A yummy Tuesday to you, friend! I don’t think I’ve posted a recipe in a good long while so I think it’s about time. In my family, any type of baked apple dessert is a win. We currently live in apple dumpling land, and don’t misunderstand they are good, but we prefer thin slices with a crumble top and served with a mound of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I’ve mentioned several times that my mom is the queen of apple pie and her recipe has always been the Dutch version with a brown sugar and cinnamon crumble on the top. I was probably into my teens before I had a double crust apple pie. My husband actually grew up with a very mild apple allergy so when we first met, he wouldn’t eat them raw. Unfortunately, I did not get the pie crust gene and since we met before the internet was the treasure trove of recipes that it is today, I had to adapt my mom’s pie recipe to be crustless.

Which makes this an apple crisp. Either way, it’s cinnamon-y and sweet without being cloying. It’s best warm and served with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. And it makes a great simple dessert for any holiday.

Two tricks to this recipe, though. In a more traditional apple crisp, the apples are diced into similarly sized pieces. I actually prefer this when the apples are sliced pie style. And I have one of those fancy slicer gadgets, so thin sliced rules.

Second trick is to mix up the apples. You can certainly rock this with one variety, but mixing a sweet with a more tart variety gives the best flavor. Our favorite combination is half honeycrisp (sweet) and half Granny Smith (tart). Anything will work as long as all the apple varieties are crisp (i.e. avoid McIntosh and the like or save them for making applesauce).

This recipe can easily be adapted to be gluten free. Simply omit the all purpose flour and substitute your gluten free baking flour preference or mill down some extra oats. If you need it dairy free, omit the dairy topping or use your favorite dairy free version. It should also be noted that I measure cinnamon with my heart and I have probably underestimated amounts.

For the Filling:

4 medium apples (half sweet, half tart), peeled, cored and thinly sliced

¼ c brown sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

For the Topping:

½ cup flour

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into rough cubes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish. Mix all filling ingredients so that dry ingredients coat the apple slices fairly evenly. Spread the filling across the bottom of the baking dish. Make the topping by placing dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub or cut in butter until the mixture resembles sand with pea sized chunks. Spread evenly over apples. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for five minutes before scooping into bowls and serving.

Enjoy!