I know it isn’t really apple season, but I’m from Pennsylvania. Plus, I can’t think of too many smells more awesome than baking apples.

This recipe is a two-parter, but don’t let that scare you. It’s really simply and each step can be broken up.

What you will need:

• 2 -3 Ramekins (or something similar)
• Food processor 
• Peeler (optional)
• Tinfoil

Ingredients

Baked Apples:

• 2 – 3 green apples
• 2 – 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• pinch of salt

Topping (Taken directly from The Pie and Pastry Bible)

• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup flour
• pinch of salt

Mom It Down!

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel and core the apples. Cut them up. 

Add your orange juice, sugar and cinnamon. Stir it up. You’re done! Let that sit for however long you want but for at least 30 minutes. 

After your apples are good and marinated, distribute them into two or three ramekins. I use these cute little tomato-shaped Le Creuset casserole dishes we have. (I know it’s a tomato, but let’s pretend.) 

Bake covered for 30 minutes. (Tinfoil works, if your dish doesn’t have a lid.)

Part 2

You can do step 2 anytime during the day and put it aside. Just make sure it’s ready to go before the apples are done pre-baking.

Pulse the nuts, sugars and cinnamon 20 times until the nuts are chopped coarsely. Add everything else, and pulse it until it looks like this:

You’re done. Put that aside until your apples are ready.

When the 30 minutes are up, remove the apples from the oven. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating, distribute the topping evenly to the top of each dish. (I usually have some left over.)

Put the apples back in the oven, uncovered, for another 15 minutes.

That’s it! You’re crisp is ready for consumption. Serve it warm or at room temperature. 

Overcoming obstacles

Most of what I bake these days isn’t done for show. That said, my apple pieces tend to be all different sizes. My husband makes fun of me for it. I always tell him the same thing: I don’t have time for perfection. And if it tastes good, who cares? 

So, the first thing I let go of whenever working with this recipe is the size of my apple pieces. I fly through this step. I peel the apples using an peeler like this one. (It lessens the time substantially especially if you’re doing more than two apples.) I core them using a simple knife and chop them with the same one. Fancy equipment may lessen the amount of time spent here. I’m not sure. A peeler and a knife works just fine (and quickly!) for me.

Depending on how accurate your oven is, you may want to check the topless apples after 25 minutes. Since these apples are to be baked for a while before the topping is added, you don’t want them to be overcooked. I have done this before and while it still tastes great, it ends up being more like applesauce with a crunchy topping.

Variations

I have added Bear Naked Granola to my topping. It was delightful. (Shown above.) I reckon you could add whatever you want as long as the fat content remains intact. Too much flour, for example, can lead to a powdery top and you really want some crunch. (Another mistake I have made.)

I hope this proves helpful! And as always if you have any suggestions and/or comments let me know!

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