Anyone have a great Apple Crisp recipe?

[Jenise]

Apple Crisp is something I encountered for the first time in an eighth grade Home Ec class. I loved it instantly. Best as I recall it was a fairly simple oats/flour/butter/cinnamon/sugar version, but it had those ingredients in perfect proportion to get a really crispy, oaty topping that was perfectly done, not burnt, by the time the apples were cooked through. Over the years, one or two other recipes I tried didn't get there, and some were more like cobblers, which is fine for peaches and berries, but less satisfying to me for apples.

Anyway, I've harvested my tree's meager offerings this year and am looking for ways to use them. Anyone have a recipe to share?

MEIN GROSMAMA’S APFELKUCHEN:

1 C Flour
1/2 tbl Baking powder
1 tbl Turbinado (raw) sugar
2 tbl Butter
4 Medium cooking apples
1 Egg
Skim milk
1/2 C Turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Butter flavored Pam

Sift four and baking powder together. Add tbl sugar, and cut in butter with pastry cutter. Add milk to egg in measure to 5/8 C (5 oz). Shake or beat together. Spray a 2 qt oblong Pyrex baking dish with Pam lightly. Quickly add liquid to dry ingredients, barely combine, and spread evenly in bottom of baking dish. Peel, core, quarter, and eighth the apples (cutting largest quarter into three slices). Arrange apple slices in eleven rows of three on top of pastry dough. Sprinkle with combined 1/2 C sugar and cinnamon. Spray heavily with butter flavored Pam. Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting into eight pieces and serving four people.

I wish I had the recipe that the wonderful school cooks used in elementary years. In those days a group of older women came in early and started cooking lunch from scratch. It was very well balanced, wholesome food that almost everyone ate. It was too good to miss. One of their best desserts was apple or cherry crisp. The crisp was loaded with oatmeal, very crunchy, not too sweet.

I have tried may recipies over the years but have not found the right proportions. A very good mix was one I used recently from Alice Waters fruit cookbook but it did not contain oatmeal. Neverthless the proportions of flour/sugar/butter/cinnamon/were good. Would prefer to have oatmeal.

To address the over cooked top/undercooked fruit problem it is helpful to precook the filling. For apples a brief saute with butter, sugar, lemon juice, a bit of fruit liquor to get them slightly transparent will help balance

Look forward to other posts on this topic.

Jenise, I was hoping for more replies to you post as I love good Apple Crisp or Apple Brown Betty as my Mom called it. I'll try to find my recipe this week and post it as a reply to your request.

Jenise, I'm a little hesitate to post this recipe, but I've enjoyed reading it and making variations on it ever since it appeared in the Times in 2002:

November 13, 2002
THE MINIMALIST; Get Lost, Apple Pie, by Mark B*****n
.
I DON'T know why anyone would make a pie instead of a crisp. A crisp, most often made with apples but accommodating of almost any fruit, is better textured, better flavored and easier to make.

It's worth noting, too, that a crisp is higher in fiber than a pie and at least a little lower in fat. (Maybe it's not worth noting, since crisps are often served with ice cream or whipped cream anyway.)

The topping of a crisp can be like streusel, sweetened lumps of flour and butter with some nuts mixed in, but it's more commonly (and easily) made with a base of rolled oats. My own older recipes use flour and coconut, as well as the oats, but the flour doesn't add much, and even the coconut is superfluous: all you're looking for is a nice, sweet crunch. For that, the combination of oats with nuts, butter and sugar is as good as it gets, and can be prepared in less than a minute in a food processor.

Any apple slice will soften with long enough cooking, but some apple varieties won't soften quite enough, while others will turn nearly to mush. What you want are apple slices that will retain their shape while becoming tender while also tasting terrific.

What sorts of apple are you looking for? Granny Smiths hold up well to heat, but they're essentially tasteless. McIntosh apples will taste great, but fall apart in the oven.

Best for this recipe are Cortlands (which are also the easiest to find), but Idareds or Paula Reds are also good choices.

Of course, for those who have had enough apples for this year already, pears can make a wonderful crisp as well.

If you choose to use pears instead of apples, however, be aware that unripe pears are unlikely to become tender in the time it takes the topping to brown. You must begin with pears that have started to soften, or their texture will remain unpleasantly firm, even after you have cooked the crisp to a . . . well, a crisp.

APPLE CRISP
Time: About 1 hour

6 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples or ripe pears, 2 to 3 pounds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or more to taste
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
5 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the pan
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss fruit with half the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar, and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine remaining cinnamon and sugar in container of a food processor with butter, oats and nuts; pulse a few times, just until ingredients are combined. (Do not purée.) To mix ingredients by hand, soften butter slightly, toss together dry ingredients and work butter in with fingertips, a pastry blender or a fork.

3. Spread topping over apples, and bake about 40 minutes, until topping is browned and apples are tender. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Jenise, when I make any kind of crisp I like to put almonds (slivered) into the topping. This helps to get a really good crispy CRUNCH out of the topping. I find this essential when making a crisp. Too many times I have had a "crisp" that is fairly soggy on top. Like beans in chili, I just can't stand idly by and let this happen.

