DESSERT

APPLE CRISP

apple crisp

Confession. Making desserts is not my forte. Generally, the extent of my dessert making involves a spoon and a pint of So Delicious ice cream. LOL

Yes, I made a few decadent desserts to the likes of a Butternut Squash Cake with Coconut Frosting and an Olive Oil Lime Cake With Lime Glaze but that by no means qualifies me as a successful baker for each baking recipe I attempt, but what that does say is, I’m open to the challenges baking often presents in my world and I welcome it with open arms and a BIG sweet tooth. 🙂

This is why I LOVE this apple crisp, which makes it ok for me to keep at this baking thing.  It’s easy, it’s delicious and it justifies the purchase of the 6 ramekins that have occupied my cupboard space for the past two years. Don’t judge me. 

To pull off this simple-easy decadent apple crisp, you’ll need a bunch of Granny Smith apples (5 to be precise) and a lemon, two key ingredients to make this crisp kick.

Let’s talk about granny smith apples… 

Granny smith apples have been my long-time apple favorite for apple pie and this crisp is no different.  It’s the tart, acidic yet subtly sweet flavor that granny smith delivers is unmatched.  You can go with a Honeycrisp or a Golden Delicious the choice is yours will probably still be friends. 🙂  Set aside eight minutes to peel, core and chop into small pieces this will feel like forever be patient perfection takes time.

In a bowl, toss your apples with brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, spelt flour, and pecans. With a rubber spatula or spoon toss the ingredients together coating each apple there should be no pockets of brown sugar or flour clumps insight, the filling is complete.  Transfer 1 cup of mixture into each ramekin. Now, that the apple mixture is marinating next up, the crumble topping.

raw apples in pan

 The next step is to prepare the crumble topping…

In a bowl, stir the spelt flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, pecans, and salt. The salt is important here. The apple mixture is going to be sweet and tart the salt will balance out the sweetness because you must add vanilla ice cream to legitimize its existence. (Vanilla ice cream shot not shown here)

Now, add the cold butter cut into small pieces and with your fingers knead the butter pieces into the dry flour mix until the mixture transforms into small pea-size lumps.  That’s it. You’re done making the crumble topping. Add a generous scoop of topping over each filling ramekin. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet into the oven they go.

If you’re like me and want to observe the blow by blow details, peek through the glass window to witness the crumble turning brown as the juice bubbles and thickens into a gooey syrup.  Your home will be infused with sweet scents of caramelizing brown sugar with intoxicating scents of syrupy drenched roasted apples.

apple crisp in ramekins

This cloying goo with toasted to perfection crumbles will have you salivating after each spoonful.
cooked apple crisp

HOW TO MAKE APPLE CRISP

APPLE CRISP
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 6-7 ramekins
Ingredients
  • FILLING:
  • 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped small
  • ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
  • 3 Tablespoons spelt flour
  • 1/2 Cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Maple syrup
  • 1 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • TOPPING:
  • ¾ Cup of Spelt flour
  • ⅓ Cup brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon pink salt
  • 6 Tablespoons chilled Earth Balance Soy Free Butter, cut into pieces
  • ¼ Cup chopped pecans
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a bowl mix the filling ingredients together. Transfer 1 cup of filling into each ramekin.
  3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Blend the butter into the mixture until it forms pea-size crumbles.
  4. Stir in pecans and sprinkle over the filling.
  5. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet.
  6. Bake crisps for 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Accompaniments:
So Delicious Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream
Coconut Yogurt