OK, folks, Cheap Bastid hasn’t been around in a couple of weeks. That’s because I am now employed again as a bastion of the automotive industry selling cars.
Anyhow, before I have to hit the shower and get my game face on, I thought I’d post a recipe. It’s one I’ve “developed”, “synthesized”, “plagiarized” or created a couple of years ago and made enough times to finally start getting it “right”. And, I haven’t posted about it because I didn’t have any photos.
So, yesterday I had the day off—thank goodness because the day before stretched from a scheduled 6 ½ hour day to a 14 hour day and I was worn out—and I thought that one way to rest would be to plan a good dinner and make a dessert to go along with it. So, I ran to Frazier Farms for apples and raw oatmeal to make Apple Crisp. Then, in the middle of making it I discovered that I was out of cinnamon—so it was off to the dollar store because it needed it for the crisp and for the sweet potatoes I was going to grill. And the results were pretty doggone good for not having made this dessert in a while.
If you’re looking for a tasty dessert that’s quick and easy to prep and which meets the Cheap Bastid budget criteria (in a word—cheap!), give this Apple Crisp recipe a try. Have some vanilla ice cream on hand to plop on it while it’s still warm too.
Recipe: Homemade Apple Crisp
Summary: Here’s a tasty, easy and cheap dessert just like Grandma used to make–Homemade Apple Crisp. You’ll love it!
Ingredients
- 6-8 apples (Granny Smith, Gala, or Fuji)
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar (divided)
- 2 sticks butter or equivalent amount (12 tbsp) margarine (divided)
- 1 ½ cups flour (divided)
- 1 lemon or lime
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups oatmeal or multi-grain raw cereal
Instructions
- Take out a 9×9 baking dish and a medium mixing bowl. Lightly grease the baking dish. Core and cut the apples into chunks and put into one of the bowls. Preheat oven to 350.
- Cut the lemon or lime and squeeze the juice into the bowl with the apples. Add ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ stick butter or margarine (melted), 2 tablespoons flour, salt (about ½ tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp or so—I use more because I like the flavor and aroma) and ½ tsp nutmeg (I use more). Mix all this together with the apples and then dump the whole thing into your baking dish.
- Rinse the bowl and add the rest of the brown sugar (3/4 cup), 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg (both of those more or less depending on taste), 1 ½ cups flour, the oatmeal
and 1 ½ stick butter/margarine at room temp. Mix all this together really, really well with a spoon or with your fingers until it resembles a coarse, crumb-like mixture. Make sure to incorporate the dry stuff really well with the butter/margarine. Dig deep to the bottom of the bowl to make sure you get everything mixed. - Cover the apples with this mixture. You can use your fingers or glop it on with a spoon and use the back of the spoon to spread it out.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until the apples are tender and crust is golden One hint, put the baking dish on a cookie sheet in the oven just in case there’s a spill-over of the filling. That can help you avoid a gooey, messy clean-up in the oven. It’s easier to scrub a pan than the oven!
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 40 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Serve this with some vanilla ice cream or by itself. You’ll love it. Like anything you bake, it may take a couple of times to get it “down” and you may find yourself fine-tuning the amount of apples and amount of topping you use. But this is old-fashioned, tasty-good stuff!
The Cheap Bastid Test: Here we go on the budget thing again. The apples were on special for $.77 per pound and I bought 2 lbs. So that’s a buck and a half. The next priciest thing was the butter/margarine. Margarine is cheaper/healthier and get it for $1 for 16 oz and used about 1/3 of a container. I get butter at the dollar store for a buck for a half pound. So using margarine, I spend about $.35 and about $.75 for butter. The rest of the ingredients will set you back about $.50. Total budget for this adds up to under $3! And, it makes 9 nice-sized servings.
Give it a try. It’s tasty. It’s homemade. It’s “old fashioned”. It’ll make your house smell good.
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good, Eat Cheap, Be Grateful!
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