Apples and Peanut Butter Crisp

Peanut butter is pretty much its own food group in our household. I love eating it with bananas and apples for breakfast to keep mid-morning hangry-ness (not a typo - hungry + angry) at bay. This recipe is very simple and versatile - I've eaten it for dessert and also mixed it with some plain greek yogurt for breakfast. The chopped peanuts add a nice crunch which is unusual for a crisp. I would definitely serve this with a scoop of some low-fat ice cream. The lack of butter keeps the apples pretty dry, so the ice cream really improves the texture.

Just slice up a mixture of green and red apples and layer in a square baking dish.

Mix in the flour and brown sugar.

Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. The mix up your topping - oats, brown sugar, flour, peanut butter and chopped peanuts. You'll have to work a bit to get the peanut butter incorporated, but it comes together in a few minutes.

Spread the topping over the baked apples, and just slip it in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

You probably have everything you need to make this simple family-friendly crisp in your pantry now, so go get busy baking.

Apples and Peanut Butter Crisp

From Better Homes and Gardens, The Ultimate Low-Calorie Book

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 6 medium red and / or green apples, cored and thinly sliced (I left the peels on for extra fiber and texture)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place apple slices in a 2-quart square baking dish; set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons flour and the 1 tablespoon brown sugar until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over apple slices in dish; toss to coat.

Bake, covered for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine the rolled oats, the 2 tablespoons flour, and the 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Using a fork, stir in peanut butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in peanuts. Uncover apple mixture; sprinkle with oat mixture.

Bake, uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes more or until apples are tender and topping is golden. Serve warm with vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream.

Nutrition facts per serving: 174 calories, 6 g total fat, 51 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber, 4 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates.

Grandma Lois's Old World Apple Cake

My grandma is a fantastic cook and baker. She can throw together a pot roast with multiple sides AND dessert without breaking a sweat. Her skills can probably be attributed to growing up on her family's ranch in Hysham, MT - lots of hungry mouths to feed! I have several Grandma Lois recipes to share with you but thought I would do a post about one of my absolute favorites - Old World Apple Cake! As the comforting aroma of cinnamon filled the kitchen, Nick yelled out, "hey is that Old School Apple Cake almost done?" Sorry about that, Grandma.

While I had romantic notions that this was an original recipe that came over on the boat from Switzerland, Grandma told me the other day that she got the recipe from a friend at their old church in the Philadelphia suburbs. Regardless, the recipe has been a family favorite for years and is a big hit every time we serve it at holiday dinners, bridal showers, etc. In addition to being a great dessert (make sure you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream), a small slice pairs well with your morning coffee or tea.

The only time consuming part of this recipe is peeling the apples and slicing them super-thin. I just use a knife, but I'm sure a mandolin would work really well here to make uniform slices. Hmmm - maybe that will be my next kitchen gadget purchase!

The batter is very simple - just flour, sugar, oil, baking powder, salt, eggs, orange juice (I use no pulp) and a tablespoon of good-quality vanilla extract

 .

No need to pull out the KitchenAid stand mixer to tackle this batter. Just use your hand-held mixer - should take you less than a minute to get everything incorporated. I try not to over-mix the batter.

Grease and flour (I LOVE Pam's baking spray) a standard 12-cup bundt pan. Fill the pan with half the batter, then lay half the sliced apples on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. As you can see, I am not shy with the cinnamon.

Pour in the rest of the batter, sprinkle with more cinnamon and sugar and bake. You end up with this beautiful, crusty-on-the-outside yet moist-on-the-inside apple cake. A sprinkling of powdered sugar would look nice, but I couldn't find any in the pantry (thanks Nick for finding it this weekend!).

Have some good friends over for tea and serve this cake. It'll help brighten up a cold and blustery winter day.

Old World Apple Cake

From Lois Oman

Ingredients

• 2 cups thinly sliced apples (I used McIntosh)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used no pulp OJ)
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Extra cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling between cake layers
• Powdered sugar for serving (optional)

Preparation

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. Thinly slice the apples and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, oil, orange juice, eggs, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract. The batter should be smooth.

Pour approximately half of the batter into the bundt pan. Place the apple slices in an even layer on top of the batter. Sprinkle the apples with about 2 tablespoons of sugar and generously with cinnamon (just eye-ball it). Pour the additional batter into the pan and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for approximately 70 minutes. Cool for ten minutes and then remove the cake from the pan. Cool completely and, if desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.