Cinnamon, apples, buttery oat crunch, tart cranberries—this recipe has it all. And it’s easy to throw together in just a few minutes. It’s great for dinner parties—just prep it sometime that day and pop it in the oven as dinner is served; when dinner is done, dessert is magically ready! Domestic deity achievement unlocked.
For this recipe, you’ll need:
Topping:
- 1 C flour
- 1 C oats
- ¾ C brown sugar
- ½ C butter (one stick)
- 1 t cinnamon
- ½ t nutmeg
- ½ t ginger
Fruit:
- 4 apples
- 1 orange
- 2 C (about 8 oz.) cranberries
¼ C butter (half a stick)
Turn the oven to 375F if you’re making this right away. You can prep it earlier in the day (or even the night before), wrap in foil, and refrigerate until you’re ready to put it in the oven.
I make the topping first; just measure everything into a bowl. Cut the stick of butter into chunks, then work it into the dry ingredients with your clean hands until you can squeeze it together and it sticks.
Set that aside while you peel and chop the apples. If you don’t have an apple corer (like there is room for that in your already-jammed gadget drawer?!?) just do what I do: peel them, then chop them in half through the core then in half again. Tilt your knife at about a 45° angle and chop out the core, then chop the apples into about ¼” slices.
Toss the apples into a medium-sized baking dish. Check through the cranberries for squishy (rotten) ones or super-shriveled ones and toss those, then put the rest in the baking dish with the apples. Now for the secret ingredient: ORANGE. It makes the cranberries sing, I promise. Zest the orange on top of the fruit, then squeeze the orange juice out over the fruit.
Dot the top with butter pieces, then scatter the crumb topping across the fruit, leaving some in chunks.
Either cover with foil and put in the fridge or put into the oven now. At about 30 minutes, check the apples by poking a fork into the middle. If the fork slides in easily, it’s ready. If not, cover with foil and let it bake another 10 minutes or so.
Let it cool for 5 minutes or so to make sure you don’t burn your face off, then serve with ice cream!
Delicious.
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