Apple Crisp

Growing up in New York, I had some of the best tasting apples in abundance right in my backyard and on our family farm down the road. We made apple pie, apple crisp, applesauce (pink, if you believe it- my grandma believes in leaving the skins on), apple cider, apple juice, pork with apples, sauerkraut with apples, and apples in between every meal. This led me to become a bit of an apple snob; now that I live on the opposite side of the country, I can only find northwest apples which, please excuse my bias, just don't measure up to our New York varieties. Very few apples beat a good Cortland, Mcoun, or Empire (click here for an overview of New York State varieties). It makes me terribly homesick to think about it.

But even if I can't find my favorite apples, I'm not about to stick my nose up at a good dish of apple crisp. And this crisp is good. There are no weird ingredients (I once found a recipe that required bathing the apples in a wash of vanilla, which is probably amazing, but possibly unnecessary. I'll try it one day) or extra steps (like pre-baking the apples before baking the crisp). It's just plain simple delicious apple crisp.

Apple Crisp
Recipe by Kelly
Pictures by Kelly

4-5 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 stick butter, very soft
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup quick oats OR 1/2 cup old fashioned oats and 1/4 heaping cup quick oats (I chose the latter method)
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish and pour apples into dish.
2. Combine butter, sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Sprinkle over apples. Bake 35 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned and apples have softened. Serve hot or cold.