Brown Butter Strawberry Crumble Pie

This brown butter strawberry crumble pie is summer at its best! Flaky pie crust is filled with juicy fresh strawberry filling, topped with toasty brown butter oat streusel, and baked until golden brown. It’s truly the perfect summertime dessert for parties & BBQs!

Last Monday, I turned 27 and kicked off the year with a massage, izakaya, champagne, a very comfortable Reformation dress, and pie for both breakfast and dessert. I think if Day 1 was any indication of the year to come, everything is going to be fine, just fine.

In the months leading up to my birthday, all I was dreaming about was fresh strawberry pie. (It’s pretty on-brand for me to choose a birthday dessert that’s anything but cake to be honest.) I truly love making my own birthday dessert because I get to make anything I like and go absolutely overboard on all of my favorite things. Like, double the brown butter streusel please and thank you.

In the end, I think I may have just created the best summer dessert ever. This pie is based on one that I learned how to make in pastry school. It’s fresh, bright, cozy, buttery, and juicy. The crumble-to-filling ratio is just perfect. If you’re a huge pie fan like me, it’s time to make this pie like…yesterday.

And once you’re done with this pie, you definitely need to try some of my other strawberry desserts! Start with strawberry and apple crumble, no-bake strawberry crunch cheesecake, or ricotta strawberry lemon cake.

This is my favorite pie ever

We must discuss this pie because it’s ridiculously good. I wait all year for strawberry season just so I can bake this pie up and head to a party. Here’s a few highlights!

• There is no Jello in this recipe. I am firmly anti-gelatin so we’re just using fresh strawberries.
• The filling is bright, sweet, and juicy but does not make the pie soggy. Flaky, buttery crust only!
• This recipe is super easy to make. And you can make it in advance!
• Make it for BBQs, dinner parties, picnics, & more. It’s a lovely summertime treat.

Grocery list

• Pie dough – I always use my favorite homemade crust over store-bought. But, if time is a factor, or you just don’t want to make homemade dough, store-bought is fine.
• Strawberries – choose ripe, bright red berries for the best texture and flavor.
• Sugar – regular granulated sugar will add sweetness to the filling and make it a little syrupy.
• Cornstarch – instead of gelatin, we’ll use cornstarch to thicken up the filling!
• Lemon – both the zest and the juice to complement the strawberries.
• Vanilla – use 100% pure vanilla extract.
• Unsalted butter – so we can make it all toasty and nutty.
• Flour – all-purpose flour will make up the base of the streusel.
• Oats – I used quick oats but rolled oats will work too!
• Brown sugar – this will add some caramelized flavor to complement the brown butter.
• Kosher salt – I like Morton’s Kosher salt best.
• Eggs – for that pretty shiny crust, you’ll need an egg.

Brown butter crumble

1. Start by browning the butter. Just melt the butter in a shallow pan over medium heat. Cook it, swirling the pan often, until it smells nutty and has brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
2. Next, whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, brown sugar, and Kosher salt.
3. Then, add the brown butter. Stir the streusel until it’s crumbly.

Strawberry filling

1. Cut off the tops off of the strawberries and slice the berries in half.
2. Add the strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt to a mixing bowl.
3. Mix everything together until the cornstarch is dissolved and the filling is thickened.

Assemble & bake

1. Roll out the pie dough and fit it into a 9-inch pie dish. Crimp the edges of the dough and then refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. (I usually do this first and let it refrigerate while I make the filling and crumble).
2. Brush the dough with egg wash. Make sure to get the bottom and sides!
3. Add the strawberry filling. Avoid adding any extra juices or it could make the bottom soggy.
4. Top with crumble. Use your hands to break apart the crumble and spread it over the top of the pie.
5. Bake the pie at 425°F for 45-50 minutes until the pie crust is golden-brown and the filling is bubbly.
6. Cool the pie completely. Serve it on its own or with vanilla ice cream!

Just a friendly reminder – if you’re using homemade pie dough, make sure to leave enough time to make the crust, refrigerate it for at least an hour, and roll it out. After that, everything will happen pretty quickly.

9-inch pie plate

Standard pie plates are 9 inches which is my go-to for this recipe. It’s my favorite filling-to-streusel ratio and it’s what most people have on-hand. Of course, if you want to use a 10-12” pie plate, it’ll work totally fine but you’ll have a thinner layer of filling. When I made the recipe in the 12” pie plate, I made 1 1/2 batches of the filling which was the perfect amount!

Preventing a soggy pie bottom

Soggy pie bottoms are a huge bummer. Luckily, that’s not a problem for this pie, because I have a few tips for getting a crisp bottom every time. All of these are super easy adjustments that will help prevent soggy bottoms and make them crusts firm and golden-brown!

• Brush the pie dough with egg wash. This will create a little barrier between the fruit and the pie dough and keep the liquid from soaking through.
• Add a small handful of crumble on the bottom. This is just another barrier and won’t affect the taste or texture of the pie.
• Don’t add extra juices. Fruit fillings, especially berries and stone fruits, tend to seep out extra juices when they sit for a few minutes. Leave those juices in the bowl rather than adding them to the pie to prevent extra sogginess.
• Bake in the lower 1/3rd of your oven. The heat from the bottom of the oven will cook the bottom of the crust and keep the top from burning.
• Bake on a pizza stone or hot sheet pan. I like to bake pies on a hot pizza stone or sheet pan, which quickly melts the butter and speeds up the cooking process on the bottom crust.
• Let that pie bake. Undercooked pies are the biggest pie-baking mistake. Let it cook until the crust is deeply golden-brown. Tent the pie with foil if the streusel is getting too brown!

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you left a star rating and review! I read every single comment and love hearing what you think about my recipes. Thank you for supporting Sunday Table!

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