Heller's Kitchen: Caramel Apple Crisp Bliss

If you're like me, then fall means buying more apples than you know what to do with. It's so hard to resist! By the time September rolls around, you've probably gone months without a decent apple and then suddenly, they're everywhere! And they're BEAUTIFUL! Piled into little cartons at the farmer's market, arranged in gleaming towers at the grocery store, I don't know how anyone can help but buy some wherever they go! But after you've eaten dozens of them plain, smeared with peanut butter, and maybe even baked in the oven (if you're feeling fancy), you start to run out of ways to use those apples before they inevitably turn to mush.

One solution: apple crisp. It's a simple and tasty dessert that does not involve wrestling with any sort of pastry dough and is guaranteed to make your home smell like cinnamon-laced heaven. I've spliced a couple of recipes together and come up with what I believe to be...

The Ultimate Caramel Apple Crisp

Serves 4-6 (or maybe just 1, I won't tell!)

For the filling:

3 large apples (use whatever you have lying around, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious are always good, I used Honeycrisp and it turned out perfectly)

Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 TBSP unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP orange juice
1/4 tsp salt

For the topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP sugar
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant, but not the Irish steel-cut stuff)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (or a few good grates of fresh nutmeg)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and diced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter (or spray with nonstick cooking spray) a 2 quart baking dish. (Either an 8 inch square dish or a 9 inch oval dish should do the trick.) Start by peeling and coring the apples and cutting them into 1 inch chunks. Place the apples in a large bowl and squeeze the lemon juice over them. Toss to coat.

No brown apples here! Don't skip the lemon juice!

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the apples, melt 2 TBSP of butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, wisk in 1/4 cup sugar. Once the butter and sugar are melted together and smooth, add the orange juice and stir. Cook the caramel, stirring occasionally, until the mixture turns a nice caramel-y brown (not too dark).

Almost there... just a little darker!

Once the caramel is ready, quickly stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and the apples. Stir the mixture until the apples are evenly coated in the caramel sauce. WARNING: if you add the apples and the caramel congeals into a bunch of little chunks, DON'T PANIC! If you keep stirring (and keep the pan over medium heat), the caramel will re-melt, the apples will give off some juice, and a lovely smooth sauce will form after a minute or two. Just keep stirring! Once the apples and caramel sauce are done, pour them into the prepared baking dish, spreading the filling in an even layer.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the topping ingredients except the butter. Wisk the dry ingredients together until the mixture is even. Add the chilled, diced stick of butter. (Note: it's very important that the butter is cold, or the next step won't work!) Use an electric mixer on a low setting, or your hands, to work the butter into the dry ingredients. (If using your hands, simply rub the butter and dry ingredients between your fingers.) Continue to mix until the topping forms large crumbles.