I love apple crisp. Even the name sounds delicious! Last night, my husband brought a business associate over for dinner and thankfully, he gave me plenty of notice so I could prepare. I knew I was going to make pork chops and I immediately thought of a dessert with apples. While the fall weather has definitely put me in the mood for apple picking, we haven’t done that yet, but it wasn’t going to stop me from making apple crisp.

My “go to” apples for baking are Granny Smith apples, they are not too sweet and retain their substance during cooking. And by that, I mean that they don’t turn to mush (applesauce) so you can still have a little something to bite into. I served the apple crisp warm with vanilla ice cream and drizzled homemade caramel sauce on top. So good.

APPLE CRISP RECIPE

For a 8-9 inch dish you’ll need:

Apple Filling

5-6 Granny Smith Apples (washed, peeled, cored and cut into pieces)
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of cornstarch
1 teaspoon each of freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of water

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all apple topping ingredients, except the cornstarch, and cook in a pot or dutch oven over medium heat for 20-30 minutes until the apples become soft. Add the cornstarch and blend thoroughly. Continue cooking, stirring constantly for another 5 minutes until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Topping

2 cups of your favorite oatmeal
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of flour
3/4 stick of cold, sweet (unsalted) butter cut into pieces

Blend the topping ingredients with a pastry blender (or a fork) until combined.

Put the apple filling into a pie dish (or similar) add the topping and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Optional homemade caramel sauce: combine 1 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 cup of half-and-half, 4 tablespoons of butter and a dash of vanilla extract. Bring to a slow boil being careful not to burn it, simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently until it becomes thick enough to stick to the back of a spoon.

{I forgot to peel the apples before I cooked them, it took a little extra time to peel them, but it had to be done}

{here is the apple filling, the fresh nutmeg and cinnamon make a big difference to the flavor}

{once the apple filling has been cooked, you can make the topping}

{using a pastry blender (or a fork) blend the cold butter into the oatmeal, flour and brown sugar topping}

{the topping is ready once the butter is thoroughly blended}

{sprinkle the topping evenly over the apple filing}

{bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly}

{I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper to catch any filling that might overflow}