Seasonal Recipe: Maple Apple Crisp

Autumn means apple season, and that means it's time for apple crisp! If you'd like a different take on a good, old-fashioned crisp recipe, try adding adding real maple syrup.

Maple Apple Crisp has an extra layer of sweetness thanks to the natural goodness of pure maple syrup, and the apple + maple combo is pure decadence. This is your perfect autumn dessert or breakfast treat! Read on for the recipe...

Maple Apple Crisp

(makes 8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 5 apples ( we recommend Granny Smith, Fuji, Winesap, Honeycrisp, Crispin or Pink Lady)  - peeled, cored, and sliced 
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup (Grade B or Grade A medium or dark amber)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place apples in an 8x8 inch baking dish. Toss apples with maple syrup. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, oats, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, until topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Classic Dessert Recipe: Apple Crumble

There is something deceptively simple about an apple crumble. It's almost like a deconstructed apple pie: sliced apples mixed together with a coarse crumble made from cinnamon, sugar, and perhaps a few extra additions. From there, bake and you have a fantastic dessert! Finding the right combination of ingredients, however, is the real trick. How can you make the crumble crisp without it being too dry, while at the same time not making the crumble too sweet or too rich to render it unpalatable?

For our recipe, we wanted to try and make a crumble that really had a little crunch to it. Some recipes call for just a combination of flour, sugar, and salt, but we instead added some oats to the mix which lowered the sweetness overall. To help bind it all together, we threw some cornstarch in with the apples, also adding some lemon juice to increase the sourness and add a little acidity. Keep reading below for our favorite apple crumble recipe...

Apple Crumble

(makes 2-4 servings)

Ingredients

FILLING

• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into cubes
• 3 medium golden delicious apples, peeled and cut into cubes
• 2/3 cup sugar
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of cinnamon
• a pinch of nutmeg

TOPPING

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup slices almonds
• 1 cup oats

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine cornstarch and lemon juice until the cornstarch dissolves. Add the apples, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then toss to combine. Transfer the mixture to individual portioned ramekins (pictured above) or to an 8" square baking dish. Cover tightly with foil.
2. For the topping, combine the sugar (reserving 1 tablespoon to the side), salt, and flour in a bowl of a blender or food processor. Drizzle with vanilla extract. Pulse to combine (about 5 1-second pulses). Add the butter, half the almonds, and half the oats. Process or blend until the mixture clumps together in large, crumbly balls (about 30 seconds). Make sure to occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle remaining almonds and oats and combine with two or three quick pulses.
3. Transfer the mixture to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Bake the topping in the middle rack and the apples on the bottom rack for about 20 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned and firm (about 20 minutes). Remove both from the oven.
4. Remove the foil from the filling and gently stir. Lift up the crumble from the baking sheet by the parchment paper, and still grasping the paper carefully slide pieces into the filling evenly (or if that doesn't work, use a spatula or large spoon). Bake the mixture in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until the apple is tender and bubbling around the edges. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Serve as is, or with custard.
5. Enjoy!

Creative Crumble Recipe: Peach and Pineapple Delight

We love apple crumble, but we've been wondering: what about other fruit crumbles? What would happen if we combined peaches and pineapples for our crumble? The result ended up being a wonderfully fresh, sweet combination we couldn't say no to!

The trick for this recipe was to use fresh fruits right from the grocery store. Because pineapples can be a little bit of a pain to core and cut, we bought the fresh sliced variety from the food store's produce aisle. The peaches we cut up ourselves. Some people would eat the crumble with ice cream, custard, or frozen yogurt but we found it tasted just as delicious without. Keep reading below for this heavenly recipe...

Peach Pineapple Crumble

(makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced fresh pineapple with 3 tablespoons juice reserved
• 3 cups diced peeled peaches
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Toss together the diced fruit in an 8" square baking dish. In a small dish, whisk together 3 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and 1/4 cup flour. Toss that mixture along with the 3 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice with the diced fruit.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar. Add the cold butter cubes and use a fork or pastry cutter to break the cold butter into the flour mixture. Add the oatmeal and toss together.
3. Pour the oatmeal mixture over the prepared fruit. Place in the oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until juices from the fruit bubble up around the sides of the pan.
4. Remove the crumble from the oven and let cool 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with custard or frozen yogurt.
5. Enjoy!

