Caramel Apple Crisp

While I love a expertly spiced apple pie or an elegant apple tart, sometimes I don’t have the desire to make a pie crust or slice and layer apples in a tart. Apple crisp is a delightful, and simple alternative. My pet peeve for fruit crisps is bad toppings, I have had far too many toppings consisting of mostly unadorned oats, sitting atop poorly cooked fruit. There is no reason that a crisp has to be boring, even if you don’t go through the trouble of making pastry.

I had originally bought a bag of apples with the intention of making caramel apples, but as they sat in my refrigerator, I decided they needed to be used. I didn’t want to give up on the apple and caramel combination, so I added a caramel sauce. Instead of oat I used a streusel topping, and topped it with some coconut whipped cream. If caramel is out side of your comfort zone you could serve with apple cider reduction sauce.

Apple Crisp

2 lbs apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp cognac (optional)
2 Tbsp arrow root powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

Topping

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Earth Balance, chilled
pinch of salt

Caramel Sauce or Apple Cider Reduction
Coconut Whipped Cream or Soyatoo

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set a side. In a large bowl combine apples, lemon juice, cognac, sugar, arrow root, and spices. Toss to coat. Transfer to greased baking dish. In a separate bowl combine topping ingredients and work with a pastry blender or fingers until it forms small crumbs. Spread topping over apples and bake 15-20 min until apples are soft and topping is lightly browned.

To serve

Spoon caramel sauce onto plates. Scoop a heap of crisp onto center of plate and top with whipped cream.