Writing up a recipe to share when you’re eating the final serving of the leftovers is just the bees knees. Well, to be fair, I’m actually writing this just after I’ve finished the final serving, since once I started eating it I couldn’t really put it down to do some typing.
A Fall should never come and go without at least one baking of apple crisp. I don’t care if you live in Southern California where there’s no such thing as Fall (so sad) - do it anyway! It’s that easy, and that delicious. Better yet, put the filling together and throw it in the pan, cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge; make the topping, wrap it and put it in the fridge too; and 6 hours later when your guests arrive for dinner, take 5 minutes to crumble the topping over the filling and stick it in the oven. The smell will be heavenly and you’ll create such anticipation, your friends will never know that you spent barely 30 minutes on something so jaw-droppingly good.
Also, if you bake with apples at least twice per year, you MUST have an apple machine. I’m not sure words can do it justice, so here - watch this for 20 seconds.
Right?? Magic. Let’s get to it.
Happy Baking!
Adapted from King Arthur and Scientifically Sweet
MAKES a 9x13 crisp, ~8 servings
INGREDIENTS/SUPPLIES
8 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples (~3 lbs; choose a tart & crisp variety like Granny Smith)
2 lemons
3/4 cup sugar (150g)
2 tablespoons flour (15g)
2 tablespoons cornstarch (15g)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup boiled cider or undiluted apple juice concentrate
1.5 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup cookie butter (or any nut butter)
1 cup dark brown sugar (210g)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups rolled oats (not instant; 200g)
2 cups flour (240g)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
stand mixer (hand mixer could be used)
large mixing bowl
9x13 glass dish
DIRECTIONS
If you’re wanting to put this together and bake it asap, start with step 7 so you can get the topping into the freezer before you make the apple filling.
For Apple Crisp for 2: use 2 personal pie plates (around 4”) or 4 ramekins, make half the amount of filling, and 1/4 the amount of topping.
Fill a large mixing bowl half-full with cold water, and into it squeeze the juice of one lemon - stir to combine.
Peel, core, and slice into half and quarter round pieces approximately 3lbs of apples - as you finish with each apple put the pieces into the bowl of lemon water and fully submerge them. This will keep them from browning as you work to peel and slice the rest.
Whisk all your dry ingredients together (150g sugar, 15g flour, 15g cornstarch, 1/4tsp salt, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/4tsp nutmeg, 1/4tsp allspice.)
Drain the water from your apples, and in the same large mixing bowl toss the apples with the juice of the second lemon.
Toss the apples with your dry ingredients, ensuring they’re fully and evenly covered. It’s most fun to do this with your hands, but a spatula or large spoon would work as well.
Spread the apples evenly in the 9x13 dish, then pour the 1/4 cup boiled cider/apple juice concentrate over the apples. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil - if you’re not going to bake it asap put it in the fridge; if you are, just put it to the side.
For the topping, cream 1.5 sticks butter and 1 cup cookie butter in your mixer until well combined.
Scrape down the sides of your mixer, then add 210g dark brown sugar and 100g granulated sugar and beat 2-3 minutes on medium high. Stop halfway through to scrape down the sides again and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
While it’s mixing, whisk together the rest of your ingredients (200g rolled oats, 240g flour, 1tsp baking soda, 1/2tsp salt).
Add your dry ingredients to the mixer, and mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium high for 1-2 minutes until fully combined.
In two batches, press the dough into logs and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. I used about 75% of the topping batch on the crisp, so if you’d prefer wrap them in 75/25 amounts - you’ll have a little leftover for something else delicious soon! Or, because it’s totally fine to eat raw, crumble it on ice cream sometime, or eat it straight up with some bourbon on the side when you’re having a bad day.
If you’re going to bake the crisp asap, preheat your oven to 375F and place the dough in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. If you’re making this for later, place the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
When the dough is ready, crumble it by hand evenly across the top of the apples. Load it up! Regrets about not having enough crisp topping are never fun.
Bake at 375F for 30 minutes. I had my dish in the fridge and after 30 minutes the apples still had a little bite to them, which I LOVED. If you prefer softer apples, from the fridge either bake an extra 10 minutes, or if you’ve kept it at room temp, throw a fork in right at the side to test any give from the apples after 30 minutes.
If you eat this warm it will be heavenly, but the “sauce” will be thinner. If you let it cool to room temperature the filling will have a gooey, almost thin-caramel like sauce that it sits in.
Serve with a scoop (or two or three) of vanilla bean ice cream (Alden’s is my favorite brand) for extra oohs and ahs.