Dessert Classic: Peach Cobbler

Nothing beats the cinnamon-y smell of peach cobbler baking in the oven – and this recipe will fill your kitchen with the same lovely aroma. 

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to cobbler – some like a lot of topping, some only like a little; some like it super sweet, others not so much. The great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust it to meet your liking – if you love the biscuit-like topping, then double the ingredients for the topping.

How is a cobbler different from a crumble or pie? Well, a pie comes baked in a shell and a crumble typically calls on oatmeal. The cobbler sets itself apart by covering the top with a batter-like or biscuit-like crust, and this cobbler recipe works for tons of different fruits. Swap out peaches for blackberries, blueberries, or whatever fruit you’d like.

Served with vanilla ice cream, peach cobbler is the perfect summer treat.

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 8 fresh peaches (peeled, pitted, and sliced into chunks)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the topping:

• 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water

To sprinkle on top:

• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Peel the peaches with a knife or peeler, or drop the peaches one-by-one in boiling water for about a minute. Then, take each one out and put it into a bowl of ice water for about a minute. The skins should slide off pretty easily if the peaches are ripe.
3. In a large bowl, combine the first list of ingredients (peaches, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, cornstarch). Toss everything together so the peaches are coated evenly, then put the mixture into a greased two-quart (8x8) baking dish and bake in the oven for ten minutes.
4. In another large bowl, combine some of the ingredients from the second list – flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use your fingertips to blend the butter into the mixture – or use a pastry blender – until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Then, stir in the water until just combined.
5. Take the peaches out of the oven and drop spoonfuls of the topping over them. Sprinkle the entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon.
6. Bake the cobbler for about 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden.
7. Enjoy!

Scrumptious Blueberry Cobbler

The dog days of summer are accompanied by plenty of delicious seasonal treats. One of the best things about this time of year: fresh blueberries turn up at the local market-- and if you're lucky, in your own backyard. Scoop up a handful for a refreshing snack, or get creative and mix them into all sorts of yummy recipes.

This blueberry cobbler dish is one of our favorites. Served for breakfast or as dessert, it’s a perfect combination of buttery, crumbly goodness and sweet, succulent blueberries. Grab some blueberries and a few simple ingredients from your kitchen, and get ready to enjoy one of late summer’s greatest pleasures.

Blueberry Cobbler

(Makes 10 servings)

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 ¼ cups sugar, divided

1/3 cup butter, cubed

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten Optional: flower petals for garnish (we recommend violets, lilac, or hibiscus)

Directions:

1. Combine blueberries, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Spread butter in a 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish and melt in the oven at 350° F.
3. Meanwhile, combine remaining sugar with flour, baking powder, salt, milk and egg in a small mixing bowl. Pour the mixture over the melted butter. Make sure not to stir!
4. Take reserved berry mixture and spoon it over the batter in the baking dish. Do not stir.
5. Bake at 350° F for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Spoon cobbler into portion-sized ramekins. Serve at room temperature and garnish with flower petals if desired.

Casserole Dessert Recipe: Sweet Blackberry Cobbler

We are not picky about our fruit desserts: tarts, pies, crisps, crumbles…we love all of them! A cobbler is a nice choice because of it’s biscuit-like topping that goes so nicely with the sweet and tart fruit bubbling away beneath it, soaking in all its yummy juices. A little more thought goes into this dessert than that of a typical crisp, but when you see and bite into the cobbled-together crust (cobbler, ha!), it’ll all be worth it! 

Blackberry Cobbler

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 8 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (if using frozen: thaw thoroughly, rinse and drain before use)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, cubed, divided
• 1 1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for topping
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup shortening (Crisco)
• vanilla ice cream, garnish
• butter or non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. In a bowl, mix blackberries, 1 1/4 cup sugar, lemon zest and juice together. Spread out evenly in baking dish.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and shortening and mix together with a pastry blender or fork until coarse and crumbly.
4. Slowly pour milk into flour, mixing as you go. Dough should smooth out and not be sticky.
5. Tear off small pieces of dough and press gently on the blackberries. Continue until berries are covered.
6. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons sugar over the top and place in oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.
7. Serve warm and with vanilla ice cream.