Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Apple Crisp

 Comfort with another twist... food! This is probably one of the surest ways of giving comfort in my home from the eldest to the youngest.  Desserts have become a Sunday only fare in my home for the most part, so I really enjoy trying to find a little extra time to bake a dessert to be served at our Sunday dinner.

Since I was planning on baking with apples, a crisp seemed to stir my fancy. But I was pondering what I could add to the crisp topping to raise it from the "norm" and decrease the sugar amounts which gives some crisps too much sweetness. My pantry supplied a bag of ginger snaps. Perfect to give needed sweetness and provide extra spice too. 

5 apples, peeled and sliced.( I used Gala and Granny Smiths with this crisp- I prefer using at least a variety of two apples).
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup water
1 cup ginger snaps ground in the food processor
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/3 c flour
pinch of salt
7 tablespoons butter, softened

Prepare apples and place in 13x9 casserole dish. After mixing the cinnamon,vanilla and water together,  sprinkle on sliced apples.
Mix dry ingredients and add softened butter with pastry cutter. Or you can use your hands to disperse the butter throughout the dry ingredients.
Place on top of apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. 

Some of us like it served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but then some of us like a scoop of ice cream on about every dessert it seems!

a chickadee

 I have taken to afternoon walks in the fields along the side of the woodlands. Today I carried along a small pair of binoculars hoping to c...