Use a combination of apples toget both tartness and sweetness into the pie. I always use a couple of GrannySmith, mixed with Gala, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, or Macintosh. Read more about My Mom’s Best PieCrust here.
1/2cupplus 1 teaspoon neutral oil, such as vegetable, safflower or canola
4tablespoonsice water
For the topping:
1cupunbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2cuplight brown sugar
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1/4teaspoonkosher salt
6tablespoonsunsalted butter, softened
1/2cupchopped walnuts
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Position a rack in the center of the oven and place a piece of foil on the bottom of the oven to catch any drips.
In a medium bowl, combine the apples with the flour, sugar, lemon juice, and rose water.
In another medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt. Slowly stir in the oil with a spoon until pea-sized crumbs form. Stirin the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. On a damp work surface, roll out half of the dough between two sheets of waxed paper to a circle 2 inches larger than a 10-inch pie plate. Remove the top sheet of paper and invert the crust, still on the other sheet of waxed paper, over the pie plate. Ease the dough down into the plate and slowly peel the paper off. Tuck the overhang of dough under the edge of the crust to form a thick edge. If there are thin areas, cut some of the overhang from elsewhere and tuck it under the thin spot to make it thicker. Crimp the edge decoratively.
Pour the sugared apples into the crust.
Make the topping by combining the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Rub the butter in with you rfingers, then add the walnuts. Press the mixture into small clumps and top the pie evenly with the streusel.
Cover the edges of the pie with a pie guard or pieces of foil, crunching the foil well so it stays in place. Lay another piece of foil lightly over the top of the pie to prevent the topping from browning too much before the pie is done.
Bake the pie for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, removing the foil from the top toward the end of the baking time ifthe streusel needs more browning. The apples should be bubbling vigorously for the last 15 minutes or so of baking time. Remove the pie from the oven and cool for at least 4 hours so that the filling sets up. The pie will keep on the kitchen counter for a couple of days, loosely covered with waxed paper or foil.