Apple Crisp

The family went apple picking a few weekends back and brought home two huge bags of them. Can you believe that they're already almost gone? And they were all from snacking. I did have one small bag of apples that were a bit bruised, however, reserved for some kind of baking. The other night I had a craving for apple crisp, so baking apples were given to the cause.

I really thought I'd taken pictures, but apparently we were all in such a hurry to chow down on hot apples topped with crunchy, sweet topping, I forgot. Sorry about that.

Apple Crisp

6 medium cooking apples, sliced
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cook or old-fashioned oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup cold butter

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In an ungreased 8-inch square pan or a glass pie dish, spread the apples.

2. In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter, using a pastry blender or two knives, until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over apples.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm, with ice cream or cream if desired.

The Verdict: Prepare for a fight for the leftovers.

While this is cooking, your house will smell amazing. The apples, cinnamon and sugar all melt together, creating the most wonderful fall aroma you can imagine. The topping is great--crispy and sweet. It is plentiful, though. I'm not exactly complaining, but you'll see what I mean when you're sprinkling and sprinkling and sprinkling topping over apples for what feels like whatever.

This was a last minute decision to make, so I didn't have any ice cream to accompany it. But a good vanilla, like Ben & Jerry's, would be out of this world with it.