This French apple pie has no top crust. The “crust” of the pie is a thick layer of French crumble covering the top of the pie.

MATERIALS:

• Pastry blender
• Rolling pin
• Electrical mixer
• Plastic wrap
• Pie pan
• Apple peeler
• Apple coring tool

INGREDIENTS:

Bottom Crust:

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup shortening
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp ice water 

Apple Filling:

• 6-8 medium-sized Gala apples
• ¾ cups sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour 

French Crumb Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup firm butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ⅛ tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Begin working on the crust. Mix flour, salt, and powdered sugar in a bowl.
3. Add in butter and Crisco and blend with pastry blender until everything is evenly mixed and has a crumpled texture.
4. Add ice water as needed to keep moist.
5. Pack dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour.
6. To start on the filling, peel, core, and slice 6-8 apples.
7. Mix apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and let stand.
8. Return to the crust, taking the dough out of the fridge and roll on a lightly floured counter.
9. Use a rolling pin to roll dough into a circular shape that fits on the pie pan.
10. Lay dough onto pan and smooth and shape edges. Refrigerate.
11. For the crumb topping, mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
12. Add in chilled butter and mix in with a pastry blender until the dough is crumbly.
13. Fill in the crust with apple filling.
14. Sprinkle a thick layer of crumb topping on top.
15. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Place on baking sheet and bake for another 40-60 minutes.
16. The pie is done when apples are soft when pierced with a knife and crust is a caramel-brown color.
17. Serve and enjoy!