Some recipes are good enough to serve at the church picnic. Some recipes are fine enough to take to the family barbecue. Other recipes you know will satisfy your office coworkers. Those savages will eat just about anything.
Then there’s the recipe that you pull out of your back pocket when you’re looking for love.
This beautifully simple Apple Crisp recipe is that “get a man (or woman!) and hold on to him (or her!) recipe”. If you already have that man, consider this your “it’s time for a ring” recipe, or your “sorry I scratched the bumper of our new car” recipe, maybe even the “thanks for working so hard today honey… I made the house smell like warm apples with this apple crisp just for you” recipe. See, I’m looking out for you.
This recipe is the perfect balance of warm memories and good love. The warm apples tossed with sugar and cinnamon beautifully collide with the toasted, crunchy topping.
It’s a dream come true.
So the Bake a Warm Apple Crisp and Get a Man experiment hasn’t yet worked for me. That’s mostly because I haven’t tried it yet.
But Ann, the generous lady at Fidget who was kind enough to share this recipe with me, has had oodles of success. She wooed her husband with this very recipe and still has requests for the apple crisp from Mr. Fidget six years later. It works!
Sit and Stay Awhile Apple Crisp
recipe from Ann of Fidget
bake in an 8×8 baking dish or double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 dish
Filling:
5 to 6 medium-size apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices. (About 7.5 cups) + a squeeze of half a lemon
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1.5 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + 1 tsp sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
Preheat the oven to 350. Generously grease an 8×8 baking pan with butter.
Place a layer of apple slices in the bottom of the pan and dust with sugar/cinnamon mixture and lemon juice. Continue layering apples and dusting with cinnamon/sugar until done. Toss the apple mixture until evenly coated in cinnamon sugar. The apples should be just about to the top of the pan (they will cook down).
For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon, salt and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take one full handful of the topping and toss it into the sugared apple mixture. Spread the rest of the topping evenly over the apples. (I usually end up with a dough-like topping that I just lay on top of the apples).
Bake the crisp in the dish on a baking sheet on the center oven rack until the topping is crunchy and the apples are bubbling, 55-60 minutes.
Serve hot; it’s excellent with vanilla ice cream.
snooky doodle
Thanks for this great recipe I ll try it next time I make apple crisp :-) looks delicious and hey I want my man to love me more :)))
Natalie
I’m making a doubled version of this right now and after 60 minutes the middle apples are still crunchy and the topping is dry and floury. What to do to save it?!
joythebaker
I’m so sorry that didn’t work out for you. It sounds like you might need a bit more butter. It might help to move the pan from the top to the bottom for baking.
Ann
I’m so glad you liked it! It’s just pure comfort (and wooing) food to me. :)
Sarah
Ooh, and I just got some fresh picked apples from a friend yesterday! Woohoo!!!
Katie
Perfect time of year for this. This is making me really hungry.
Jingle
This looks simply amazing. It may even be better than Mom’s. But SHHHH!!! Don’t tell her I said that!
Aimee
I’d stick around for a bowl of this crisp. Funnily enough, I’ve made two already this week: my honey isn’t going anywhere!
Katie
Wow! That looks soooooooo cinna-mini-deliciousness. Yes, and that’s a word. Just soooo you know. :)
niftierthanthou
That looks amazingly delicious. I’m definitely making it this weekend.
Gina
Looks delish…so does everything else here..glad I found your blog
Siri
Hi Joy! Just thought I should comment on today’s post because a)your crisp looks damn fine, and b)I just made a post on my blog about the recipe that helped me wooe my husband 5 years ago- Cranberry Bread. Funny coincidence, no?
Joeli
I make an apple crips recipe that’s very similar to this (a bit more oats and a bit less flour for the topping) and I can definitely confirm that it is a winner. It was one of the first things I baked for my now husband–it’s practically foolproof, unlike the some of the other things I tried to bake for him (stupid lemon meringue pie). Looking at yours makes me want to make it again!
peabody
Looks like a keeper.
joythebaker
hi aimee- i’m sorry i never mentioned it! i used granny smith apples. the super bright and tart kind. you might also try pink ladies. those are nice too!
food librarian- the smell was outta this world. thanks!
food librarian
Oh my gosh. I can SMELL this and I want it!! Looks delicious and as always, great photos that make us all drool!
aimee
hi! i was just wondering if there is a specific apple that works best for this recipe. thanks so much for sharing!