What’s in Season: Apple Crisp

For every type of produce I love, there comes a season where it seems we have that produce in abundance and I wonder, “What am I going to do with all of these zucchini/squash/tomatoes/peppers?”  We recently came upon a pretty large quantity of apples, so I made apple crisp.  Compared to cobblers, I love crisps because of the sweet, crunchy topping.  I like the biscuit type topping just fine, but if I have a choice, bring on the crisp.

I’ve made this exact (ok, almost exact) recipe with not only apples, but also peaches, and another time blackberries.  All are amazing!  Especially warm right out of the oven!  And with some vanilla ice cream!  YUM!  The only difference is I used some corn starch with the blackberries and with the peaches to thicken up the juicy fruit a little.

This recipe is based on one from a deli in my hometown that closed down many years ago.  The ladies who ran it published a cookbook of the deli’s recipes when they retired, and there are some definite keepers in there, especially classics like this.  But, you know me.  I changed things up a little by subbing out some of the white sugar with brown sugar, switching to whole wheat flour, adding oats to the topping, and using coconut oil instead of butter (since I have the dairy allergy going on).  Oh, and I upped the cinnamon, because I LOVE cinnamon.  It tastes as good as I remember from my childhood, but I can feel a little better about eating it with the changes I’ve made.  Plus, there’s fruit.  So it must be healthy, right?

I used a combination of Golden Delicious and Jonathan apples this time.  You can use any apples you like or have on hand, but I am not so sure I would use tart apples, like Granny Smiths.  If I was going to purchase apples for this, I’d get something sweet like Golden Delicious, Fuji, or Gala.  And I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you exactly how many apples to use.  It’s not that I’m keeping it a secret, it’s just that apples are always different sizes, so it really just depends.  I used about 10-12 for the 9 x 13, but they were pretty small.  You want a good layer in the pan, and you want them to pile up – not just a little single layer.  This makes a pretty substantial amount of topping, so you want a good amount of apples.  So, just start peeling and slicing apples and when your pan looks full enough to you, you’re done!  I sliced mine about 1/4 of an inch thick, but you have some freedom here too, depending on how you like yours.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 6-12 apples (depending on size), peeled, cored, and sliced
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• ¾ cup of sugar

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of oats (I used old-fashioned, but quick would work)
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all of the ingredients for the filling in a 9 x 13 pan and stir to mix the cinnamon and vanilla through the apples.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, and sugars.  Mix in the egg until crumbs form.  Spread mixture evenly over top of apples.  Drizzle coconut oil over the topping. (I just do a random drizzle.  You will not saturate the entire topping.)

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until topping is lightly browned and filling is bubbly.

Enjoy!