My Favorite Apple Pie

Our family went apple picking today and came home with 20 lbs. of Honey Crisp apples.  So, thoughts of homemade applesauce are on my mind for tomorrow, when I have more energy after today's outing.  But what I did know was that I wanted to use up the last 6 Gala apples I had bought at our local supermarket a few days ago.  Clean out the "old" and bring in the new!  And what better way to use up apples when I know we will be eating dinner at home on a Saturday night?  Homemade apple pie, of course :)

Below is my absolute favorite apple pie recipe, and we have tried many of them before.  It uses a shortening crust for flakiness and is a crumb-topped pie instead of a double pastry crust.  Enjoy!

Crust

1-1/4c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1/3c. plus 1T. shortening

5T. ice cold water

Filling

6 apples, cored, peeled and sliced

2T. lemon juice

2/3c. white sugar

1 pinch ground cloves

1tsp. allspice

1tsp. cinnamon

3T. cornstarch

Topping

1/3c. brown sugar

1/2c. all-purpose flour

1tsp. cinnamon

5T butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the 1-1/4c. flour and 1tsp. salt for the crust together.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender.  Add the ice water and stir with a fork until the dough basically sticks together into a ball.  Be careful not to knead your dough too much; this will make it heavy and tough!  Place dough on a pie mat and roll to 12" circle.  Lay over top of a pie plate and gently press into the dish.  Trim excess dough to the edge of the plate and roll the rest over to form a lip.  Press edges with a fork or make a decorative edge on your crust, however desired.

Place all of the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix well.  Fill uncooked pie crust with filling.

Mix all topping ingredients until coarse crumbs form.  Sprinkle on top of the filling. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.