Grandma was an excellent pie maker, but I rarely think of apple when I think of her pies. She made her share of other apple desserts, including what we typically called apple crisp. Since I started this blog, I've been eyeing this apple recipe and waiting for fall. Last week I went to a nearby apple orchard specifically looking for good cooking apples and returned with some ginger gold apples, which are said to keep their shape when cooked. They did keep their shape - and proved an excellent choice for this recipe:
I decided to make a few adjustments based on what I've learned from years of making apple crisp. The first thing to go was the added cup of sugar - apples are sufficiently sweet and don't need all that extra sugar. The topping has enough already. I also left out the 2 tablespoons flour because it isn't necessary. I think it's in there to prevent the bottom layer from getting runny, but I rarely if ever have that problem with apple crisp. In the topping, I used half whole wheat flour. Its brown color and rich, nutty flavor are a welcome in a crumble topping. I also reduced the butter so the mixture crumbles nicely and it isn't too difficult to work it all in.
I couldn't imagine a baked apple dessert without a bit of cinnamon, so I added a dash of that. The same for nutmeg. They were not really noticeable in the finished dessert. Next time I'd go for a generous half teaspoon of each.
Here is the pared down ingredient list I used:
4 cups thinly sliced apples (about 4 medium cooking apples such as ginger gold)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter, softened
dash of ground cinnamon
dash of ground nutmeg
I placed the sliced apples in my favorite baking dish (approximately 9 by 9 inches) and mixed the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, using a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Then it was just a matter of sprinkling this crumb mixture over the apples and baking at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. We cooled it slightly before serving.
There's currently only one piece of this left from the batch I made, and I think it has my name on it.