I would take apple crisp over apple pie any day. I might be a bit biased as I grew up on the stuff but in my mind the crunchy oat topping is the perfect match for sweetly spiced apples. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream it just can’t be beat. Leave off the ice cream and you can almost get away with eating it for breakfast! Almost.

This recipe is based off the one my mom gave me (thanks mom!), spiked with bourbon and a touch of vanilla. Because you can’t go wrong with bourbon. Extra points for picking your own apples but totally not necessary. If you make at least one apple dessert a year I highly recommend investing in an apple peeler/corer/slicer, they are magic!

Ingredients

Serves 6

5 medium sized apples (I used Empire)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons bourbon

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch salt

6 tablespoons chilled butter

Lightly grease an 8×8″ baking dish or 9″ pie dish. Peel, core and slice apples thinly. Toss with lemon juice, bourbon and vanilla and pour into the baking dish. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Cut the chilled butter into the flour and oat mixture until it forms a crumb approximately the size of small peas. Top the apples with the oat mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

They need to change the saying to “easy as crisp”. Simple to make and really easy to eat! Enjoy.