My lovely wife, Jessica, is the pastry chef in our house. With two dessert-obsessed sons, you can guess who earns the gold star in our family! Her rock star take on a humble apple crisp has rapidly become an undeniable Thanksgiving staple. Well, at least it used to be just for Thanksgiving. Nowadays, I think we’re up to every other Thursday.
Ingredients
FILLING:
- 6 large Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled, diced
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 8 traditional caramel candies (the non-hard type)
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
TOPPING:
- 0.175 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 0.175 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 0.175 cup rolled oats
DRIZZLE:
- 10 traditional caramel candies (the non-hard type)
- 1 tsp water
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large mixing bowl, Mix apples,
- granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
How to Make It
- To make the topping, in the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, and pulse 5-6 times. Add half of the butter and pulse 5-6 times to combine. Occasionally use a spoon to ensure that the ingredients are being mixed evenly. Add the remaining butter and pulse 5-6 more times. Pour contents into a mixing bowl. Add oats and mix with clean hands until topping resembles coarse crumbs.
- Pour apple mixture into a baking dish. Place 8 caramels and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on 50% power in the microwave in 30-second increments until melted. Drizzle the melted caramels over the apple mixture. Evenly distribute the topping on the apple mixture. Transfer the baking dish to the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender.
- When the casserole has cooled, make the caramel drizzle for the top. Mix 10 caramels, water, salt, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat this mixture in the microwave on high in 30 second increments until melted. Drizzle over top of the crisp or on individual servings. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
