Easy Apple Crisp

One thing Zach and I do frequently is buy a bunch of apples…and then forget to eat them. Actually, he’s much better at remembering than I am. I love the idea of apples, but they are one fruit I don’t really care for.

So I was not surprised last week when I walked into the kitchen to find a single apple, sitting in the dish. It had been there for over a week. I hate waste and I was afraid its time was coming, so I cooked up something interesting for it.

Easy Apple Crisp

• 1 large apple (it doesn’t matter what kind)
• 2 tbsps lemon juice
• 2 tbsps sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup almond flour
• 4 tbsps butter

Step 01: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Dice the apple. I know most people like to slice it really thin, but I feel like it goes farther this way. (And it’s easier to scoop when it’s finished.)

Step 02: Toss the apples in a bowl with lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Layer them at the bottom of a prepared casserole dish. (Mine is a 2-qt, but it doesn’t need to be that big.)

Step 03: In a medium sized bowl, combine the brown sugar, oats, and flour. Cut in the butter and, using your fingers, blend it all together until the butter is completely incorporated. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the apples are tender and the topping is crispy.

Enjoy!

I love apple crisp. It’s like pie, but without all the mess (and work) of making dough. And this one was fantastic.

You can spice it up a little more by adding more seasonings to the topping, to the apples, or both. I’d recommend nutmeg and/or ginger.

Budget Friendly Tips

• You don’t have to use special apples. Buy whatever is on sale at your local grocery store.
• If you find yourself with too many apples, you can freeze them by sprinkling them with lemon juice (to keep them from browning), lining them on parchment paper (make sure they don’t touch each other), freezing, and then storing them in a bag. Be sure to peel, core, and slice them before freezing.
• Don’t have brown sugar on hand? I didn’t either. Save yourself a trip to the store by combining 1 cup of regular sugar with 1 tbsp molasses. Mix it together quickly–don’t spend a million years taking pictures or the molasses will harden and it will never blend. Trust me. If you don’t keep molasses around, just use plain white sugar and add some cinnamon to it. It’s not going to kill anything.
• Almond flour is pretty expensive. So if you’re not into making your own, just use regular flour. Almond is more nutritious, but regular flour will do the same thing in this recipe.

[yumprint-recipe id=’27’]