Apple Pecan Crisp

OKAY NOW IT FEELS LIKE FALL.

This weekend I got into total cozy mode. I wore sweaters, I drank tea, I read cookbooks while draped in a blanket while it rained so hard that I couldn’t see out my window. This of course led me to the need to bake something that felt as cozy as I was.

I recently invested in a massive bag of pecans at Costco as well as a bunch of PERFECT honeycrisp apples at the market this weekend, and thought that I should put those together into a crisp. The best part about fruit crisps is honestly the simplicity. There’s no waiting for dough to set or “gluten to develop”, you just go for it, bake it and you have a dessert that is just insanely delicious.

Seriously. I brought the leftovers to work the next day and I can honestly say it was gone within 10 minutes or less. The dish may as well have been licked clean.

As a side note, I won’t judge you if you lick your dish clean when you’re done.

Crumble Ingredients

3/4 cup pecans, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp salted butter, chilled and cubed

Apple Filling Ingredients

3 large apples, sliced and then slices cut in half
Juice of a lemon
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Big pinch of cardamom

Steps

Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 2-2.5 quart ceramic or glass baking dish.

To make the crumble, stir together pecans, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl until combined. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter (similar to if you were making pie dough or scones) until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. Then use your hands to pinch and mix until a crumble forms (you could also whiz it all together in a food processor, pulsing until the mixture looks like below). Chill until ready to use.

Place sliced apples in a bowl (you can also do this in the prepared baking dish but a large bowl is less messy) and toss with lemon juice and sugar until combined. Add vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom and toss again until evenly coated. Pour the apples into baking dish and sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly across the apples, getting in all the nooks and crannies.