Maple Apple Crisp

Here's a dessert recipe that uses our low sugar granola. Any of the variations will do, but don't use granola that contains dried fruit. The fruit will dry out too much during baking. I don't mix in the dried fruit until I eat my granola for breakfast, a suggestion from my dear friend Deb of Kiger Family Vineyard. If you mix as you go, you always have fruit-free granola on hand. I used my latest seasonal granola recipe, pumpkin pie spice granola, and it was delicious!

I like to mix up the apples in my crisp. Some varieties stay crunchy, some soften when baked. Some are tart, some sweet. If you mix them up, I think the texture and flavor is better, but use what you have. Here's a handy guide to apples to help you select apples you'll like.

Maple Apple Crisp
(serves 8)

non-stick cooking spray
1 cup granola without dried fruit
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
⅓ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into about 16 chunks
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 medium apples
⅓ cup real maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9"x9"x2"  baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the granola, oats, brown sugar, nuts, and ground cinnamon. With your fingers, crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until there are no big chunks.

Put the lemon juice in a large bowl. Peel, core, and slice each apple and place in the bowl. Toss with lemon juice to prevent browning. When all the apples are sliced, pour over maple syrup and stir to coat apple slices with syrup. Pour it into the prepared dish. Spread the granola mix on top, covering the apples completely. Bake for 45 minutes until apples are tender when pierced with a knife.

Adapted from a recipe in Apple Cookbook by Olwen Woodier, Storey Publishing, 2001.