Today I was looking back through old blog posts and found this one from 2015 where I wrote that making apple pie with my mom’s recipes was one of my goals for before I turned 24. I totally forgot about that, but now I’m a few months away from 28 and I can say that I finally did it.
I made apple pie using my mom’s recipe for French apple pie this past Sunday for her birthday. We had a small gathering and it seemed that everyone loved it. I’m so glad it came out good, but how could it not? Apple pie is the best. I’m sure using the amazing Jonagold apples my husband bought us in Oak Glen made it even more delicious.
This is the apple pie my Mom has made for many a Thanksgiving over the years. It has a single crust and is topped with oat and brown sugar crumble. The recipe is fairly easy to follow. I just made it harder on myself by making pie crust and placing it into a pie dish for the first time ever. Okay then. I didn’t want to use store-bought, even though my mom usually does. My crust didn’t turn out that great, but it was okay.
It was my first time ever making pie dough, if you don’t count the time I made hand pies. Oh wait! I take that back. I just scrolled through my Instagram page looking for the hand pies and realized I made my first pie in July 2017.
It took me longer to make than I thought it would, but that’s probably just me underestimating how long it would take to make pie dough and peel and slice apples. Besides, I kept taking breaks because I’m 6 months pregnant and my back bothers me when I stand up too long. (True story. Sorry for complaining.)
I followed the instructions on how to make an all butter pie dough on Erin McDowell’s website, but didn’t watch her video how to, which also explains what not to do, until I was already done shaping it. Oops. So, my dough was too wet and I had to add flour back in. Next time, I’ll know what to do.
Mom’s French apple pie
1 pie crust, such as Pillsbury pre-made pie crust
Filling
6 cups peeled, sliced apples (about 8 medium apples)
3/4 cup cane sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Streusel topping
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup firms packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
Follow directions on pie crust package to put pie crust in 9 inch pie pan. Or, make pie crust from scratch and carefully place into pie pan. If you want to crimp the edges, now is the time.
Combine sliced apples, sugar, flour and cinnamon. Place in pie shell.
Combine streusel topping ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples and completely cover apples. Cover edges of crust with strips of aluminum foil and bake at 425 for about 45 minutes. If the streusel topping starts to get too brown, cover it very loosely with foil.
Modern Notebook 
Oh so tempting!