Sweet Apple Crisp with Gooey Cheddar Cheese
Jessica Merchant has woven together sweet and savory recipes in her book, Seriously Delish. With her best-friend-in-the-kitchen tone that she is known for from her What Sweet Eats blog, she presents food that you will eat during the week, on the weekend, standing alone at the counter and serve to friends. This collection is real food. Her take on sweets is simple. It has to taste good, she throws some whole wheat flour in there from time to time and does offer some recipes with butter, some with alternative fats. This crisp is a riff on apple pie with a cheddar crust – but I like this even better because the cheese goes into the filling and melts along with the apples. Gooey, melty, delish. Also check out her Chocolate and Peanut Butter Lover’s Brownies and our interview.
Recipes and content are reprinted with permission from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, from Seriously Delish: 150 Recipes for People Who Totally Love Foodby Jessica Merchant. Photographs also by Jessica Merchant. Copyright 2014.
I know that apple pies with slices of cheddar or cheesy crusts have been around for ages, but the whole thing freaked me out for a while. I’d eat fruit and I’d eat cheese and I’d even eat cheese (Brie) topped with fruit (cranberries) . . . butcheese on my sweets?Not so sure. How about baking the cheese INTO the sweet so nobody gets a choice? So demandingI am.
This apple crisp is made with whole wheat flour, oats, and a little butter, but it’s jam-packed withcinnamon-coatedapple cubes and white cheddar chunks.
It’s totally a thing.
- 4 medium Gala apples, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 11⁄2 teaspoons whole wheat pastry flour
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces white cheddar cheese, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes
- 2⁄3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1⁄2 cup loosely packed light brown sugar
- 1⁄4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (1⁄2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add the apples to an 8x8-inch baking dish and toss them with the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Toss the cheese cubes with the apples in the baking dish. Set aside.
- For the topping, in a bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon and mix well. Add the butter and vanilla extract and use your fingers to disperse the butter throughout the oats, creating a crumbly topping.
- Sprinkle the crisp topping over the apples and cheese. Bake until the crisp is golden and the apples are softened, 25 to 30 minutes. Top with vanilla ice cream, if you like.
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