Apple Crisp Anew

I’m posting like crazy today!! But I have a lot of catching up to do, including some peanut-butter dog treats I made last weekend. Let’s see if I get to those. In the meantime —

Apple Crisp!

I usually make it according to a recipe out of the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, a revered tome I’ve had hanging around since forever. The apple crisp in it is TO DIE for. However, this time I wanted to try something different, so I did a quick internet search and voila!

Apple Crisp

(If I type that *one more time* as Apple Crips, I swear I will scream.)

I didn’t have cornstarch, so I just didn’t use it. Also, I simply used enough apples to fill my 9×9 pan, which is what I always do. Other than that, I actually followed instructions for once. Ta-da! Are you proud of me?

4 cups apples, peeled & sliced, such as Granny Smiths
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup certified gluten free old fashioned oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

1
Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a pie dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, toss together the apples, sugar, water, cornstarch (I skipped it), and 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. Set aside.
2
Make the oatmeal topping: In a bowl, gently combine almond flour, oats, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and butter until crumbly. (Oh!! Wait. I added extra butter because gluten-free crumble tends to be dry. But I didn’t add a lot. Maybe an extra tablespoon. Maybe not even that much. Sigh. Butter.)
3
Place the apple mixture in the dish. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the apples are cooked through, the juices are bubbling, and the topping is browned. Serve, hot, warm, or at room temperature. (My cooking time ended up being more like 40, probably because of the extra butter, and it’s very hard to tell when almond flour topping is browned — or at least, it is using the light in my oven, so I don’t use that as a measure.)

It is delicious, and I love the fact that it has less sugar and more nutritional content (the almond flour rather than just rice flour) than my regular GF crisp method. I would give it two thumbs up, but my hands are full of plate and utensils. And apple crisp, in case you didn’t catch the subtext. 😉

Apple Crisp (single serving)

I love any type of fruit crisp, but it’s certainly not worth making a whole pan for one person… here’s my janky little single-serving version of it, or at least it’s how I made it this last time. No photos again. I’ll take some next time!

*** Preheat oven (in my case, toaster oven) to 350F.

• 1 or 2 apples, depending on the size of your cooking dish (I used a ramekin a little larger than the palm of my hand, so I used an apple and a bit more)
• butter
• oats (if you’re gluten sensitive, be sure they’re gluten-free – I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• cinnamon (I used Ceylon, not Cassia, because I’m a cinnamon snob)
• sugar (sometimes I combine white and brown, coz why not)
• lemon juice

1. Core, peel, and slice the apples (or you can leave the peels on if you like), then lay them in the ramekin
2. Sprinkle lemon juice over them – I had part of a lemon, so I squeezed it over the slices
3. Sprinkle cinnamon on – I used lots because I would marry cinnamon if I could
4. Spread the dry oats over the top so they cover the apple slices
5. Here’s where I add WAY TOO MUCH sugar: I put cane sugar over the oats in a nice thick sprinkle
6. Then add the butter over the sugar and the oats in fairly thin slices, basically covering the oats
7. THEN ADD MORE SUGAR BECAUSE DEATH AND TAXES, PEOPLE (full disclosure, I originally typed “death and Texas”, I’m sorry Texas, I’ve got nothing against you personally)
8. Put the ramekin in the toaster oven for somewhere between half hour and 40 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure it’s not bursting into flames. Because that, my friends, is suboptimal.
9. Let it cool, so you don’t burn your mouth like Camo eating the berry pies in “Dragonsinger”. Oh. Sorry. I’m a nerd. I didn’t warn you, my bad.
10. Eat and be joyous!

I don’t remember quite how long it took mine to cook, but when it was ready, the top had browned and the apples inside were visibly gooey and bubbling and it was a symphony of luscious hedonistic fruity love. In short, it looked like apple crisp.

(I almost typed “apple crips”, but that would be gang-related, and I am so not going there.)

Hopefully it works for you, and hopefully it will for me when I try it again. lol