And while I am not as passionate on the regional differences regarding crisps, I do feel that the topping should be of a strudel-type. Otherwise you just end up getting a kind of pie.

Off the top of my head, my topping recipe goes like this (kind of):

1 cup Light or Dark Brown Sugar (Muscovado...yum!)
Equal parts of Flour and Butter (3-6 Tbsp. maybe?)
Cinnamon
Chopped slivered almonds
1 tsp. Salt approx.

I like simple and this is about as simple as it gets. The flavors really shine and, as I said, the almonds give a good CRUNCH. Play with it and you will find something you like.

As for the apples I go easy on spices again. A little cinnamon and clove will do me just fine. I also go easy on the sugar as I don't like the crisp to be cloyingly sweet. I really want to taste the apples.

These are easy recipes to eyeball, as I'm sure you know. Happy eating.

rwj

Here's another version, this one reported by Craig Claibourne and said to be Jane Arthur's version [NYTimes June 8, 1977]. I personally don't care for the flour version, not enough crunch:

Ingredients:

6 to 8 tart apples
2 TBS lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp butter

Technique

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Pare, core and cut the apples into quarter. Cut them into eights and arrange the wedges in layers in a 8x8 or 7x9 buttered baking dish.

3. Combine the lemon juice and water and sprinkle over the apples.

4. Blend cinnamon and half a cup of sugar and sprinkle over the apples.

5. Combine remaining sugar, flour, salt and butter in a mixing bowl and work with fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the apples.

6. Bake 45 minutes. Serve with sweetened whipped cream or with ice cream.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

I was interested in how many versions of this dish there are on Google Books; here's a sampling:

A chocolate lovers version of Apple Brown Betty from Diana Dalsass.

A sugar saving version from Liberty Recipes in 1918 by Amelia Doddridge.

****

There are several thousand hits, if you include Apple Brown Betty and Apple Crumble -- the UK name for Apple Crisp.

Regards, Bob

I have tried many recipes and have never been satisfied but I can say that from my trials Bittman's version sounds close ....you need some if not all brown sugar and some flour. Nuts are great but I would suggest that some of the flour be replaced by ground nuts in addition to the chopped nuts. The old standard seasoning is cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg. I always like some cardamon with apples

Christina, even though your post is, in different words, identical to mine I must say that I love cardamom with apples, too. I love cardamom with almost anything. I even eat the pods by themselves.

rwj

P.s. Sorry if that sounded snotty. That was not my intent.

Christina, I like cardamon with apples too, and it works well in this recipe.

An interesting variation if the apples are a bit sweet is to use black strap molasses or a very dark sorghum and sometimes I've used a really dark Grade C maple syrup -- but very sparingly.

We eat lots of baked apples as dessert, often with nothing but apple, so the crisps tend to be very simple. Williams Sonoma has a simple baking dish a little larger than a single apple; it works great for a single serving baked apple and is large enough for a crisp as well.

[Jenise]

Christina, even though your post is, in different words, identical to mine I must say that I love cardamom with apples, too. I love cardamom with almost anything. I even eat the pods by themselves.

rwj

P.s. Sorry if that sounded snotty. That was not my intent.

RJ, ever put a cardamom pod or two in your drip coffee? It's a Lebanese thing--wonderful.

[Jenise]

Jenise, I'm a little hesitate to post this recipe, but I've enjoyed reading it and making variations on it ever since it appeared in the Times in 2002:

November 13, 2002
THE MINIMALIST; Get Lost, Apple Pie, by Mark B*****n
.
I DON'T know why anyone would make a pie instead of a crisp. A crisp, most often made with apples but accommodating of almost any fruit, is better textured, better flavored and easier to make.

It's worth noting, too, that a crisp is higher in fiber than a pie and at least a little lower in fat. (Maybe it's not worth noting, since crisps are often served with ice cream or whipped cream anyway.)

The topping of a crisp can be like streusel, sweetened lumps of flour and butter with some nuts mixed in, but it's more commonly (and easily) made with a base of rolled oats. My own older recipes use flour and coconut, as well as the oats, but the flour doesn't add much, and even the coconut is superfluous: all you're looking for is a nice, sweet crunch. For that, the combination of oats with nuts, butter and sugar is as good as it gets, and can be prepared in less than a minute in a food processor.

Any apple slice will soften with long enough cooking, but some apple varieties won't soften quite enough, while others will turn nearly to mush. What you want are apple slices that will retain their shape while becoming tender while also tasting terrific.

What sorts of apple are you looking for? Granny Smiths hold up well to heat, but they're essentially tasteless. McIntosh apples will taste great, but fall apart in the oven.

Best for this recipe are Cortlands (which are also the easiest to find), but Idareds or Paula Reds are also good choices.

Of course, for those who have had enough apples for this year already, pears can make a wonderful crisp as well.

If you choose to use pears instead of apples, however, be aware that unripe pears are unlikely to become tender in the time it takes the topping to brown. You must begin with pears that have started to soften, or their texture will remain unpleasantly firm, even after you have cooked the crisp to a . . . well, a crisp.

