Recipe: My Gran'ma's Apple Crisp

It's been a while since I have shared a recipe, but being on lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic has given me the free time to sort through my late grandmother's cookbook as well as the time to make her wholesome recipes instead of grabbing a pre-mixed box off of the shelf at the local Wally World.

This project all started when, in an attempt to continue eating healthy at a time when everyone I speak to is gorging on convenience foods, I bought a bag of apples while stocking up at the warehouse club. A 5-pound bag of honeycrisps was only $6.00 and the frugal New Englander in me could not pass us such a deal...unfortunately, my family is super lazy when it comes to food prep and since fruit does not peel and slice itself I realized too late that I would be the only one eating these apples if I didn't bake them into something magnificent. Without further ado, I present my Gran'ma's Apple Crisp recipe!

Gran'ma Birdie's Traditional Apple Crisp

Ingredients - Topping

1/2 cup flour
1/3 light cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons white (granulated) sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature/softened, cut into 1 tablespoon chunks

Ingredients - Filling

6 medium apples (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat over to 375 degrees F (190 C).

Mix 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Work the butter into mixture until mixture is crumbly.

Peel, core, and slice apples into 8 wedges each, cut some wedges in half. Put apple wedges in a bowl separate from topping and toss with 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Let sit for 5 minutes, allowing coating to moisten and stick to the apples.

Add apples to a greased square baking dish or or deep dish pie plate, smoothing out the top so apples sit evenly in the baking dish. Top evenly with crumb mixture topping.

Bake in preheated over for 40 - 45 minutes, until apples are tender. Check after 30 minutes; if topping is browning too quickly, cover the dish with foil until it finishes baking. Cool slightly and serve warm, with vanilla ice cream if desired.


Notes on the apples: This recipe was originally made with Cortland apples. I do not recommend Macintosh apples because they get mushy very quickly; try Paula Red for a similar taste with a firmer texture. Granny Smith apples are more tart; if you use these, increase filling sugar to 1/2 cup and filling flour to 3 tablespoons.