Apple Cranberry Crisp with Oatmeal Streusel

A few weeks ago I spotted this amazing picture on The Daily Green's food site and I could not get the thought of the recipe out of my head. I have never cooked with cranberries because they aren't exactly local to Los Angeles, but this recipe sounded too good to pass up. I got some awesome pink lady apples at the farmers market. I normally bake with Granny Smiths, but I wanted something sweeter to contrast the tartness of the cranberries. The pink ladies are sweet and tart and hold up really well while baking. I am definitely going to be using them again for some fall baking. The only change I made besides halving the recipe was to add some cinnamon to the cran-apple mixture and to the streusel topping. Of course that made my apartment smell amazing. One bonus is that this recipe calls for only a little bit of butter so it's pretty healthy. I didn't have the whole wheat flour called for so I just used all-purpose, but the whole wheat would definitely add a nice nuttiness. This is definitely a tart recipe with the cranberries, but I really enjoyed that tartness against the sweet nuttiness of the streusel. I served this with some (melted) honey vanilla ice cream...normally I hate melted ice cream, but it appears my freezer isn't actually freezing things right now and it was surprisingly pleasant with the warm crisp. I have a ton of apple cider left over so please leave suggestions for cider (that aren't doughnuts) in the comments.

PS, you still have a couple of days to enter my giveaway.




Apple Cranberry Crisp with Oatmeal Streusel
(Adapted from The Daily Green)

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour*
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced

Filling:
12 ounces cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons apple juice or cider
3/4 pounds firm apples (I used pink lady apples), peeled, cored, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine the brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl and toss to blend. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 8x8-inch glass baking dish.

Combine the cranberries, sugar, and apple juice in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often for about 2 minutes. Stir in the apples and cook until the cranberries are softened and their juices thicken slightly, about 4 minutes more. Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish and sprinkle on the topping.

Bake until the filling bubbles thickly and the topping is brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

*You can substitute up to 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
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