I think I’ve Americanized over the years. I know I must have. So has my son. We both take to American food.

One of those typical American recipes that made it into our home a few years ago is the Apple crunch. It’s a very undutch thing to make, and my guess is a lot of Dutchies were like me and never even thought of making this either. We have our beloved apple pie.

But this is so much easier to whip up, not to mention dirt-cheap and I think it’s a far more healthy and wholesome dessert (or even snack) than, say, a sugar-and-butter-laden apple pie served with or without ice cream. Plus, J-man loves it.

It’s not so overly sweet and rich either, which scores major points with me. The main ingredient is fruit. Apples. Something you’ll find an abundance of in my fridge on any given day. I guess that alone makes this the perfect last-minute dessert, since there’s no need for fancy ingredients or anything.

Basically I’m posting this one for my Dutch readers. Who knows, it might make it into their homes as well.

 
Ingredients:

 
Filling:

6 apples (sweet and sour)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp flour
3 to 4 tbsp brown sugar (I used light-brown)
1/2 lemon (just the juice)
1/8 tsp salt

Topping:

2/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup (light) brown sugar
3 tbsp melted butter

Optional: raisins

 
Directions:

The apples. Go for sweet and sour apples, they make for a much more interesting flavor than just sweet apples. You need freshness.

Peel them and give them a coarse chop. Not too small or things will get real mushy.

You could do this with water as well, but I like the flavor and freshness the lemon seems to add.

Add the juice of half a lemon. This would be your cue to add the raisins.

In a bowl you combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar. I don’t make it too sweet: 3 tbsp is more than enough for me.

 
You can use dark brown sugar as well. Somehow I always prefer the lighter brown version.
 

Add it to the apples. Little action going on here!

Mix it all up. Toss it around, throw it high up in the air! Make ‘em fly, just make sure they land in the bowl again.

Transfer the seasoned apples to a baking dish.

I never realized how great rolled oats were until I started using them for a topping. Absolutely love them.

Mix the oats with the brown sugar and the salt.

Stir in the melted butter.

And add the crunchy topping to the apples.

 
Now, this is just the basic version, mind you. The bare minimum (don’t you have 37 pieces of flair, too?). You can add finely minced walnuts or pecans to the topping as well. You can add raisins or other finely chopped (dried) fruits to the filling. Lots of ways to prep this.
 
Put it in a preheated oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 375º (175ºC), until the apples are soft on the inside and the top is all crunchy.
 

Do yourself a big favor, and serve this straight from the oven, along with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s irresistible.