My Favorite Apple Pie

After Monday's lengthy and detailed post about donut making, I'll make this one short and sweet. And it should be...this wonderful apple pie comes together in a snap. Ever wonder where the saying "easy as pie" came from? This is actually the second appearance of my French Apple Pie recipe here on Krista's Kitchen. Last October, when this blog was just a baby, I included the recipe in a post about Pot Roast. But I didn't take any pictures. I didn't give this pie the attention that it really deserves. So today I have decided to re-visit French Apple Pie and give it a post of it's very own. I mean, after all, it is my favorite. This is the apple pie that my mom has made for as long as I can remember and it's the apple pie that my children will remember me for. With it's crumbly brown sugar top and sweet apple filling, it graces my home with it's wonderful baking fragrance, then sits cooling on my counter (but not for long) each and every Fall.

You want to begin with your favorite type of baking apples, enough to make 6 cups, peeled and sliced. This time I used a combination of Macintosh and Cortland, but I've also used Melrose and Granny Smith.



Once you've peeled and sliced 6 cups of apple, stir in flour, sugar, and cinnamon.



Pour the apple mixture into an unbaked pie crust. You could make your own crust, but I have a tendency to pull a pre-made crust from the freezer. I know...I'm a cheater!



Now combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in a stick of butter until well blended. From some distant childhood memory I hear the words "pea-shaped" in regard to the desired texture for this topping. Mine tends to be a little finer than that, but yeah, shoot for pea-sized crumbs.



Pour, dump, spoon, or shake (whatever works for ya!) the topping over the apples. You might have to heap it up on top to fit it all on there. That's alright, it settles down as it bakes. Pat the topping gently into place so that it's not falling off everywhere on the way to the oven. I put my pie on a piece of foil with the sides slightly rolled up, just in case is overflows while baking. I'm SO not a fan of the smoking oven! Now bake at 350 degrees for one hour.



Remove from the oven and cool...for at least long enough to avoid incinerating your taste buds.



Then slice and serve.



French Apple Pie

Filling:
6 cups sliced baking apples
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir together and press into an unbaked pie shell.

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter

In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar with flour. Cut in butter until pea-sized crumbs form. Spoon over the apples until the pie is evenly covered with topping. Gently pat into place.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Topping and crust should be golden brown.