It’s September and it is apple picking season here in the Northeast which means we will be eating apple pies, applesauce, apple cake, etc. for the next few weeks.

I love to go apple picking although sometimes it actually costs more to go through all the trouble of picking apples yourself rather than buying them in the grocery store, but I guess you can’t really put a price on the whole apple picking experience of driving 2 hours in traffic to get to an apple orchard, if you don’t live near one, climbing on board a wagon that will transport you to the designated area, and then stuffing your face with sweet, juicy apples and mouth-watering warm cider donuts afterwards.

This is a recipe for apple pie that I love because instead of covering it with another layer of pie crust, I actually cover it with a crumb mixture of oats, brown sugar and butter, which is quite delicious.

I usually use a mixture of different types of apples instead of just one to give the pie a sweet and tart taste, usually the sweet Honeycrisp, Gala, and Fuji apples, and the tart Empire, Granny Smith, and McIntosh apples, depending on which apples are available at the time.

Ingredients  (makes one 8 inch deep dish pie or one regular 9 inch pie)

one pie crust, either home made or store bought

For the crumb topping:
1/2 c flour
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c brown sugar
4 T softened butter
a pinch of salt

For the filling:
5 to 6 apples, sliced
1 T lemon juice
3 T flour
1 tsp cinnamon (or to your taste)
1 T brown sugar (1 or 2 more if the apples are tart)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 T butter

Preheat oven to 375°F.

1. Spread the pie crust in the pie tin. For those of you who have trouble making your own pie crust like I do, Pillsbury makes a good crust.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ingredients for the crumb topping using a fork. I like to use light brown sugar because it has a sweeter, more mellow taste than the dark brown sugar which leaves an aftertaste. Make sure there are no lumps of butter or brown sugar left. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, place the sliced apples and sprinkle with the lemon juice – not only will this add a slightly tart taste but it will also keep the apples from turning brown as you are working with the ingredients.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients for the filling except the butter.  (I also sometimes add raisins or sweetened cranberries to the filling.) Toss the filling ingredients together making sure to coat every slice of apple with the cinnamon, etc.
5. Place the filling into the pie crust; cut up the leftover butter and dot the filling with it.
   

   Apple Pie with Filling

6. Crumble the crumb topping all over the top making sure to cover all the filling. Pinch the pie crust all around the rim, or press a fork around the edges to make decorative lines.
   

   Apple Pie with crumb topping

7. Place a Pie crust protector shield over the rim of the pie, making sure to cover the exposed pie crust, so that the crust edges do not burn; place the pie on top of a cookie sheet so that it will be easier to remove later when it is hot, and put in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the crumb topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through a little. If you see that the topping is getting too brown and it hasn’t even been in the oven for at least a half hour, cover the pie with foil to prevent the topping from burning because the apples have to stay longer than that to cook through.
   

   Pie crust protector shield

Eat within 2 days or refrigerate if kept longer.

For more information on the different varieties of apples and where to pick them go to  https://www.pickyourown.org/apples.htm .

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