There’s a morning every September when the air turns. When it came last week I knew exactly what I was making that day.
It’s the apple crisp from my fall kitchen post: tart Granny Smith apples, a brown sugar oat topping, and more Irish butter than I’d admit to my doctor. It’s an easy apple crisp, the kind you can make with one eye on something else, and it has meant the start of fall in our house for as long as the kids can remember.
For years it was an after-school surprise. Nobody knew which day it would be. They’d walk in, smell the cinnamon, and that was the whole announcement. Even in high school, when very little I did impressed anyone, it was a revered day.
This year the kitchen was quiet at three.
So I made it in the morning instead, before a doctor’s appointment with my parents, and brought it along. Those appointments are long, and a little heavy, and everyone is worn out by the end of them. We went back to their kitchen, I put the kettle on, and we had it warm with tea. My mom went back for seconds, which is a real win for us right now.
That was the day I finally wrote the recipe down. I’ve made it from memory for so long that it never occurred to me nobody else had it. So I wrote it out on an index card, in pen, the way my mother wrote hers, and sent a photo to the kids. The texts that came back were a little sad and a little thrilled, which is about right for this stage of life. My daughter said she is making it for her roommates this weekend, and I’ve promised them each a real card, in my handwriting, when they’re home for Thanksgiving.
As for the leftovers: my son came home for Sunday dinner yesterday, opened the fridge, and found the last of it. You’d have thought I’d bought him a car! Some traditions just take a train ride home from the city now.
How to make the best apple crisp
I’ve made this more times than I can count, and these are the four things that matter.
Use Granny Smith apples. They hold their shape and stay tart, so it tastes like apples and not like pie filling. Softer apples turn to applesauce under the topping.
Keep the topping cold. Make it first and put it back in the fridge while you slice the apples. Cold butter is what gives you crisp, crumbly clumps instead of a sandy lid.
Use quick or instant oats. They bake into a finer, crunchier topping than old-fashioned oats. Mine are McCann’s, obviously.
Check it at 35 minutes. You want the topping deep golden and the apples bubbling at the edges. If the top browns before the apples are tender, lay a piece of foil loosely over it for the last few minutes.
Easy Apple Crisp with Oat Topping
Serves 6 · Bakes 35–45 minutes at 375°F · One 8x8 dish
Topping
1 cup quick or instant oats (of course I use McCann’s Quick Irish Oatmeal)
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick chilled salted butter, cut into small pieces (again…of course it’s Kerrygold)
Filling
Nonstick oil spray
3–4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1½ tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
To serve
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
A mug of Irish tea
Method
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Make the topping. Mix all the topping ingredients by hand or with a pastry blender until they form wet, coarse clumps. Keep it chilled in the fridge.
Make the filling. Mix the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg), then the wet (lemon juice, milk and vanilla). Add the apples and toss until every slice is coated.
Assemble. Transfer to a small baking dish, about 8x8, sprayed with nonstick spray. Top evenly with the crumble.
Bake for 35–45 minutes, checking at 35.
Spoon warm into bowls and serve with ice cream or whipped cream and a mug of Irish tea. Enjoy!
What’s the recipe that means fall at your house? Tell me in the comments. I’m always looking for the next one.
Pull up a chair. I’ll put the kettle on.