Apples and Apple Crisp

The apple tree behind our deck was loaded with apples this year and they weren't even as buggy as usual.  Because of this, I felt compelled to not waste them.  So rather than letting them rot on the tree or just fall to the ground, which was my first inclination, I decided to make use of them.  The thought of peeling all the apples was not a good one since that would involve more work than I wanted to invest in this project so I decided to just make applesauce.  However, once I had cut away the buggy sections and quartered the apples I decided I could make an apple crisp out of some.  Below is the recipe I used.  It is a modified version of a Weight Watcher recipe that I found at food.com


This is a composite of some of the apples that were on the tree this year.  Last year we didn't have a single apple on the tree which was probably a result of not having any blossoms either.  I don't know what kind of apples they are but they're not bad.

I had 10 pounds of usable apples after cleaning.

Making applesauce was the easiest thing to do since I didn't have to peel or remove the seeds since I used a Foley food mill.

I froze 7 pounds of applesauce.

When I was growing up my mother used to make a reddish brown applesauce.  I always wondered why hers was that color but what you bought from the store was more like what I just made.  She used to make hers with a Foley food mill too and left the peel on when she cooked the apples, but her apples were always red.  To make the apple sauce I just cooked the apples in a pot with water, put them through the food mill and added some Splenda.

Apple Crisp
8 servings @ 5 PP

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats (not instant)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons light stick butter, diced
1/4 cup splenda
2 lbs  apples peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1 Preheat the oven to 375°F 

Spray a shallow 1-1/2 quart baking dish with nonstick spray.

2 To make the topping, combine the 1/2 cup flour, the oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. 

With a pastry blender or 2 knives used scissor-fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

3 To make the filling, mix the splenda and the 2 tablespoons flour, in a large bowl. 

Add the apples and vanilla, mix well. 

Transfer to the baking dish. 

Sprinkle the topping over the filling. 

Bake until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden, 55 - 60 minutes. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.