Fall for Caramel Apple Crisp
Growing up I remember my grandfather’s backyard being filled with apple trees. It was a tradition to gather the apples each fall. I have memories of making applesauce with my mom and grandmother. Boy, that was a lot of work!
That was more than 35 years ago. Now my mom lives in that same home and the same apple trees are still there—producing more apples than she knows what to do with. I don’t have time to make homemade applesauce, besides my kids really don’t like the texture of it (picky eaters).
The other day, I took a group of young women to my mom’s house to do some service for her. My mom gives her apples to local farmers to feed to their horses or pigs. We spent a couple of hours climbing the trees and picking apples. We actually had such a great time! There were so many apples and so many of them were big, red, and round! I don’t remember them ever being that big! They seemed too perfect to just give away. So, I snagged a few for my family.
Sadly, the apples don’t taste that great straight from the tree because they are baking apples. I needed to bake them into something. I decided to bake an apple crisp—a dessert that also takes me bake to my childhood (plus I had to prove I can make other things besides cupcakes;) Of course, I had to make it my own version by adding a layer of caramel. Top with some vanilla ice cream and you have the perfect fall dessert!
Caramel Apple Crisp
4 cups peeled, sliced apples
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 package of caramels, unwrapped
1/3 cup evaporated milk
Place apples in a buttered 8″ dish. Blend brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix in butter until crumbly (I like to use my hands).
Pour 3/4 of the crumble mixture over the apples, reserving 1/4 of the crumble. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
While the apple crisp is baking, melt the caramel and evaporated milk in a double boiler (or use two sauce pans with a small amount of water in the bigger pan).
Remove from the apple crisp from the oven and pour the melted caramel mixture over the crisp. Cover the caramel layer with the remaining crumble mixture. Return the crisp to the oven and continuing baking the crisp for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the apples are tender.
Top the warm dessert with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!