Hello, readers! We’re here with a very fall-ish recipe for you.
We visited a local farm not so long ago and picked a lot of apples. My mom made applesauce with most of the apples, but she left some aside for other uses.
83.33% of us (everyone besides my mom!) enjoy apple pie, but we decided to make an apple crisp, because 100% of us like it.
I thought this apple crisp was better than any other crisp I’ve ever had. Apple crisp doesn’t really stay crispy when leftover, but since this recipe makes just one skillet’s worth of crisp, you can probably eat most of it in one sitting (at least, we can at our house!).
We used a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated (of course!), which calls for using a skillet instead of a pan. So you’ll need a skillet that can go in the oven.
You do bake this in the oven eventually, but you start in a skillet.
So, first heat your oven to 450° F.
Then in a small bowl, combine flour, pecans (we left those out!), oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
Stir in 8 tablespoons (one stick) of melted butter.
Then your topping is done.
For the filling, you’ll need three pounds of apples, which you will peel, core, and cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges.
Toss the apples in a bowl with sugar and cinnamon.
Next, pour a cup of apple cider into a 12-inch skillet and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to simmer until the cider is reduced to a half cup, about five minutes.
(The first time we made this, we let it simmer a little too long, and we had to add more cider!)
Pour the cider back into the measuring cup and stir in 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in the now-empty skillet over medium heat.
Add the apples.
Cook them over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the apples are softened. The recipe says you should do this for about 12-14 minutes, but our apples must have been a little bit hard, because we needed to cook them for more like 20 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat, and add the cider, stirring gently until the apples are coated.
Finally, sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples. You might have to break up the topping a bit because the butter tends to harden while you’re making the apple filling.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. The topping should be nicely browned but not burnt.
Cool the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes, or you’ll burn your mouth!
Once the apple crisp has cooled a bit, serve it with some vanilla ice cream.
If you have any leftovers, Joshua would like you to know that they are quite edible (even though I don’t particularly like leftover apple crisp).
So, what about you? Are you an apple crisp fan or an apple pie fan??
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Skillet Apple Crisp
Printable Skillet Apple Crisp recipe
This recipe calls for Golden Delicious apples, but we used Fuji both times with delicious results.
Topping
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup pecans, chopped fine
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (see note)
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
3 pounds Golden Delicious apples (about 7 medium), peeled, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 cup apple cider
2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Topping
Preheat oven to 450°F. In a small bowl, combine flour, pecans(optional), oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the melted butter.
Filling
Mix apples with cinnamon and granulated sugar in a large bowl.
Simmer cider in skillet until reduced to 1/2 cup. Pour cider into measuring cup and stir in lemon juice.
Melt two tablespoons butter in empty skillet; add apples and cook for 12-14 minutes, or until softened. Remove pan from heat, and add cider mixture. Mix until apples are coated. Sprinkle topping evenly over the apples.
Place skillet in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.