You will find the actual recipe at the bottom of the post, after my musings.
We'll call it apple crisp but you know you can use any fruit in there. Got a couple of plums getting soft?
Maybe a pear that's looking a bit the worse for wear?
But for the sake of argument we'll talk apples.
The main thing here is to make enough topping to stash away in your freezer so that you can make a crisp on demand.
You will be the hero.
You will be the most amazing dessert-maker, because you will be the one with the luscious apple/rhubarb/pear/plum/berry/peach crisp tantalizing them and making them sit up and say who's who.
Don't sweat the exact ingredients. Take your fruit, chop it up, and put it in a lightly greased pan.
If you favor a thin layer of fruit topped by acres of crispy topping, choose a shallow pan. If you are the kind who wants a bowl of fragrant, perfectly cooked fruit garnished with a kiss of oats and sugar, go for the deeper casserole dish.
Toss the fruit with a bit of thickener (I call for flour with the apples, but a spoonful of tapioca works perfectly with berries, and corn starch is great with peaches), a tiny bit of sugar if the fruit is tart, and a hint of cinnamon if it goes. Lemon juice for the blander apples and pears.
Mix up your topping. Triple that recipe, at least! I always end up throwing in more oats at the end…but I find that this approximate recipe is the one I like for a good balance of crispy oats and butter. You can do chopped nuts as well.
I leave out the cinnamon from the topping, because I prefer some fruits with vanilla or just plain, no spices. So I put what I want in with the fruit.
Sock away that topping. It will last for a good long while. You can use a ziploc bag or a plastic container — just remember to label it so it doesn't disappear amongst the other somewhat brownish substances in the icy deep. We wouldn't want to sprinkle ground beef on our fruit by mistake, now would we?
See, I made two — one for a family in need of a dinner and one for our family. Easy-peasy.
Personally, I just love apple crisp when it's cold out of the fridge. Pie too. Do you like yours warm? Or is there something about the firm butteryness of that cold concoction that gets you every time?
Apple Crisp
For a 9 X 14 pan — the size of my trusty enameled pan, just a smidge smaller than the normal lasagna pan. Use something that makes you feel autumnal and homey.
Cut up 8 or 9 medium-sized apples (tart ones are best — use your “utility” apples for this — the ones you get marked down at the orchard if you are lucky enough to live near one– I like MacIntosh maybe mixed with Macoun and Courtland)
Toss with 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. If you are using berries, put in 2-4 teaspoons tapioca, depending on how juicy your berries are (the box for instant tapioca will tell you, and tapioca gives a really satisfying texture to fruit pies and crisps — just don't use too much).
Top with the crumble topping, making a nice thick layer, covering all the apples well (quantities in the parentheses are for tripling purposes):
(3) 1 cup oats
(1) 1/3 cup flour
(3) 1 cup brown sugar
(1 1/2 cup = 3 sticks) 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
One pinch of salt (1/4 tsp for the larger quantity) — yes, you do need the salt to perk everything up.
Oh, go ahead and toss in a bit more oats. Pulse in the food processor or cut with a pastry blender or two knives until the butter is chopped into very small pieces — but don't completely mush or it will just be cookie topping.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400* (a bit more if you are using a deep dish) or until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling. If it looks like the juices are overwhelming the topping and making it not… crispy, put on the broiler for a few minutes until the juices bubble up slowly and the crisp gets nicely browned.
Pippajo says
Well, would you look at that, I've got half a peck of apples from the pick-your-own orchard sitting on the kitchen floor waiting to be magically transformed!Apple crisp all around!
Sue says
What a great idea! Oh, how I wish we had an apple orchard nearby. Fruit is pretty expensive here in Japan, but Japanese people have this one quirk that helps me get good deals. Most people do not like ugly fruit. Appearance is very important when it comes to food. So when they have the marked down fruit that doesn't look great, but is perfectly fine otherwise – you know who is snapping it up! Maybe I'll just go ahead and make that tripled batch of topping so I'm ready when I find some good, cheap fruit! Thanks for the great tip.
skoots1mom says
yummo!!
Leila says
Now you are thinking, Sue…And any fruit is great in a crisp. In fact, raw fruit gives me bad indigestion, mostly, so I love desserts like this!
Jen says
ha!the ground beef on apple crisp was funny! The other day I made lamb stew and had some extra beef broth on the stove in a pan in case I needed it. I made this really great banana breadish (can't figure out what to call it since it's in an 8×8 pan) http://www.onefrugalfoodie.com/2009/10/09/banana-… and my husband thought the beef broth was a butterscotch topping and put it on the banana stuff! Mind you (Lawler sisters laughing at him), he'd had no sleep the night before since his flight that morning from Savannah (hi Deirdre!) was at 6 am.
margo says
wow – I love enameled pans but I never knew you could bake in them. well I'll be.
gilly says
yum! in australia we call this apple crumble. great with custard. it's so good
NJenn says
Thanks for all the tips you've shared. It's really impractical to throw away all that food in the fridge because it's not used for cooking. When I get the chance I'd use some of them but I tried it with apples and my kids loved it.
kristina b says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made a little one with peaches (it's just my husband and me) and saved the extra topping in the freezer, and it was so incredibly delicious! We ate the whole thing (an 8 by 8 pan) last night after dinner…
joan says
This is my favorite Fall season recipe. I’ve used this recipe for years, but I come here whenever I need to find your recipe since your website is much more organized than my recipe box. I make up a triple batch (or two triple batches) and freeze in individual zip bags, as you suggest – and as you said, clearly marked so I can later identify what it is. lol – done that! I love that when I have apples (or whatever), I already have the ‘crisp’ part made up. It’s so easy to toss some apples in a pan and grab a bag of the crisp from the freezer. So impressive and I love the convenience.
I serve it warm and fresh the first day, but if there’s any leftovers, I especially love it cold right out of the refrigerator the next day.
Thank you over and over again!!