Molly Cookie

Skillet Apple Crisp

Feb 19, 2010 Apples, Desserts

Ok, I know this might not look wonderful from just the picture, but this is the best apple dessert I may have ever had.

My brother and my dad love a dessert that my mom makes called “apple slices”. It’s basically an apple pie in a big baking dish instead of a pie pan, and instead of pie crust completely on top it has strips criss-crossing so you can see into the dessert to the apples. They love it, and every birthday that comes around for either of them it seems they ask for it, and my mom makes it for them because she’s wonderful and loves them, and I am stuck at dessert time singing Happy Birthday and not eating any apple slices, because I don’t like pie crust very much. This may come as a bit of a shock, but I am not one of those people who looks forward to dessert and loves it and wants it all the time. I can pass it up pretty easily, but offer me Doritos or any kind of chips and dip and I will always say yes.

The only thing about dessert that I probably never pass up is streusel. I love things with streusel. My favorite desserts are streusel coffee cakes or muffins with streusel on top. I also love the word “streusel”. I love nutty, brown sugar mixes that crumble and melt on food to make it perfectly sweet and slightly crunchy. These apples that I made are just that: apples with streusel. A very simple and amazing dessert that doesn’t include anything extra like pie crust. Just perfect apples and crunchy steusel. We ate this as we watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, and it took everything in me to not go get seconds after I had finished my plate. It was delicious and super easy.

Skillet Apple Crisp

I adapted this recipe only slightly from Rick Bayless’s Skillet Fruit Crips recipe. It can be found in his cookbook Mexican Everyday, which has proven to be one of the best cookbooks of all time. If you like Mexican food you should definitely try it. Brian is doing a project where he is making every recipes in that book this year. He takes pictures and talks about the recipes a little bit. You can visit his posterous site here.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, preferably unsalted, softened (divided use)
• 2 pounds apples or pears peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices **We used two Granny Smith apples and two Cameo apples (red apples that aren’t super sweet)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar (divided use)
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans (or any chopped nuts, or Rick even suggest pumpkin seeds)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and position the rack in the middle. Set a large (10 inch) skillet with an ovenproof handle, like a cast iron skillet, over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter. When it begins to brown, add the apples. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook, stirring regularly, until the fruit is soft, most of the juice has evaporated and it is beginning to brown, about 10-15 minutes.

While the fruit is cooking, stir together the flour, the remaining 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter, working it in with a wooden spoon until a homogeneous mixture is formed. ** We did this in a food processor, and it worked great. With a spoon, stir in the nuts. Crumble the streusel topping evenly over the cooked fruit mixture. Slide the skillet inot theoven and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the topping is crispy. **Ours cooked for closer to 20 minutes, so don’t be afraid to leave it in a little longer if you like your streusel crispy. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is a very versatile recipe and can be changed a lot if you want. Rick suggests using pears, peaches, nectarines, or berries instead of apples, and simply cooking the softer fruits long enough for the juices to reduce before crumbling the streusel on top. I think peaches and pears both sound wonderful, and since I will be making this again soon, I will probably try one of those next.

Tags: apple crisp, Apple crumble, apple dessert, easy dessert, Rick Bayless, skillet apples, streusel