Every year it seems like I go a little crazy at the Hood River Fruit Sale in my neighborhood– and then in the weeks that follow I try to figure out what to do with all my fruit.
This year I bought eighty pounds (mostly various kinds of apples with some pears for good measure), and even happily eating all this fruit around the clock, I still have so much fruit.
This past weekend I thought it would be a good time to make up some apple crisps.
Lately I’ve tried to pull Charlotte into more and more cooking and baking adventures; heaven knows I’m always up to something in the kitchen and it seems like at least one of my kids should pick up some tips while I’m at it, right? (Oliver is only interested in eating my food, not learning how to DIY).
Charlotte has a friend, Lily, who also loves to cook and bake so we invited her over to join us.
First up, the girls put on some aprons I keep close at hand.
Twelve year olds and vintage half-aprons are a great mix– and I certainly appreciated delegating all that peeling to someone else for once.
Apples (a mixture of Granny Smith for tartness and Red Striped for sweetness) were tossed with ground ginger, cinnamon, a dash of flour, some brown sugar, butter, vanilla, fresh lemon juice and a little salt.
The girls then made the crumb topping with cold butter pieces, Dave’s Red Mill oats, flour, brown sugar and a pinch of salt.
Just a few minutes of kneading the butter in with the rest of the ingredients
and the crisp topping was done. We put it in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.
If I’d reversed the order of production (making the topping and chilling and then peeling the apples), we’d have been ready for baking, but I hadn’t thought the timing through so we had a few minutes on our hands.
What better way to kill some time than make a little (trashy but good) Halloween snack Mix?
In the mix was fresh buttered popcorn, plain flavored goldfish, candy corn and Reese’s Pieces. No, I’m not kidding, and yes, it really is so good together (pretzels and M & M’s would have been good, too).
Bonus points for you if you remember to serve it up in a festive bag.
Okay, time to stop digging out those Reese’s Pieces from the bottom of the bag and get those crisps in the oven.
We made a giant crisp in one of my favorite enamel pans and then a smaller one in a cast iron pan.
We have a neighbor who’d just had a baby and I thought it’d be nice to make her a mini crisp (not so big it would take up a whole fridge but sufficiently sized to share with her folks visiting from New York).
And after 45 minutes of baking in a 350 degree oven, the crisps were all done — and my house smelled like heaven on earth. Warm apples, ground ginger, cinnamon, a bubbly vanilla-laced sauce and toasty oats.
I made a quick caramel sauce (half-and-half, butter, brown sugar and vanilla with generous pinches of Fleur de sel) and we drizzled that atop our plated servings.
Crisps have to be one of the easiest, most fool-proof desserts around; you get all that same soft yielding fruit you get in a pie but you also have this buttery, crumbly and crunchy topping, too (without pie’s lower soggy crust which always bums me out).
Give me a crisp and caramel sauce any day and I’m so happy.
So were our neighbors.
And so a big thank you to my adorable helpers
and to the genius who thought up this wonderful homey dessert.
Apple, ho!
- ½ C. walnuts
- ⅞ C. flour
- ⅓ C. brown sugar
- 4 tsp. granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp. cinnamon
- ⅓ C. salted butter
- 4 large apples (about 2 lbs.)
- a little brandy to taste (I use vanilla instead)
- Toast the walnuts in a 350 oven for 4-6 minutes. Cool and chop coarsely in a food processor or by hand into about ¼ inch chunks. If the pieces are larger, they will burn while the crisp bakes.
- Make the topping. Put the flour, sugars and cinnamon in a bowl. Work the slightly softened butter in with your hands by rubbing pieces of it lightly and quickly between your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender. When the mixture is beginning to hold together and look crumbly, work in the cooled walnuts.
- Quarter, core and peel the apples and slices into a bowl. There be 5 to 6 cups. Sprinkle with a little brandy (or vanilla) or couple of teaspoons of sugar to taste, adding cinnamon if you like (I also add a little dried ginger and nutmeg).
- The topping is sweet, so don't oversweeten the apples, they need only enough sugar to bring out their flavor.
- Put the sliced apples in a shallow unbuttered baking dish -- a 9-inch or 10-inch pie pan, a 9-inch square cake pan or a nice terra-cotta gratin dish. Level them and cover evenly with a layer of the topping.
- Bake in a preheated 375 oven until the topping is golden brown all over and the apples are tender -- 30 to 45 minutes. If the topping has browned enough but the apples aren't cooked yet, turn the heat down to 350 degrees and lay a piece of foil loosely over the top.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or a pitcher of heavy cream.
Hi Sarah, I look forward to the arrival of the Portland Samplers…always a surprise as I never know when the next one is coming. Last week, I got a some apples from my friend’s tree in Monte Rio and baked a few. I was a bit disappointed. I am saving your crisp recipe for the next time I have fall apples. I can see this is a winner. We had a wonderful evening with your dad and Anna last Friday at Poggio. Can you believe it was balmy and we sat outside inSausalito. It’s time here to say goodbye to the stonefruit, and almost time on the strawberries and tomatoes. Persimmons are arriving, hope the same for you! I look forward to the next PS! Laura
Thanks, Laura for all the kind comments…Let me know how your crisp turns out! Last tips: 1. Mix up your variety of apples, using both tart and sweet. It will make for a more interesting end result. 2. Be sure your topping is really cold before adding it atop your about-to-be baked product. 3. Top warm crisp with either ice cream, whipped cream or warm caramel! Enjoy– and report back! XO
Sarah, What did that first sentence mean????? “your comment is awaiting moderation.”
This looks scrumptious! I just printed out your recipe and plan to pick up lots of apples at the farmers market this weekend.
Thanks, Susan! Warm apple crisps are the best… Enjoy!
Do you really mean 7/8 cups of flour?! I made this this weekend and the topping was like eating plain, raw flour. I even added more butter and sugar before putting it on top of the apples because it just looked like dust – I hoped baking would help, but it didn’t. I ended up throwing it away after two of us had a little. We both agreed the apples were good (we like the addition of spices to the apples), but the topping was nearly inedible.
Also, I’m looking at your photos, and it looks like there may be oatmeal in the topping – there’s no oatmeal listed in the recipe.
Gretchen, no, not 7-8 cups of flour, 7/8 of a cup (the recipe reads 7/8 C. and that’s exactly how the author wrote it in the cookbook). No wonder it was terrible– just a few tbs. of butter for all that flour! Sorry that you wasted all those ingredients. That rarely happens to me but when it does I always feel bummed out. I also note that you made a later comment about no oatmeal in the recipe. You are correct, but if you read carefully my introduction to the recipe, I clearly state that I add oatmeal in place of the walnuts, but let the author’s recipe stand as written. Hope your current baking adventures are more successful than this disaster!
No, I did not put 7-8 cups of flour in. I put 7/8 of a cup, as I stated in my original comment. It was still awful. And, I shouldn’t have to read carefully your introduction to catch the oatmeal, when the recipe is printed below.