Best Ever Apple Crisp

My daughter's home in the country includes several apple and pear trees.  She is canning, and her kitchen has been full of the aroma of apple and pear sauce for days now!  Yum! Now that the nights are cool and the leaves are changing color, I'm thinking of baking and cinnamon and yummy apple recipes. 

Who doesn't love apple crisp?  There are plenty of recipes available for this perennial favorite, of course, but this one is tops on my list (even though it doesn't contain oatmeal and I'm an oatmeal fan).  Maybe it is the "pinch" of lemon?  Try it--you'll like it!

Ingredients for Filling
5 to 6 Granny Smith or other tart apples, small to medium
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. cinnamon (not tsp)
Pinch of lemon peel

Ingredients for Topping
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar (I like to use 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown, but whatever you do is fine)
1 stick of cold butter, cut in slices
1 slightly beaten egg

What to Do
Peel, core and slice apples.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees, F.  Combine the topping ingredients in a bowl with a pastry cutter.  Mix in egg.  Set aside. 

Mix apples with other filling ingredients (an easy way to do this is to dump everything in a gallon-sized bag, seal and shake) and  pour into a 8" x 8" baking pan.  Spoon topping over apple mixture. 

Bake for 10 minutes and then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 35 minutes. 
Serve warm with a wedge of cheddar cheese, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.