APPLE CRISP - Cooking Light Magazine

I've made a zillion apple crisps,  usually motivated by the fact that I have a 38 pound box of Utah apples and can only eat so many apples a day.  This is another good apple dessert recipe--not too sweet, and would also be great for breakfast with a little Greek yogurt (pretty sure I've mentioned that before).  And my Emma Bridgewater baking dish still makes me happy.

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup regular oats
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 7 cups sliced peeled Rome apple (about 3 pounds) (I used Honeycrisp) 
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, oats, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is crumbly. Stir in walnuts.

Combine apple and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon apple mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish or 1 1/2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

APPLE BROWNIES - Amy Traverso

How did I miss this cookbook? This was published a year ago and I love apples!  The Apple Lover's Cookbook  by Amy Traverso is a gem.  And this recipe is one of the best ever--if you like apples, cinnamon, and walnuts, and of course you do. Thanks to Sunday of Ciao Domenica for mentioning this gorgeous book.

 Ingredients
1 cup (145 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons (1 stick; 113 g) salted butter, melted and coole, plus more for greasing pan
1 cup (210 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup (60 g) chopped walnuts
2 large firm-sweet apples (about 1 pound total) --I used Honey Crisp--peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Directions
1. Preheat ove to 350 degrees and set a rack to the middle position.  Generously butter the baking dish (11 x 7) and set aside.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.  In the bowl of a standing mixer at high speed or using a hand-held mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and egg until pale, about 2 minutes.  Add the walnuts and apples and stir by hand until evenly combined.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined, another 30 seconds.

3.  Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and lightly firm to the touch, 40 to 50 minutes.  Let cool on a rack for 30 minutes, then cut into 12 bars and transfer to serving platter.

Note:  Instead of chopping apples into 1/2 cubes, I chopped them into 1 inch.  So, this turned out to be apple cake instead of apple brownies.  Next time, I will cut into the 1/2 inch pieces which should make it more brownie-like.

APPLE CRANBERRY CRISP - Bon Appetit

Pretty much all fruit cobblers, crisps, crumbles, buckles, crunches, are at the top of my favorite desserts (yes, more than one) list. Warm fruit and a crunchy topping, heart warming.

The cranberries make it tart and again it is that sweet and tart combination that makes my taste buds sing.

Super easy is another great thing about fruit cobblers. Preparing the fruit takes longer than putting the whole thing togehter.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds tart green apples
-- peeled, 3/4" pieces
3 cups cranberries
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter -- chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Toss apples, cranberries, 2/3 C sugar, 2T flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to blend in large bowl. Transfer to 8x8" glass baking dish. Let stand 15 mins.

Combine oats, brown sugar and remaining 2T flour in medium bowl. Add butter and stir til moist clumps form. Sprinkle over filling. Bake til topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

BREAKFAST APPLE GRANOLA CRISP - Smitten Kitchen

This is a really, yummy breakfast treat but could definitely be a family dessert. It doesn't have as much sugar (3 tablespoons and a bit of honey) as a regular apple crisp which is why it works well for breakfast. I had mine with plain Greek yogurt--divine.



Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp

3 pounds of whatever apples, or mix of apples, you like to bake with, peeled, cored and cut into medium chunks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup flour
2 cups oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened; I used unsweetened)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix apple chunks with lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and pinch of salt in a 9×13-inch baking dish until apples are evenly coated. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with the honey. Stir in the flour, oats, almonds, coconut and another pinch of salt until clumps form. Sprinkle evenly over the apple mixture and bake in the oven for about 45 to 55 minutes, or until the apples are softened and bubbly. Should the granola brown too quickly, place foil over the dish for all but the last few minutes of baking time, when removing the foil will help the granola recrisp. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

APPLE CRISP

What's your favorite Autumn treat? I'm torn between apples and pumpkins. Both are gorgeous creations and both have that yummy taste that says, "Fall has arrived!" Their smell, taste, and appearance gives us low desert dwellers hope that it is finally cooling down and triple digits are a thing of the past (fingers crossed) .

This recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes (one of my favorite cooking blogs).

I added 1/3 more oatmeal and brown sugar since I like a lot of crunchy topping. Nutmeg is also a favorite so I added a dash. And I prefer chopped versus sliced apples in these types of recipes.

I made this for a Sunday night dessert and my family loved it. My brother-in-law Steve noticed the flavor of the apples was very pronounced since there wasn't as much sugar to mask its flavor. I agree.

Apple Crisp Recipe

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients7 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss to combine.

2 Place chopped apples in a 9 x 12-inch (I used slightly smaller) baking pan.

3 Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oatmeal in a bowl. Cut in the butter. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples.

4 Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender.

Serves 8. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream