You-Choose Classic Apple Crisp, Spiced Crumble, Snickerdoodle Cobbler or Nutty Gluten-Free Crisp
Crisp, cobbler or crumble? Choose your own topping adventure — just make sure your base is apple.
The Classic Crisp Topping recipe below has all the delicious flavor of an oatmeal cookie, and even more texture. It’s a variation of Nancy Silverton’s crisp topping from “The Cookie That Changed My Life†(which I co-wrote), with a handful of extra oats added.
The Spiced Whole Wheat Crumble Topping has a little less sugar than the others; whole wheat flour gives it an earthy quality that complements the sweet apple filling.
The simple Snickerdoodle Cobbler Topping is based on the Any/All Fruit Crisp in “Life at the Dumpling,†a handbook for a homemade life written and illustrated by Trisha Cole Walrath. Cream of tartar adds a bit of chewiness to what is otherwise a cinnamon-laced sugar cookie; it’s what makes a Snickerdoodle a Snickerdoodle.
The Nutty Gluten-Free Crisp Topping passes my test for any gluten-free recipe: I would make it, serve it and enjoy it whether it was gluten-free or not. For a crunchy topping that stands up to the juicy filling, I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour.
Anywhere cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice are called for, know that you can substitute other warm sweet spices such as an apple pie spice blend, chai spice blend, or your own combination such as 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves and several gratings of nutmeg and maybe mace. When it comes to this family of desserts, let freedom reign.
Use a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish round ceramic pie pan or baking dish, or a cast-iron skillet. (You also can use a pie pan with similar surface area, such as an 8- or 9-inch square, or an 11-or 12-inch oval.) I made these in a 9-inch Emile Henry pie pan. But don’t go out and buy a baking dish for this. Make what you have work.
This filling is sweet but not cloying. If you want to cut the sweetness even further, cut the sugars by as much as half and you’ll still have something that tastes like dessert, not health food.
Read the companion story: As American as ... apple crisp. Easier than apple pie
You-Choose Apple Crisp, Cobbler Or Crumble
Make topping of your choice: Classic Crisp Topping, Spiced Whole Wheat Crumble Topping, Snickerdoodle Cobbler Topping or Nutty Gluten-Free Crisp Topping (recipes below). If making ahead, refrigerate the topping, covered, until you are ready to assemble and bake the crisp, crumble or cobbler.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Melt the butter in a small light-colored skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat and cook it about 7 minutes, until the foam that forms on top of the melted butter begins to subside and the milk solids (which separate from the melted butter) are deep golden brown. Tilt the pan often and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan so the butter browns evenly. Turn off the heat and stir for another minute while the butter cooks from the residual heat in the pan. Add the vanilla and set aside.
Peel the apples. Stand them upright and cut four slabs from around the core so you are left holding just the core. Discard the core and cut the slabs into ¾- to 1-inch chunks (a size that will fit nicely on a spoon when it’s cooked).
Put the apples in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss to coat the apples. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch mixture, cinnamon and salt.
Drizzle the brown butter and vanilla mixture over the apples, making sure to get the brown bits out of the pan. Toss to combine the ingredients and coat the apples evenly. Set aside to macerate the apples for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
Transfer the apples to the baking dish, making sure to get all the goop out of the bowl and into the dish, and use your hands to arrange the chunks so the top is as level as possible. Clump the crisp, crumble or cobbler topping of your choice in your fist and scatter over the apples, leaving a bit of the fruit peeking through here and there. (If you’re making the cobbler, sprinkle the optional demerara or turbinado sugar over the dough.)
To bake the crisp, cobbler or crumble, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and put the baking dish on the baking sheet to catch the juices that may bubble over.
Bake on the center rack of the oven, 55 to 75 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown, the filling is bubbling and the apples that peek through are soft, juicy and translucent. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. (If made ahead, reheat in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes, until it’s warmed through.)
Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Classic Crisp Topping
Stir the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to pinch and squish the butter and dry ingredients together until the mixture is combined but still clumpy, and no flour is visible.
Spiced Whole Wheat Crumble Topping
Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and spices in a bowl. Drizzle in the melted butter and stir with a fork or use your fingers to combine until the mixture is clumpy.
Snickerdoodle Cobbler Topping
Stir the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and mix with a fork or your fingers until dry ingredients are damp. Add the melted or browned butter and stir with the fork until the mixture is combined but still grainy.
Reserve the demerara or turbinado sugar, if using, for assembling the cobbler.
Nutty Gluten-Free Crumble Topping
Chop the nuts so fine that some become powder and put the nuts and powder in a medium bowl. Add the gluten-free flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt and stir together to combine. Add the butter and work the ingredients together with your hands until it forms a clumpy dough.
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