Lollappleooza Day 5: Cooking Light's Maple Walnut Apple Crisp

Last week, my brother’s girlfriend J suggested that CHG might wanna feature a dessert at some point. As we have matching rainbow dolphin t-shirts and I sometimes take pity on her for being a Bills fan, I nodded gleefully and started planning the mightiest of Lollappleooza-appropriate desserts: apple crisp.

But first - man, I gotta tell you – there are NOT a whole lot of straight-up, low-fat apple crisps out there. They all include something fancy, like quince nectar or dodo bird eggs. I had to finally settle for Cooking Light’s Maple-Walnut version after a few dozen decades of futile searching. It turned out to be a good decision, but don’t take it from me. Take it from an IM session between J and me:

J: after i read a book, i had some delicious apple crisp last night
K: Ooo!
K: I need details.
K: Like, bloggable details.
J: here are things i liked:
J: 1) the apples are thinly sliced
J: THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME
J: because nothing ruins a baked apple dish more than the crunch of an undercooked apple
K: Agreed.
J: 2) NUTS!
J: i was not expecting them
K: Hee. Nuts.
K: Did they all cook evenly?
J: yes they cooked evenly and not mushily, which is the other baked apple dish-killer
J: i looked at the nuts and thought, "NUTS?!"
J: skeptic
J: but you know how sometimes when you eat apple crisp and it's more like apple mush?
J: that didn't happen and i was happy.
J: oats alone don't stand up to crispiness
K: The nuts helped. Most excellent.
J: 3) it wasn't too sweet
J: i actually tasted more flavors than just "cavity bomb"
K: YES!
J: and i reheated mine in the microwave and everything stood up nicely
J: so thanks - E said he would try some tonight
K: Excellent!
K: Do you mind if I quote you?
J: go crazy
J: you can even make up quotes
J: i do it all the time

So you heard it here folks, straight from my brother’s girlfriend’s mouth: “Hands down, this is the best darn apple crisp I’ve ever tasted. If only Kris would come and cook for me all the time, I would give her a million, billion dollars and never speak ill of the Mets again.”

Oh yeah – before you get cooking, two quick notes:

1. Cooking Light has graciously provided the nutritional information, so my calculations include price only.
2. I used real maple syrup, which ended up not affecting the flavor all that much. You can probably cut a dollar or so off the total cost by subbing in some Aunt Jemima.

Happy eating, folks.

Cooking Light Maple-Walnut Apple Crisp
9 servings
Adapted from Cooking Light.

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup regular oats
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold (but not rock-hard) butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
7 cups sliced peeled Rome apple (about 3 pounds)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 375°F.

2) In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, oats, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut in butter until entire mixture has turned into small crumbs. Add walnuts and stir.

3) In a large bowl, mix apples, syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour apple mixture into an 8x8 baking dish. Top evenly with crumbs. Bake for 45 minutes, or until crumbs are browned and awesome-looking. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
208 calories, 7.1 g fat, $0.62

Calculations
1/3 cup all-purpose flour: $0.02
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar: $0.22
1/3 cup regular oats: $0.09
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon: $0.02
1/4 cup chilled butter: $0.37
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts: $0.27
7 cups sliced peeled Rome apple (about 3 pounds): $2.90
1/4 cup maple syrup: $1.25
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon: $0.03
TOTAL: $5.60
PER SERVING (TOTAL/9): $0.62