APPLE CRISP
Time: About 1 hour

6 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples or ripe pears, 2 to 3 pounds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or more to taste
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
5 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the pan
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss fruit with half the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar, and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine remaining cinnamon and sugar in container of a food processor with butter, oats and nuts; pulse a few times, just until ingredients are combined. (Do not purée.) To mix ingredients by hand, soften butter slightly, toss together dry ingredients and work butter in with fingertips, a pastry blender or a fork.

3. Spread topping over apples, and bake about 40 minutes, until topping is browned and apples are tender. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Okay, this one's going to be breakfast today.

Please post your variation[s] on this recipe, Jenise. I always learn something new. Regards, Bob

RJ, ever put a cardamom pod or two in your drip coffee? It's a Lebanese thing--wonderful.

Love it love it love it, Jenise!

rwj

Cranberry Apple Crisp (6 servings)
3 cups apple slices
2 cups whole fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup butter
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup chopped nuts
½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine apples and cranberries, Drizzle with honey, Toss lightly
Cut butter into oats, flour and brown sugar
Stir in nuts and vanilla
Place apples and cranberries in a greased baking dish
Cover with oat mixture
Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes

Apple Crisp (2 servings)
2 cups sliced apples
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter

Place apples in a baking dish
Sprinkle water, lemon juice and cinnamon
Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle over apples
Bake uncovered until apples are tender about 30 minutes

With good tart apples, I often make a pandowdy -- after encountering it at Durgin Park in Boston (US's oldest restaurant -- older than the excellent Colonial Inn in NC) decades ago. Very little recipe needed.

Slice generous peeled tart apples into deep glass baking dish(es) such as glass loaf pans. Sprinkle some sugar and favorite spices -- cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. Cover with about a half-inch layer of either biscuit dough or -- what's the stirred variant called -- cottage pudding? -- batter, with no sweetening either way. Bake in moderate oven until browned and the apples are reduced and bubbling. Then (the important part!) seve slices upside-down with thick heavy cream to use as a sauce. The contrasts are what play. It's maybe even better served later, cold.

This has always been more popular than apple pies. (Apple brown Betty is a cousin that's even simpler -- you toss the apples and flavorings with bread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter, then bake -- but the pandowdy is better.)

[Jenise]

Jon, I like the apple-cranberry crisp, that's very unusual. Can't wait to try it.

And Max, thanks for your recipe too. I have to admit to having heard of apple pandowdy for years and never actually knowing what it was. Oh, and at a catered dinner recently, the caterer served something like it (with about four times the sugar the dish needed) and called it Tarte Tatin. I was amused.

The cranberries are a reflection of my New England upbringing.

Jenise, did you ever find the perfect recipe? I thought of you Wednesday. Mollie Katzen's column in The Raleigh News & Observer had a recipe for it that sounded like "the one."

Delightful Dessert Shouts 'Autumn'
By MOLLIE KATZEN

October 25, 2007

I can't think of any kitchen activity more autumnal than sitting around on a damp Sunday afternoon cutting up apples and letting the pieces fall into an eagerly awaiting baking pan. Apple peel is everywhere, including in your hair, on your cat and perhaps sticking to your 7-year-old's arms, and the room smells like an orchard.

Awhile later, after the apples have all reached their destination, rolled oats join the fray as you transform them with very little effort into a heavenly topping, laced with brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter.

The mere act of assembling this straightforward, old-fashioned dish is so evocative that the only thing I can think of that exceeds it in primordial October-style coziness is baking it and eating it, warm, topped with vanilla ice cream or a rich maple yogurt. Plan to make this on a day when there is something good on the radio and it's raining outside. (It's like planning a great memory ahead of time!)

OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP

• 6 to 8 cups peeled tart apples
•3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
•1/4 cup sugar
•1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
•1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
•3 tablespoons brown sugar
•1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
•Dash each of nutmeg and allspice
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
•Optional: 1/2 cup minced walnuts
•Optional: vanilla ice cream or maple yogurt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut apples into slices; place them into a 9- by 13-inch baking pan; and sprinkle them with lemon juice and sugar. Toss the pan and/or stir gently until the apples are well coated.

In a medium-size bowl, use a fork and/or your clean hands to mix together the remaining ingredients (including the walnuts, if using) until the butter is completely distributed. Distribute this topping over the apples, patting it firmly into place.

Bake uncovered in the center of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is crisp and lightly browned, and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, plain or accompanied by good vanilla ice cream or maple yogurt. Makes 6 or more servings


Mollie Katzen is the author of the legendary "Moosewood Cookbook." Her website is http://www.molliekatzen.com.

[Jenise]

Carrie, thanks for the post--that one looks pretty close to what I was hoping for. I did make a few of the recipes suggested in this thread just for the sake of science--like Bob Ross' recipe that's all oats, no flour, in which I cut back slightly on the sugar and added a dash of salt for balance--but good as any of them were, none were as good as, or even better than, what I remember from 8th grade Home Ec. The oats definitely need to be bulked out by flour and sugar, for one. I'll try this.