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces.

Step 11: Sprinkle the cold streusel generously over the apples.

Step 12: Bring the outside edge of the dough up and partially over the apples, overlapping the pastry as you work your way around.

Step 13: Place the entire galette in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while you preheat your oven to 400°F.

Step 14: Whisk 1 large egg with 1 teaspoon water. Brush the exposed crust with the egg wash. Bake at 400°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the crust is deeply golden and crisp, the apple filling is bubbling, and the apples are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

Enjoy: Allow the galette to cool for at least 15 to 30 minutes before slicing. Serve it warm or at room temperature as it is, or dollop with a bit of sweetened yogurt to firmly place it in the breakfast category. Add vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream and you'll easily move in a dessert direction.

How to prevent a soggy galette

• A soggy bottom usually comes down to too much liquid, pastry that has gotten too warm, or simply not baking the galette long enough.
• The cornstarch in this filling thickens the juices released by the apples, and chilling the assembled galette helps keep the butter in the crust cold until it reaches the oven.
• Most importantly, make sure your oven is completely preheated and bake until the bottom and edges of the crust are well browned and the apple juices are visibly bubbling.
• Finally, give the galette at least 15 minutes to cool before slicing it. Cutting it immediately lets all those hot juices run before they have a chance to thicken and settle.

Troubleshooting an apple galette

• The filling is running out - A little juice escaping is not a disaster, but make sure you leave a full 2-inch border so there is enough dough to contain the fruit. If your apples seem exceptionally juicy, you can add an extra ½ teaspoon of cornstarch.
• The crust cracks when I fold it - The dough may be slightly too cold. Let it sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 minutes and try again. Small cracks can just be pinched together or patched with another bit of dough.
• The crust is getting soft while I work - Stop and refrigerate it for about 10 minutes. Warm butter will melt into the flour instead of creating flaky layers.
• The streusel is melting into the apples - Keep the finished streusel refrigerated until you're ready to use it. Cold butter gives you better crumbs and clusters.
• The apples are still crunchy - They may have been sliced too thickly, or the galette may simply need more baking time. Cover particularly dark edges loosely with foil if necessary and continue baking until the apples are tender.

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