½ cup sugar
½ recipe plain pastry
¾ cup flour
⅓ cup butter (1 stick is ½ cup)
1 tsp cinnamon
Pare apples, cut in small enough pieces so they cook quickly (if the apples are large). Otherwise, cut in eighths. Arrange in 9 inch pastry-lined pie pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar mixed with cinnamon. Sift remaining 1/2 cup sugar with flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake in hot oven (450° F, or about 200° C) 10 minutes, then in moderate oven (350° F (150° C) about 40 minutes or until apples are tender.
Plain Pastry
½ tsp salt
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water
Sift flour and salt, add shortening. Cut in with pastry blender or blending fork until the pieces are the size of small peas. Add cold water by teaspoonfuls tossing with a fork until the flour-coated bits of fat are barely dampened. Turn a mixture onto a square of waxed paper. Gather up corners, pressing from the outside to form a compact ball. Divide for lower and upper crust. Chill for easier handling. Roll out and put into pie pan.