Apple crisp

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As a small girl, I spent many weekends overnight at my Great Oma's house (Oma is Grandma in Deutsch, for those of you who weren't aware). On mornings when she was feeling particularly generous, she'd prepare me a warm bowl of apple crisp, covered with cold milk, for breakfast. I'd sit at the dining room table and watch as she flipped through her recipe book, shoveling milky spoonfuls into my mouth. I didn't know it at the time, but she was slowly planting a love for baking into my heart. A love that grew so big, I honestly cannot imagine my life without it.

This morning, I sat down with a bowl of apple crisp prepared just the way my Great Oma used to make it. Only this time, I was the one flipping through her recipe book. I closed my eyes and imagined being that small, blonde haired girl again; I imagined the smell of Great Oma's kitchen, the knobby table legs and the way the morning sunlight used to reflect off of the wind chime on her patio. I opened my eyes, shoveled a spoonful into my mouth and, for a moment, I felt like that blonde haired girl again.

Apple crisp

The thing I like about this apple crisp is that it's extra heavy on the crisp. If you'd prefer it be apple heavy, halve the crisp portion. If you don't plan on eating this shortly after you make it, you'd be better off making it in ramekins then baking as needed; for some reason, the gluten-free version doesn't crisp up as well when reheated. I suggest using a variety of apples; I used two honey crisp, one gala and one granny smith. Peel the apples if you want, but I like the texture of the apples with their skins.

APPLE CRISP (GF)

4 apples, chopped
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. buckwheat flour
1/4 c. oat groat flour
1/4 c. almond meal
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 c. vegan butter
1/4 c. rolled oats


Preheat oven to 375˚F. Lightly oil a 8-9" metal baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flours, almond meal, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press half of the crumble mixture into the prepared pan, then layer with apples. Mix the oats into the remaining crumble then spread over apples. Bake at 375˚F for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield: 6-8 servings

11 comments:

  1. this is so beautiful, ashlae. i have the same sort of sentiment when remembering my mom-mom making me cinnamon sticky buns in the morning ;)

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  2. Love your blog. Alas, I've joined the no-major-carbohydrate diet camp. But I can't give up apple dishes. Fortunately, cutting out sugar reduces your sugar threshold after a couple weeks, so anything sweet is amplified. I need to figure out how to make apple mostly-crisp, perhaps with your topping here but with a Stevia or date sweetener. Fortunately, apples fried sans sugar in a cast iron skillet are still pretty appealing.

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  3. Perfect for breakfast. <3

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  4. LOVE the high topping to apple ratio. And definitely trying a big spoonful drowned in almond milk for breakfast next time I make apple crisp. Sounds so delicious.

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  5. This looks amazing! I've been thinking about apple crumble for breakfast and yours looks like a winner for sure! And gf, so it is extra perfect!

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  6. LOVEEEEEEEEEE this recipe!! bookmarking ASAP.

    carrie
    plumsintheicebox.typepad.com

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  7. That looks delicious! I love that it's heavy on the crisp!

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  8. Gorgeous! I met the nicest Oma at the park the other day, and it turned out she was vegan for 20 years! ;-)

    XO

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  9. What a sweet post, Ashlae. I'm wishing I had as good of a grandmother as you did. The only thing Betty did for me was give me fuel in my therapy sessions :) I love how you even look like your Oma too! You wear similar glasses :)

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  10. The photograph of your Oma is so lovely! And I love that you have a recipe book from her.

    I don't want kids, but if I left my recipe book for some grandkids or something, they'd probably have to hire someone to translate it through all the scribbles. And a detective to find all of the torn envelopes and receipts with half written recipes on them. I find them in my shoes and in the bathroom and stuff. It's really weird..

    Oh, this apple crumble looks bomb by the way. And I can actually make it because it's free of gluten and gluten of free.

    Returned PS - my friends call me izzy and izz, so I wouldn't mind you calling me that :) (I also get called belle, or bella - which I don't like because of the Twilight thing).
    My dad says "belle is a good thing to have on a bike"

    Crap. Do I always leave long comments like this?

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  11. I hear you were calling me a "ho"... All I want to say to you is:
    Really? *blushing* You mean that? Man, I'm giddy :) haha

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