Im slightly ritualistic when it comes to fall baking, apple dishes always kick off the season followed by pumpkin and cranberry. Reason being is simple, this time of year is prime apple picking season and I am not really in need of a pumpkin until late October. In an effort to gear up for our upcoming apple orchard trip, I wanted to come up with a new dessert recipe that was as tasty as an apple pie, but way less labor intensive (see my apple pie baking tips here). As I was perusing various websites and recipe books I kept seeing recipes for cobblers, crisps and crumbles. Prior to researching, I always thought that the three (cobbler, crisp and crumble) were synonymous (well I was wrong!). Here is the difference:
- Cobbler - Fruit base with a biscuit/cake-like top layer
- Crisp- Fruit base with a top layer consisting of sugar, flour, butter and oats
- Crumble- Fruit base with a top layer consisting of sugar, flour and butter
I love oats, so I opted to create an apple crisp for today's recipe. This dessert couldn't be easier to make and is a great way to get the most out of your orchard bounty. Definitely a sweet way to kick off the start of the Fall season.
Ingredients
- 1/4c cold butter (cut into 1/2in cubes)
- 1/2 c flour
- 1/2 c light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4c old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2tsp + 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4c chopped toasted pecans
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 4 Granny Smith Apples
- 2 Tbs sugar
- More butter for greasing
- Whole Nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit
- Butter an 8x8 inch square baking dish
- In a large bowl, add the juice of a lemon
- Peel, core and slice apples into 1/4in thick slices
- Place the apple slices in the bowl with the lemon juice, toss the slices until coated
- Add the granulated sugar and 1/4tsp of cinnamon to the slices, toss until combined and set bowl aside
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and 1/2tsp of cinnamon
- Once combined, add the cold butter and cut it into the flour/sugar mixture with a pastry cutter (or your hands) until the texture resembles coarse sand
- Add the oats and toasted pecans to the mixture, mix until combined
- Take the apple slices and place them (somewhat tightly packing) in the greased baking sheet
- Cover apples with the crumble mixture, lightly grate fresh nutmeg over mixture before placing in the oven.
- Bake for 30min in the oven uncovered, then cover baking dish with aluminum foil loosely and cook for another 15 minutes until you are able to stick a toothpick/bamboo skewer straight through the center to the bottom of the dish without any resistance.
- Serve warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice-cream
**Note- To make this in a rectangular dish, double the ingredients and bake for approximately 1hr 15min (give or take).
