Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

I was looking for a make-ahead recipe a while back, but didn't want to make the usual loaf cake or muffins which freeze very well. I only needed the dessert to be frozen about a week, and this recipe turned out to be a perfect dessert for this occasion. If you do want to freeze this crisp, prepare the crisp through adding the topping to the apples. Wrap the entire dish with plastic wrap and freeze. When you want to bake the crisp, remove it from the freeze and place directly into your pre-heated oven. Just add a little bit of baking time and you are all set. You can use a variety of apples for this recipe. Ina Garten, the genius behind this, suggests McIntosh or Macoun apples, but I've had success with all sort of run of the mill, grocery store varieties.

Recipe from Ina Garten

For the Apples:

5 pounds apples
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the Topping:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup oatmeal (I’ve also used Irish oats and rolled oats)
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat your oven to 350F/176C. Grease a 9" x 14" baking form with a 2 inch rim. Peel and core your apples and cut in to large wedges. In a bowl combine the apple slices with the lemon and orange zest, lemon and orange juices, sugar and spices. Dump into the greased baking dish.

Make the topping by combining the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or you can use your hands to combine these). Mix on low until the mixture is crumbly and the clumps are the size of peas. Evenly distribute over the apples.

Place the crisp on a sheet pan (to catch any runny juices while baking) and bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and the apples are bubbly.

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