October 17, 2014
There’s an undeniable change in the weather…finally! I don’t know when I’ve welcomed gloomy skies with such excitement. I’m even wearing a sweater as I type, a cotton sweater, but hey, it’s not a tank top!
Growing up, there was a favorite fall after school snack my mom would make for us on special days. It consisted of frying apple slices in a pan with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar and serving that warm goodness on a piece of toast. I still crave it and the coziness of that kitchen.
Lately, we have fallen into the smoothie rut. The sound of the Vitamix just doesn’t conjure up the same feeling of butter and apples sizzling in a pan. Inspired by the colder weather (70 is the new 60), I created my own version of after school apple comfort food. One of my girls is allergic to wheat, so out went the toast and in came this gluten free crisp.
This pared down apple crisp made for some very happy, just-home-from-school girls. Apples, a few pantry staples and a sprinkle of simple granola and that cozy kitchen feeling is all yours. For our snack we paired it with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt. This would make an awesome and easy baked dessert or breakfast when you have a group to feed. I wish I’d thought to make it this weekend when we had friends visiting.
When you’re baking apples you want them to retain a little bit of crunch and not get mushy. I generally use Fuji, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, and Rome for baking. A mix of any of the three would work well, too. I gave cup measurements for the apples, because they vary so drastically in size it’s tough to estimate how many, so let’s go with how much.
Photo by Evan Janke
I couldn’t resist breaking out my new apple peeler to help with the job, but you can just peel, core and slice. Feel free to use this as an excuse to hop on Amazon and order one for yourself. However you peel and slice them apples, this recipe is a keeper.
You can make the crisp in individual ramekins or family style in a big baking dish.
Serves 6
6 heaping cups of peeled, cored and sliced apples – for me, it was about 8 Fuji apples
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 cup plain granola
4 tablespoons room temperature butter, plus more for the pan
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly butter a 1.5 quart baking dish or 6 individual ramekins. Mix the sliced apples with the juice, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the apple mixture to the baking dish or evenly portion out into 6 ramekins. Pour over any reserved liquid. Mix the butter and granola together and portion it over the top of the apples. Bake 25 minutes.
Serve warm with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.
