Halloween Dinner Part III: Lala’s Apple Crisp

“I like crisps because they are one of the easier baked fruit desserts.  No crust to worry about; just fruit and topping.” ~Lala

After delicious Halloween Dinner of Reubens and Russian Sauerkraut Soup, it was time for dessert.  So, here’s the thing about me:  I’m not actually a big dessert person.  I don’t love cake, and most pies are boring to me.  I like savory foods, and most desserts are (surprisingly) sweet.  If the Hubby and I go out for dinner, we’ll split a dessert.  Sometimes.  If they have something with dark chocolate.  Mostly, I order a cocktail for dessert.  There aren’t too many exceptions to my feelings on dessert except for this:  crumble toppings are delicious.  So I love a good buckle or crisp.  Love.  And Lala and I have similar views on the whole crisp equation.  Here’s what she did for Halloween Dinner Dessert (recipe adapted from Betty Crocker): 

Ingredients:

• 5 cups sliced cooking apples
• 2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ground cinnamon
• nutmeg
• powdered ginger
• allspice
• mace
• cloves
• ½ cup butter

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Place fruit in a 9×13 baking dish.  The apples should be evenly spaced, and your dish should be about half full.
2. Stir in the granulated sugar and some cinnamon.  Mix it up with your hands and make sure all the apples are coated with cinnamon and sugar.
3. For topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and spices (just use your own judgement on amounts). Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until fruit is tender and bubbly and topping is golden brown.
5. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Lala’s Notes:

• Don’t peel the apples, the skin helps the apple slices stay together instead of making apple mush.
• I don’t know what a 2 quart dish but I think it’s one of those deeper square ones. I like a greater topping to apple ratio so I used a 9×13.
• Also, and this is important, I’ve doubled the recipe for the topping. You don’t want to be too sparse with the topping.
• I like a lot more spices than Betty seems to. She only called for ¼ teaspoon cinnamon! Just take the cinnamon shaker and dump some in the topping, mix it in, and maybe dump in some more. I added all the rest of the spices, which make for a great combo.
• The original recipe called for brown sugar, but I didn’t have any, and I didn’t want to go to the store (sound familiar?) so I just used granulated white sugar.
• I had to bake mine at least 10 minutes longer to get the topping browned. This is what makes it crispy so don’t rush it.

The Verdict:

A fabulous end to a fabulous meal – thank you for sharing your recipe, Lala!