Easy Apple Crumble!

This recipe is "inspired by" an afternoon of watching the Food Network re-runs at Cath and Chris' house.

I like this dish not only because it is so easy, but also because it uses ingredients that we always have on hand. It gives you the satisfaction of a freshly baked pie without the time commitment and mess of dealing with the crust.

Ingredients

For the fruit:

• 6 medium sized apples
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (optional)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the crumble:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel the apples, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins, custard cups, pie pan - whatever you have. Fill almost to the top, saving room for the crumble topping.

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl until it looks crumbly (yes, that's a scientific term), then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins (or whatever baking dish you're using) on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (not required, but helps make clean up easy!) and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Like most things in life, this dish is best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream :)

Tips: you can change it up by substituting in other fruits (the original recipe called for peaches) or tossing in berries - whatever fruit you have on hand that you want to use! This recipe is also very forgiving if you're not into taking the time to do exact measurements of ingredients, and can easily be doubled or halved depending on how many people you are serving.