Best Apple Pie Recipe

One of the things I love about fall is picking apples. We visited the orchard on Saturday and got about a bushel of apples. Those apples will be applesauce, pies, crisps, fried apples and I'm hoping some apple butter. My grandson,who is 19 months, was so excited about this apple tree made of wood with holes cut out for their faces. How funny is that?

I am going to give you all the best apple pie recipe. It is from my 30 year old Pillsbury Kitchens Family Cookbook and it's the best recipe I've ever used. So here goes. Just to let you know, I usually use the streusel topping on my pies instead of a top crust but you can do it either way. And of course, it's always better if you use homemade crust but you can use an already made one. I also personally prefer butter to margarine for baking.

Ingredients
9" pie crust
6 cups peeled, sliced apples
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of salt
1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine

Heat oven to 425*F. Prepare pastry. In large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; toss lightly to mix. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with margarine or butter. Cover with top crust (cut slits for escape of steam); seal and flute edge. Bake at 425*F for 40 to 45 minutes or until juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
(If you are using the streusel topping leave out the 1 Tablespoon of butter)

Streusel Topping
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine

In small bowl, combine all ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit filling. Bake as directed with the recipe. Cover topping with foil last 10 minutes of baking time if the top browns too quickly.

Here is my pie.

Enjoy your pies. See ya next time.