A Favorite Fall Classic: Slow-Cooked Apple Crisp

It’s apple season — and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it than this.

Apple Crisp (or Apple Crumble) is a quintessential autumn dish. An incredibly delicious seasonal comfort food that I love to make as soon as the new crop apples begin showing up in our market. Or, if I’m fortunate enough to have just visited the Yakima valley where my parents grew up, straight from the apple orchard.

And the slow-cook method is not only convenient but a bit indulgent. I get to work in my office and smell the apples baking — for hours. It’s a happy day when that happens!

The first reference to an apple crisp recipe doesn’t occur until 1924 in Everybody’s Cook Book: A Comprehensive Manual of Home Cookery, by Isabel Ely Lord.

In the same year, the recipe makes an appearance in a newspaper article featured in Wisconsin’s Appleton Post Cresent.

While rather a newcomer in culinary history, it quickly became an autumn classic favorite in British, American, and Canadian households.

A distant cousin, the apple pandowdy, a similar variation to an apple crumble or crisp, first appeared in Miss Corson’s Practical American Cookery in 1886.

And whether you call it apple crumble, or apple crisp, the dish defines the season.

Slow-cooking an apple crisp — or crumble isn’t much different than the traditional oven method. But it’s incredibly convenient, permeates your home with the fragrance of autumn, and is a welcome dessert after a chilly fall day.

One secret to an amazing apple crisp is, of course, the quality and variety of the apple. Each presents a unique flavor and texture. My favorite variety is an old fashioned favorite, Golden Delicious.

A Favorite Fall Classic: Slow Cooked Apple Crisp

Ingredients

6-7 large apples, peeled and sliced – my favorite variety is Golden Delicious but if you like a more tart apple, a Honeycrisp apple would be delicious
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour

Topping

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, diced

Preparation

Spray a medium-sized crock pot lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, toss apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in the diced butter until it resembles coarse meal. Spread topping over the apples.

Hint: I like to place a kitchen towel on top of the crock pot and put a lid over it. It helps to absorb any extra liquid. Purely optional.

Cook on Low for 4 – 6 hours or High for 3 hours. Test apples to be sure they are fully cooked.

Serve warm with a scoop ice cream.