Cinnamon Apple Crisp (and other Dinner Club recipes!)

I’ve got a great little dessert recipe to share with you that is both cute and easy. Trust me, it’s almost impossible to mess this one up.

We served this Cinnamon Apple Crisp dessert to our Dinner Club guests last weekend. And since we used up every last minute of prep cooking time (before the guests arrived) working on the appetizers and main dishes, I found myself starting from scratch with this dessert at the end of the night. This was after a long day, and, to top it off, this was a dish I’d never even made before.

I usually only serve guests recipes that I know will turn out well, but lately I’ve been more lax in that department for some reason. You just never know when you are going to have a recipe fail! But thankfully I learned it’s hard to screw up apples, butter, sweetener, oats, and nuts all baked together in cute little jars of goodness. Clearly the only reason I wanted to serve this dessert in the first place was for an excuse to buy those jars!

The rest of our evening was (thankfully) a lot less spontaneous. Here’s what we served:

“Southern Small Plates” Dinner Club Menu

• Boiled Peanuts: I previously thought this might be a complicated recipe when in fact it’s just peanuts that have been boiled! It does take quite a few hours and you certainly don’t want to forget the salt and other seasonings, but this one is super simple.
• Organic Pimento Cheese: I used the recipe that’s already on my blog for this appetizer.
• Local Fried Green Tomatoes: This recipe came out of Joy of Cooking (my cookbook bible).
• Organic Kale and Apple Salad: Coming to the blog soon!
• Whole-Wheat Biscuits and Jam: This is another recipe that’s already on my blog. I just made them into a bite-sized version and served with butter and storebought all fruit jam.
• NC Shrimp and Grits: We went out of our way to ensure we had fresh, local, wild caught shrimp for this dish instead of any questionable seafood shipped in from China!
• Local Pulled Pork and Slaw: The pork was also purchased from a local vendor and this recipe will be coming to the blog soon as well! I’ve actually been working on this one for a while and finally got the results I was hoping for. :)
• Organic Apple Crisp with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream: Get this easy crisp recipe below! And for the ice cream I loosely followed this recipe (without the pecan topping).

Are you part of a “Dinner Club” as well? How does yours work? I’d love to hear the details in the comments!

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Course: Dessert

Servings: 8 servings

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Ingredients

Apple Filling

• 2 apples large, a combination of varieties works best (I used a Honey Crisp, which is similar to Gala and also a green apple)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter melted
• 2 tablespoons honey

Crumble Topping

• 3/4 cup oats rolled
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup walnuts chopped (could also substitute pine nuts)
• 3 tablespoons butter melted
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional Topping

• ice cream (vanilla is especially delicious!)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Slice the apples into thin 1" pieces. I do this by using an apple slicer and then cutting each slice two more times (both longways and crossways).
   
3. Toss the apples in a medium sized bowl with the cinnamon, butter, and honey. To make the honey slide right out of the tablespoon (as opposed to sticking) measure out the melted butter first.
4. Evenly divide the apple mixture into 8 half-pint jars (or together in one pie plate if using). Place the jars on a large baking sheet.
   
5. In the same mixing bowl combine the crumble ingredients including the oats, flour, walnuts, melted butter, honey, and salt. Evenly divide the mixture over top the seasoned apples in the jars.
6. Cover the jars with one large piece of foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the oven up to broil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer or until the topping turns a light golden brown. Serve with homemade vanilla ice cream (if desired) and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Special equipment needed: 8 half-pint jars. Alternatively this dish can be baked together in one round pie plate.

*To make this recipe Peanut/Tree Nut Free, omit the walnuts/pine nuts from the crumble topping.

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.