Homemade Apple Crisp

     Hello!  My normal "homemade" apple crisp consists of apples and a box of Concord Foods Apple Crisp mix.  You know, the one in the red box that's always hanging around the apple section of the food store.  But after a trip to our favorite apple orchard, Carter Hill, and a little research on the internet, I decided to make apple crisp from scratch.  
     This recipe comes from Taste of Home (here) and is super easy to prepare.  The original recipe calls for 10-11 cups of sliced apples - yikes!  Since I'm not feeding a small army, I decided to scale down the amount of apples and went with 5 large apples, sliced.  I prefer my apples to be tender, almost on the mushy side so I let the crisp bake for a full 60 minutes. 

     According to Aaron, this is the best apple crisp I've ever made and I'd have to agree.  The apples are tender and juicy while the crumb topping is buttery and slightly crunchy. Each of us went back for a second helping!  And there's a bonus to baking with apples - you get that wonderful apple smell wafting through the house!  

Easy Apple Crisp

• 5-6 large apples, sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup cold butter cubed

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Toss apples, sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in large bowl.  Place apples in 13"x9" baking dish.

2.  Combine flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder, nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture is course and crumbly (feel free to use your hands to do this!).

3.  Sprinkle mixture over apples.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until apples are tender.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!