Nothing says fall to me more than apples, and there is no better way to use fresh picked apples than to make a homemade apple crisp. This is a family recipe that I’ve been making for my entire life. It is super easy to make and it’s the perfect dessert to make for a chilly fall night. It is best eaten about an hour after it comes out of the oven when it’s warm and juicy. If you want to make it ahead you can re-warm it in a 250-degree oven for 20 minutes. I love it with fresh whipped cream, but you can also put a scoop of vanilla ice cream (no judgement if you decide to do both whipped cream and ice cream!).
Apple Crisp
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare an 8-inch round or square baking pan by spraying it with Pam.
- Peel and slice 4-5 apples – you need about four cups of sliced apples (any kind of apple will do)
- Squeeze a small lemon into a bowl and mix the apples with the lemon juice. This prevents the apples from turning brown. Put the apples in the bottom of the pan (discard the extra lemon juice)
- In a small mixing bowl mix together:
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup rolled oats (optional but yummy)
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- Add one beaten egg with a fork until there is no liquid left from the egg and it is all crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples with your hands – using up all the topping.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and use a teaspoon to drizzle it over the crumb topped apples. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon over the top and place the baking pan on a cookie sheet with parchment – this makes cleanup easier.
- Bake for 1 hour.
Homemade Whipped Cream
- Put a 1-quart glass or metal bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This helps the cream whip up faster.
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup confectionery sugar
- Whip by hand with the whisk until stiff peaks form – this is by far, the most time-consuming way to make whipped cream but also the most satisfying (and helps burn a few calories at the same time!). If you’d rather not do it by hand, you can use a hand mixer.
You can store any leftovers in the fridge.
Susan O’Keefe is the baker/owner of Baked by Susan in Croton-on-Hudson. Bakedbysusan.com.
