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Writer's pictureNicole Ciuppa, RDN

Birthday Apple Crisp


I cannot begin to describe to you my attachment to apple crisp. I guess the best place to start is with my birthday-which is today! Every year for my birthday, since the age of two years old, my grandma would bake her apple pie for me to celebrate my birthday with. I never ate a birthday cake with dairy or eggs because those ingredients are among the long list of my allergies. My grandma's apple pie was filled with warm cinnamon apples and, most importantly, all of the love in her heart. Apple pie became apple crisp a couple of years ago and, every year, I look forward to making this heart warming dessert with my mom as my grandma passed away almost five years ago. Because my birthday is September 11th, baking apple crisp kicks off the Fall season filling our home with the comforting scents of cinnamon, sugar, and caramelized apples. My family and close friends celebrated my birthday with me tonight. I served this apple crisp and, to my delight, I received nothing but "mmm...this is amazing!" "You made this? I need the recipe!" and even "This is my favorite dessert ever.". So here I am, sharing with you all my cherished apple crisp recipe. I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as my family and I do.

Serves: one 2 1/2 quart size casserole pan

Ingredients:

Crumbs:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar

  • 10 Tablespoons allergy free butter substitute, chilled

  • 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

  • cinnamon, to taste

Apple Filling:

  • 9-10 apples, I suggest using sweeter apples that are good for baking. I love to use Fuji or Honeycrisp apples.

  • 2 Tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

  • 5-7 Tablespoons granulated sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F

  2. Start by mixing the crumbs. In a large pan, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and allergy free butter substitute. Squeeze the ingredients together with your hands to form large chunks of crumbs.

  3. Store in the refrigerator once formed to chill and allow for a more crumbly texture.

  4. To make the filling, peel, core, and thinly slice the apples adding them to a large bowl. Add the sugar, flour, and cinnamon and mix together evenly being sure to coat all of the apples. We add the flour to absorb some of the liquid that forms from the apples beginning to caramelize with the sugar. If you want less juice at the bottom of your crisp, dust slightly more flour into the apple mixture.

  5. Pour the apple filling to a 2 1/2 quart oven safe casserole pan. Remove the crumbs from the refrigerator and crumble onto the top of the filling. I prefer mixing the size of the crumbs by holding the large chunk of crumb dough in my hand and using my fingers to break out various sizes on top of the apples.

  6. Place the apple crisp into the center of the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 375°F then continue to bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.

  7. Remove from the oven, and let cool before serving. You wouldn't want to burn your mouth on hot fruit-trust me I've been there! The apple crisp is just as delicious chilled from the refrigerator as it is still warm from the oven.

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