Ingredients

1 refrigerated pie crust or make your own

Crumb Topping:

1/2 C plus 2 T all purpose flour

1/3 C each packed light brown sugar and granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 C walnuts, chopped

1 stick (1/2 C) cold butter, cut in small pieces

Filling:

7 med. to lrg. tart apples (about 3 1/4 lb.) such as Granny Smith or MacIntosh

1 T lemon juice (or white vinegar)

1/2 C granulated sugar

3 T all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preparation

  1. You’ll need a 9" pie plate and a baking sheet. Place oven rack on lowest rack position. Heat oven to 450°F.
  2. Line pie plate with crust. Flute or crimp edge.
  3. Topping: Mix flour, brown and granulated sugars, the cinnamon and walnuts in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture forms moist, coarse crumbs that crumb together easily.
  4. Filling: Peel, halve and core apples. Cut in 1/8" thick slices. Place in a large bowl, add lemon juice and toss to coat. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl, sprinkle over apple slices and toss to coat.
  5. Layer apple slices in pie shell, mounding them higher in center. Gently pat topping evenly over apples to form a top crust. Place pie on the baking sheet.
  6. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp. to 350°F and bake 45 minutes longer, or until a skewer meets some resistance when center of pie is pierced (apples will continue cooking after pie is removed from the oven) and topping is golden brown. (If topping browns too quickly, drape a piece of foil loosely over the pie). Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.