Perfect Picnic Dessert: Apple Crisp Recipe
I’m back… back to reality after a wonderfully relaxing and fun four day vacation that I will share with you next week.
I was surprised when I heard someone at the airport say… “Have a nice holiday”…I thought, “What holiday?” and then it dawned on me – Memorial Day weekend – that’s what holiday they were referring to. It snuck up on me. I have been way too immersed in work to realize that May is nearing the end.
Ed and I always like to hang out with family and friends to celebrate the start of the Summer season. This year it looks like it is going to be a nice one weather wise which is good for anyone hosting or going to a picnic or BBQ. We always grill steaks or burgers and have everyone bring something else to fill the plates. This apple crisp recipe is what I have made for many outdoor parties or picnics I have hosted or attended.
When you think of “apple recipes” you usually think Fall, but this recipe is good all year round and is perfect as picnic or pot luck party fare because it:
- Can be made ahead of time
- Won’t melt in the heat
- Is easier to serve than good ole American Apple Pie
- Way better than a last minute tray of Brownies
I have made this apple crisp so many times that I no longer need to look at the recipe. I always make it in a fluted white baking dish.
I like the look of white bakeware – it makes me feel all William Sonoma-y… like a real foodie.
Do you know that feeling I am talking about? That feeling you get when you enter a Williams Sonoma…and you are surrounded by so much culinary making goodness you start to feel a little bit sophisticated. It makes you feel like maybe if you used the gadgets or All-Clad pots, colorful dish towels, and celebrity authored cookbooks you see displayed, you just may even for a minute become a gourmet cook or maybe even begin to enjoy the process of cooking. I have only bought a few items in the store, but do feel empowered walking out of the store with one of their classic white shopping bags with their dark green logo in hand – even if my purchase is as small as a box of paper cupcake liners.
I get this feeling every time I make this apple crisp recipe in my white fluted baking dish.
The recipe is not my own, but one that I have tweaked to my liking. It is from Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessas Parties cookbook. The recipe is on page 226.
My Version of The Barefoot Contessa’s Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp Recipe
I have made this recipe with many variations… 6 apples or sometimes more, with butter, with margarine, no orange juice, canned orange juice, fresh orange juice, no lemon…less sugar. No matter what I do or don’t add to it – it still always tastes delish. I like the topping really crunchy and always add more oatmeal than the original recipe calls for.
A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. Here is a quick look at the steps to make it.
The recipe calls for the zest of a one lemon and one orange. I remember when Ina Garten was coming to the William Sonoma store near me. I wanted to meet her and decided to go, but when I arrived at the store the line for her to sign my book was out the door. It would be a 2 -3 hour wait. I didn’t have 2-3 hours, so I did he next best thing. I went into the store and got as close as I could to where she was sitting and pretended to shop.
She was set up near the cookbooks. I picked one up to make it look like I was totally engrossed in reading it when what I was really doing was watching and listening to Ina as she signed books. No one stopped me since the store was still open for business. It made me smile when after about 10 minutes, a woman came up beside me. She grabbed and opened up a cook book and joined me to stalk Ina from a close vantage point.
I don’t own a lot of kitchen gadgets, but do use two to make this recipes prep fast and easy. One is a Microplane zester/grater. When I heard Ina say it was one of her favorite kitchen gadgets, I had to have it. :-) It makes zesting – fun! I walked out of the store that day with the signature white shopping bag in tow.
After the apples are sliced you mix them with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, the juice of an orange and lemon along with the grated zests
Place the apple mix in the the bottom of your baking dish.
To make the topping: Mix the dry ingredients and butter and mix it until it is crumbled together.
Pour it over the top of the apples, add some dabs of butter and bake. While it is baking your kitchen will smell delish.
It bakes for an hour or until it looks lightly browned and bubbly. Let it cool…it is hard to wait. My family eats it when it is still warm. It can be served with whipped cream or ice cream – Yum-O!
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 10
Ingredients
- 7-9 Granny Smith Apples
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- FOR THE TOPPING
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 2 sticks of butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 14 x 2-inch round or oval baking dish.
- Peel, core, and cut the apples into wedges or slice with a slicer. Combine the apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.
- To make the topping: Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.
- Place the crisp on a sheet pan and bake for one hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly. Serve warm.
Do you have any plans for the Memorial Day weekend? Do you have a tried and true recipe that you make to take to Summer picnics and BBQ’s?
Hope it turns out as delish as this apple crisp recipe always does for me.
Happy Memorial Day…enjoy the holiday weekend! See ya back here on Monday.
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