Apple Crumble with Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
YumSo, desserts have always been my thing and everyone is asking…”Where are your desserts?!” Scaling down desserts for two isn’t the easiest thing in the world but this one was super easy! So here it is, my first dessert on the blog and I promise many more to come!
Now I know that they say that an apple a day will keep the doctor away but what about an apple crumble?! I kind of doubt it, but this recipe is still great because of it’s perfect little sweet portion control size! You only get one and it really is just the right amount! Everything in moderation, right? 🙂
I love everything apple. Apple pie a la mode is one of my favorite desserts but most of the time I don’t want to fuss with making a crust for apple pie. That’s why I love apple crumble! I have had some crumbles that ended up with a soggy topping and flavorless filling until I tried this recipe with a simple way to make crisp, crunchy crumble and an apple filling that tastes like apple!
Another thing I love is caramel. Caramel and apples just go together! I decided that I wanted to have that caramel flavor with my crumble so I made a quick no-stir Salted Butter Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the top! Yeah, I don’t know when to stop. As if that wasn’t enough, I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Maybe that’s gilding the lily but so what, I like my lilies gilded!
The trick to keeping your crumble crisp is to bake it for 20 minutes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet before adding it to the apple filling. This step insures perfect crumble every time!
- 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, (approximately 1/2 lemon)
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
- 1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup) or any sweet apple
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- Pinch table salt
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsps granulated sugar plus 1 tsp
- 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar (light or dark)
- Pinch table salt
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and very soft
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- Adjust oven racks to lower and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine cornstarch and lemon juice in medium bowl until cornstarch is dissolved. Add apples, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; toss to combine. Divide apple filling between two ramekins, cover with foil.
- Combine flour, sugars (reserving 1 tsp granulated sugar), and salt in workbowl of a food processor; drizzle vanilla over top. Pulse to combine, about five 1-second pulses. Add butter and half of pecans; process until mixture clumps together into large, crumbly balls, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle remaining pecans over mixture and combine with 2 quick pulses. Transfer mixture to parchment-lined baking sheet and spread into even layer. Place topping mixture on middle rack in oven and apple filling mixture on lower rack. Bake topping until lightly browned and firm, about 20 minutes. Remove both topping and apples from oven.
- Remove foil from apple filling and gently stir. Slide topping over apples and spread into even layer with spatula, packing down lightly and breaking up any very large pieces. Sprinkle remaining tsp sugar over top and place on middle oven rack. Bake until well browned and fruit is tender and bubbling around edges, about 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes; serve with Salted Butter Caramel and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- I noticed that my apples were a bit too done and next time I will leave off the first 20 minute bake time with the crumble and will only do the second bake time but that's because I like the apples to still have a bit of firmness, that's just my personal preference.
- You can also easily double this recipe.
Be the first to comment.