As a kid, I was not a huge fan of cooked fruit and I definitely did not like apple sauce. It may seem a bit strange that one of my favorite desserts as a kid was my dad’s apple pie. This was not a double crust pie, oh no, this was a crumb topped apple pie. What made it so, so good to me and most everyone else who had the pleasure of eating it, was the crumbs.
I can remember sneaking pieces of the crumb top off the pie before it was served and my cousin and I always fighting over the piece with the biggest crumb on top. To me, the crumbs were simply perfection and made the apple pie what it was. When I met my husband in college – a true cooked apple in every way, loving guy – he thought I was ridiculous when I told him I would only eat my dad’s apple pie. He still thinks I’m a little crazy now about only eating my dad’s apple pie, but after eating his fair share over the years, I think even he’ll admit my dad’s is the best.
Once I had a family of my own and started trading holidays and attended my first Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law’s, I knew I had to bring some of my own tradition to the table. Knowing I would miss out on my dad’s apple pie I really wanted to replicate that for myself and share it with my new extended family.
As a less experienced baker, the idea of making a pie crust was a little bit scary to me. I thought about buying a frozen crust, as so many people do, but I knew my dad would be disappointed. I mean he’s a straight up make it from scratch kind of guy and I grew up with that. Although I don’t disparage anyone who would rather buy than make it themselves, cooking and baking from scratch is just part of my bones. I knew I needed to figure out another way.
Then I thought, why make a pie at all when I know everyone’s favorite part (and especially mine!) is the crumbs. And that is when I began making my own family tradition with apple crisp, and no one has complained since.
I started with my dad’s recipe for apple pie and pretty much prepare the apples as he does. I get them sliced and tossed with a little lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. And even though his crumbs are perfect, I decided to change them up a bit and add my own spin by mixing in a little rolled oats. I love all things oats – along with the flour, sugars, cinnamon and butter. Although nothing beats my dad’s apple pie, I have to say my apple crisp is pretty good. And saving a few calories by skipping the crust, means no one needs to feel guilty about topping their warm apple crisp with a big scoop of ice cream.
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