Monday, October 5, 2009

Apple Crisp

I've been making this recipe for years and it always gets raves. What people don't know is that the recipe has only a handful of ingredients, and all of them I usually have on hand. It comes out of the oven all carmelized, oaty, crunchy, and amazing so you'd think it was more complicated.

I discovered the recipe in the Smyth Companies 125th Anniversary Cookbook that was published the year I worked there (2002). The recipe was submitted by a lady named Pam Wood, who was the IT/computer tech. She doesn't work there anymore, either, but I thought I needed to give credit where credit is due. She named the recipe "Apple Crisp From Many Generations," and truly I can imagine my grandmas and great-grandmas making this simple but delicious recipe for their church potlucks or barn-raising parties, or whatever special occasions required sweet fall desserts back in the days of yore.

I spent some quality time with my 92-year old Grandpa Art yesterday watching the Twins kick some KC Royals butt and picking many apples from the trees in his backyard. I promised him and my other grandparents (Grandma Verna and Grandpa Bob) each an apple crisp. Not to mention my dad and brother. After an assembly-line setup, I ended up with seven apple crisps!



Even after all this, I still have a half bag of apples leftover! I have a few more aluminum pans so I'm planning on doing a few more this week for the freezer. I also bought some oat flour so that I can make a gluten-free version for Ang. Finally, I know I repeat this a lot on the blog - but it's still good to know that sweets can be lean if you use real ingredients (butter and sugar won't kill you in moderation!) and enjoy responsibly.



Apple Crisp
Base:
4 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T. flour

Mix ingredients together and arrange in an 8 x 8 square pan.

Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1 stick butter, melted

Mix together and spread on top of apple base. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Your kitchen will smell like heaven so you will know when it's ready. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note #1: double recipe for 9x13 pan (cake pan).
Note #2: wouldn't some sliced almonds be great in the topping? I might try that later this week, too. It would make it extra crunchy.
Note #3: thank goodness my mom loaned me her Pampered Chef apple peeler/slicer. Seven crisps would have been impossible without it.
Note #4: I did not eat all of that crisp from the one that's half gone...it was a combo of me, Marney, and sending some home to Colin.

1 comment:

  1. To all of you readers out there this trully is the most delicous apple crisp you will ever taste and like most of Miss Ali's food gets most of its goodness from the love that is baked right in! It's been known once or twice to more then one person to have one of these perfect little gems left pipising hot at your back door dropped off just minuets before you were to arrive home to enjoy its goodness! so mix up a batch, grab a freind and dig in! :)! XOXO ALI!!!

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