Simply delicious...

I'm off to the Christmas gathering of the Crafts Center, where I'm occasionally doing something I actually get paid (a little) for. Since this is a pot-luck affair, I am taking my apple crisp, which seems to go over pretty well. I'm always tinkering with this particular recipe, so I guess you could call it a work in progress.

The origins of this recipe go back a few years to when I was living by myself in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The local market had lots of produce, and the apples were a good price. I remembered fondly my Mom's apple crisps, so I decided to make one for myself. And it was, well, not a disaster, but nothing like my Mom's crisp, nor any other crisp I'd had. It was more like an apple pudding with a bit of cinnamon flavor.

I eventually broke down and made a call to my Mom (at about $2.50 per minute for the call, by the way) and asked her about her recipe for apple crisp. And she said something like "Oh, I really don't have a recipe for that. I just sort of put it together." So then I had to have her just describe what she puts in it. And she said "Oh, some apples, sugar, cinnamon, some oatmeal in the topping, a little bit of flour."

This sounded just like the tasty, non-crisp disaster I had created. And then she said, "Oh, and a little butter, too." And at that point the light-bulb went on... and I started to wonder if I was undergoing premature senility by not just forgetting butter, but not even letting it enter my thought process for the dish.

Anyway, after that, the crisps were pretty good, and I would make myself one about every other week. And I could always count on regular invites over to someone's place for dinner, especially if I could provide the dessert.

Like I said, this recipe has evolved over time, and still changes a little with every batch. Feel free to experiment with it yourself, as it is a pretty forgiving dish. Different spices, maybe some almond slices in the topping, and so on.

But I digress... So here's the recipe for my "famous" apple crisp.


Dave's Famous Apple Crisp

Warning, may be habit forming!
Warning, may be fattening!
Warning, this makes a big crisp, so it is going to be extra fattening if you don't share!


Topping
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats (more if you like)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

With a fork, blend the molasses into the sugar until it is evenly mixed. Add the flour, cinnamon, salt, and oats, and blend together. Add the butter in little pats, then blend it in with a fork, or use a mixer. If the mixture turns out too "stickey" you can add more rolled oats.

The "filling"
8 medium granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
2 Tbsp butter

Mix the dry ingredients, then use the mixture to coat the apples. Put the coated apples into a baking dish and add any of the mixture that remains. Dot with little dabs of the butter. I use a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate for this, and the apples pile up pretty high. Don't worry, they'll settle as they cook.

Put the dish of apples into a microwave on high, and cook for about 12-15 minutes. You want the apples to start to cook, and settle some, but not to turn to mush. When it's done to your satisfaction, pull this out, mix it a little with a fork, then set it aside.


Putting it all together
Sprinkle the topping mixture over the partially cooked apples, making a nice even layer on the top. Pop this into a preheated oven (about 350F) and cook until the topping starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Don't let it burn!

Pull the finished crisp out of the oven, let it cool to serving temperature, and then serve with a nice scoop of french vanilla ice-cream. Enjoy!

Optional step: Once the topping is mixed, put it into the refrigerator to chill... just long enough for it to firm up a bit. Then roll it out between two sheets of waxed paper into a shape the size of your dish. Then just plop this down onto your apple filling.

Cooking option: You can skip the microwave step, but you are likely to have to cook this at 300F for about an hour. This recipe is pretty big, so you have trouble getting the interior to cook without burning the topping. I think it comes out better with the pre-cooking in the microwave, followed by a finishing step in the oven. It's a bit faster, too.