Boiled Cider Apple Crisp

We adapted this recipe from Cider: Hard & Sweet by our friend Ben Watson. John Paul made it for our Halloween treat using Winter Banana apples. We felt like Goldilocks since we tried it undercooked, burnt (just the back corner), and mostly just right. The Winter Bananas took longer than expected to get soft (hence the impatient tasting of the undercooked crisp), but had a flavor and texture we liked once they softened up.

Ingredients:

Filling

  • 8 medium to large baking apples, cored and sliced 1/8” thick

  • 2 Tbs unbleached white flour

  • ½ cup sugar

  • ½ cup maple syrup or boiled cider*

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

  • ¼ tsp allspice

  • ¼ tsp ground ginger

Topping

  • 1½ cups rolled oats

  • 1½ cups unbleached white or wholewheat flour

  • ½ cup light brown sugar

  • ½ cup maple syrup or boiled cider*

  • 12 Tbs butter, melted (1.5 sticks)

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1 tsp baking powder

*To make boiled cider: boil down 5 cups of sweet cider to the consistency of maple syrup. The ratio is approximately 5:1 so you should have just enough for this recipe (1 cup) when the consistency is right.

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients for the filling. Transfer them to an ungreased 9 x 13” baking dish.

  3. In the same bowl you just used (so you don’t have to wash another), combine the topping ingredients, and mix well. Spread over the filling in the baking dish.

  4. Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 60 minutes, until the topping is brown and the apples are soft and bubbling. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or just plain cream.