For the apple, my favorite is a homemade version that I’ve been making for several years. It has a delightful sweet and crumbly top that goes so well with the sweet-tart apples inside.

It’s always a hit with kids and adults around my Thanksgiving table.

What pies are traditional in your house for Thanksgiving? Share in the comments below!

French Apple Pie
yields one pie

When you read this, and when you make it, you may find yourself thinking that the amounts are just too much. They aren’t. The apples cook down in the oven and the crumb topping compacts as well. Don’t worry!

1 good quality pie crust (I like Oronoque Farms)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of salt
8 cups peeled and sliced apples (about 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 tbsp vanilla

Crumb topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples.

Pour apple combination into the pie crust, making them slightly higher in the center than on the sides. Sprinkle vanilla over the top of the pie.

Place pie in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar for the crumb topping. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Alternatively, you can add all the ingredients to a food processor and process until evenly textured.

Remove pie from the oven and sprinkle crumb topping over the apples. Place pie back in the oven and cook for an additional 30-35 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm…with vanilla bean ice cream.

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Looking for another pie recipe? Here are a few good ones from around the web:

- Chiffon Pumpkin Pie @ Simply Recipes

- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie @ Karina’s Recipes

- Sweet Cherry Pie @ Smitten Kitchen

- Pecan Pie @ Homesick Texan

Oh, hey, hi!

I’m Catherine. I’m kinda known as a bad mother, probably because I call myself that at my blogs, Her Bad Mother and Their Bad Mother. It’s mostly tongue-in-cheek, but also a little bit not, because I am totally the kind of mom who struggles with little things like, say, cooking. I am not the mom who harvested her own heirloom apple trees and boiled the fruit down to make organic compote. I am not the mom who will ever bake fruit pies from scratch. And never, ever ask whether I squeeze fresh juice for my kids. I’m just not that mom.

I’m the mom who needs all the help she can get in pretty much every department of parenthood other than the ‘Let’s Have Some Fun’ and Hugs & Laughs departments (I have those covered) and I’m going to be writing here about my efforts to at least fake being an Apple Pie Mom. And I may or may not checking up on more famous Apple Pie Moms (because, seriously, do any of us really believe that Gwyneth purees her own organic fruit sauces? And if she really does, can we not just pretend that maybe she doesn’t?) You know, for fun.

Hopefully I won’t get applesauce on my face in the process (*insert-pie-tossing-joke-here*), but if I do, at least it’ll be funny. For you, anyway.