Apple Crumble — crisp, crunchy and delish!

Just a reminder that apple sea­son is upon us and that my recipe for crum­ble made with this sen­sa­tional, now-in-season fruit is on this site’s recipe page.

Inspired by Toronto pas­try chef Regan Daley’s fam­ily ver­sion of this dessert, mine is tried, true and tops. I strongly sug­gest using North­ern Spy apples for this. They are a late fall apple and have the per­fect tart flavour and soft, juicy tex­ture when cooked to off­set their crunchy, cookie-like top­ping. If you can’t find Spys, try a mix­ture of Macs, Cort­lands or other tasty, tart apples.

Happy bak­ing!

Apple Crum­ble Recipe

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup cold but­ter, cut in pieces
2 tbsp gran­u­lated sugar
½ tsp ground cin­na­mon
4 or 5 tart apples, cored, peeled, sliced
1 to 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Pre­heat oven to 375F.

In large bowl, com­bine flour, rolled oats and brown sugar. Add but­ter. Using wire hand pas­try blender or two knives, cut it in until mix­ture resem­bles coarse crumbs. Rub between fin­gers until but­ter is soft and mix­ture begins to form small clumps.

In small bowl, com­bine gran­u­lated sugar and cinnamon.

Lightly but­ter 8-inch square/2 L glass or ceramic bak­ing dish. Arrange apple slices in dish. Sprin­kle with lemon juice and sugar/cinnamon mix­ture. Spread evenly with top­ping mix­ture. Bake 40 to 50 min. or until browned on top and apples are soft.

Makes about 6 servings.