I hope you’re ready for some apple recipes!
If you make one apple dessert this fall – make this maple walnut apple crisp! Apple crisp has ALWAYS been my favorite apple dessert. Why? Because I love the crunchy, sweet topping. AND because it is easier than pie (haha) – no crust needed!
My Taller Half and I recently went to Smolak Farms to pick apples. The orchard is picturesque and has dozens of apple varieties! I LOVE apple picking. Ever since I was a little piglet, I always looked forward to biting into a crisp, juicy apple just picked from the tree, and then would do this over and over again for until my belly was waaaay too full. This year, I held back a bit and didn’t make myself sick. It was a perfect fall day and we picked TONS of apples. I just couldn’t wait to get home and bake with the freshly picked fruit.
A beautiful day at Smolak Farms!
Now, let’s talk about this crisp! It has such a thick, crunchy, cinnamon-y topping. Hands down my favorite apple dessert. It also went really fast!
The filling of this crisp has tart apples (I used a mixture of Gravenstein, Cortland and Granny Smith), mixed with meaty walnuts, cinnamon and sweet maple syrup! And then there is the topping. OOOh the topping. It is so crispy, so thick, and crunchy (and of course cinnamon-y) and perfectly balances the tender, soft apples. You NEED to make this crisp. Bonus – It takes 5 minutes to put the topping together and only 5 minutes to make the filling. So what are you waiting for?!! Let’s make some maple walnut apple crisp!
Sprinkle cut, peeled apples and chopped walnuts with cinnamon and a few squirts of lemon juice
Pour the melted sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and butter “sauce” on top
Prep the topping by mixing flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and cut with chilled butter -just smash it up with your hands until it is crumbly, like so:
Then add the walnuts to the topping and spread the topping over the apples
( look how thick that topping is!!)
Place in the oven and wait 45 minutes for sweet, cinnamon-y, apple-y, maple-y, oat-y goodness.
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
One more thing- If you don’t have walnuts, or don’t like walnuts you can substitute any other nut – almonds, pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts etc… or just leave the nuts out. They add some texture and taste but are not essential to your new favorite apple dessert.
Recipe: Maple Walnut Apple Crisp
Servings: 6-10 (or 2 if you are me)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
Filling
- 5-6 apples, peeled, cored, chopped chunky (I used Gravenstein, Cortland and Granny Smith – but any firm, baking apple will do – you may have to adjust the sugar if the apples you use are less tart and more sweet)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (substitute almonds, pecans, peanuts etc… or omit)
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- Few squirts of lemon juice (About 1/2 -1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping (adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (not quick oats)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (substitute almonds, pecans, peanuts etc… or omit)
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and spray an 8×8 pan with non-stick cooking spray
- Make the filling: In a large bowl, toss apples and walnuts with cinnamon and lemon juice and pour into a 8×8 baking pan.
- In a small saucepan on low heat, melt the butter, sugar and maple syrup*** while stirring. Do this slowly, you don’t want your sugar to burn! When combined, remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Pour sauce over apples in baking pan and stir to coat apples.
- Make the topping: In a large bowl, add all the topping ingredients EXCEPT the butter and walnuts. Stir until well combined.
- Add the butter and use your hands to incorporate the butter and the dry topping. This involves squeezing the butter and the flour/oat mixture together in your hands – until the mixture becomes crumbly – you don’t need to overwork this – you want the mixture to be lumpy. Just smash it between your fingers with the oat/flour mixture – it will be uneven and will look like wet sand. If you don’t like the “hand” technique, you can also use 2 forks, 2 knives, or a pastry cutter (oh so fancy!).
- Stir in walnuts and sprinkle the crumbly topping over the apples
- Place on top of a baking sheet, to prevent a sticky mess (just in case the apples/sugar bubble over) and bake at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes. As always, baking time may vary based on your oven– top should be brown and you should see bubbles on the sides of the baking dish. The apples should be tender.
- Allow crisp to cool for about 10 minutes before serving – just so you don’t burn your tongue on SUPER hot, bubbly sugar/apple goodness.
Serve warm, with vanilla Ice cream if you please. I didn’t have any. Shameful.
ENJOY!
*** For easy maple syrup measurement, spray tablespoon with non-stick cooking spray prior to measuring and maple syrup will slide right out.
Happy Fall!
