Cranberry Apple Crisp

Yes, I've done a few cranberry dessert posts lately. That would be due to the Costco-sized bag of cranberries sitting in my refrigerator. I just felt compelled to make cranberry flavored treats. But, this is the last cranberry concoction because they are now happily tucked away in the freezer so they can be pulled out come turkey day.

Crisps of any kind are so simple and quick to make. Take your favorite fruit (in season is best) and toss it with a little flour, sugar and spices (or citrus). Pour it into a pan...

 Top with a golden layer of oats, brown sugar, pecans (opt.) and butter.

Bake until golden brown - Let cool slightly - Top with vanilla bean ice cream - Devour

Cranberry Apple Crisp
Source: Taste of Home
Ingredients
3 cups chopped peeled tart apples
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

TOPPING:
1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Combine apples, cranberries, sugar and flour. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. In a bowl, mix topping ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over apple mixture. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until fruit is tender. Yield: 6-8 servings.

*  *  *  *  *  *

My Notes:
I roughly chopped the cranberries in a food processor. I also added a little vanilla to the filling.

For the crust, I added cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice. I think spices go really well in a dessert like this.

Blueberry-Pear, Cherry Almond, Peach, Triple berry (raspberry, blueberry and blackberry)...would all be delicious fruit to use too!

2-Layer Apple Oatmeal Crisp

I never make apple desserts, not because I don't like apples, I just never use them in baking. So, I decided to make an apple crisp. I don' think I've made any fruit crisps either, but I wanted to try something simple and good. I turned to allrecipes.com to search for recipes. I browsed through apple crisp recipes and settled on this one for an oatmeal crisp.

It turned out really good, although a little sweet. It made the house smell wonderful as it baked. The thing I liked about this recipe was that it had a bottom and top crust made from streusel. The apples were spiced perfectly with cinnamon and it was wonderful, warm out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top.

Brown Sugar and Oat Streusel

The apple crisp, dotted with butter, ready to go in the oven


I served the apple oat crisp, crumbled in martini glasses with a scoop of ice cream and a fresh grating of nutmeg.

This crisp comes together really quickly and bakes up in 40 minutes.

Apple Oatmeal Crisp

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 scant cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 T butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 inch square pan.
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour, salt and melted butter. Mix until crumbly. Place half of crumb mixture in pan. Spread the apples evenly over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon, top with remaining crumb mixture and dot with butter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

* A mix of red and green tart apples would be good in this to cut down the sweetness of the streusel.