I may or may not have just made some raw cookie dough [sans eggs] to help me with finals… just one large paper, one short essay, and one multiple choice exam stand in between me and FREEDOM!!!!
In case you’re interested in my rendition, ya know, if you may or may not want to join me in my cookie dough fest, I used about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1/8 cup white chocolate chips + 1/8 cup butterscotch chips. Deeelicious! My college friends and I used to buy tubes of store-bought cookie dough and tubs of funfetti frosting to munch on during girls’ nights. Brings back memories… gotta go, I don’t want to experience the memory of 2 am paper-writing! 🙂
I love fruit. Growing up, I often preferred fruit to chocolate in desserts. While I can’t say the same is 100% true today, I still love fruit in my desserts. Or as a snack. Or anytime, really. Fruit is so tasty and sweet on its own… it doesn’t need anything else to make it better.
However… [there’s always a however] it can be a little better with some mix-ins.
That’s why I love apple crisp so much. Apple is the star of the show, complemented by some side-show characters. Enter oats. Brown sugar. Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Ginger. The taste of fall.
Dessert for two!
This tale of delightful contrasts plays its masterpiece in your mouth. Yum! That’s the best place to play, in my opinion. This apple crisp is simple and oh-so-sweet. The apples are baked twice for an extra oomph of tenderness and softness, and the crisp is perfectly crisp. [Anything else and would it be crisp?] You’ll enjoy the spice against the sugar and the soft, tart apple against the sweet, crisp oats. Each bite will bring you just enough crispy goodness and the perfect amount of real apples–none of that fake filling stuff here! No siree! And the best way to enjoy this delectable show? With a hearty scoop of ice cream, melting over top the warm apple crisp. It’s so good that you’ll want an encore. And you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen, so make it today.
3 cups apples, roughly peeled, chopped, and cored [I used 2 Granny Smith and 1 Gala.]
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons rolled oats
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
4 tablespoons melted butter
cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet and 2 – 1/2 quart baking dishes with cooking spray. Arrange half of the apples on the cookie sheet, and divide the other half of the apples between the two baking dishes [1/4 of the apples will be in each dish, and 1/2 will be on the cookie sheet]. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Pour in the melted butter and stir to combine with a fork to create coarse crumbs. Top the apples in the baking dishes with about 1/4 cup of the oats mixture each. Reserve the rest of the oats mixture and stash in the freezer so it doesn’t get too warm.
Meanwhile, bake the dishes and the cookie sheet for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and transfer half of the cookie-sheet-apples on top of each of the baking dishes [this makes a second layer of apples]. Then, divide remaining oats over top of the second layer of apples. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until apples are soft and tender and the top is crisp. Serve with ice cream!
The Pajama Chef 