In the mood to tempt your taste buds with something red and daring? Something slightly sassy, bathed in sugar and oats, and baked until bubbly?
Bring on dessert!
Wait. Did I just say dessert?
Dessert, side, breakfast accompaniment, brunch dish, the red gooey stuff, midnight snack, what have you…this Apple Cranberry Crumble is good—really good—and perfect for serving anytime, at any type of get together, meal, or holiday celebration where eating isn’t just involved, it’s mandatory.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
There is one requirement to serving this dessert. One, very serious requirement.
In order to experience full sensory overload, you must serve this Apple Cranberry Crumble warm: not piping hot, straight from the oven; not cold from being refrigerated; and certainly not at room temperature.
Simply remove this crumble from the oven (when it’s done baking, of course), allow it to cool about 10 minutes, and prepare your taste buds to take flight. Served in the glassware of your choice, this crumble is sweet, slightly tart, bursting with oats and a touch of apple, making it hard to believe such extraordinary flavor can be contained in one glass.
Gather up your friends, family, neighbors, kids, the guests at your bed & breakfast inn and prepare them to be guinea pigs. Pass out the big spoons. Encourage second helpings. If you get half the reaction I think you will, you’ll be looking for excuses to serve this dessert all fall and winter long.
Cranberry and apple lovers, enjoy!
Apple Cranberry Crumble
(recipe from Taste of Home Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook, 2002)
- 3 cups chopped & peeled apples (your favorites)
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecan (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for baking.
Assembly
In a greased 8-inch square baking dish, combine apples and cranberries; sprinkle with sugar. In another bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and butter; sprinkle over the cranberry mixture. Top with nuts if desired. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes, or until browned and bubbly. Serve warm.
Yield: approximately 6 servings.
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It looks fabulous, served up in those dishes!
Serving it warm is no hardship at all if it tastes as good as it looks! I love the red ruby like cranberries and the blanket of snow in the dish-lovely!
Now if only there were a sugar-free version of this… it looks so wonderful, but off-limits to my family of diabetics and dieters. How can we adapt it? Or is this one of those desserts that’s best left as is, and those who can’t eat it should simply make something else?
Good gravy it even looks great before it’s baked….HELP! I wonder if I could add some chocolate. Seriously, it looks to be yet another winner and I’m heading to the grocery store.
Are you trying to kill me???? Want for breakfast!
Noble Pig – Thank you!
Lorraine – I know
It’s not like being told, “Serve it warm,” is a stretch, now is it?!
Lydia – That is such a good question, and one I don’t have all the answers for. My instinct tells me (between the granulated sugar & brown sugar), that it’s best to leave this one alone and serve something else for the diabetics or serious dieters, because you really do need the extra sweetness to cut the tartness of the cranberries and liven up the oats.
That said, I believe you could cut back on the granulated sugar to 1/3 or 1/2 cup and still get away with it, but I (personally) wouldn’t cut back on the brown sugar amount at all. I know many diabetics bakers make substitutions with baking Splenda or other sweeteners such as Stevia, but I can’t comment as to how those products would substitute because I have never baked with them. Perhaps someone who regularly cooks desserts adhering to diabetic guidelines would like to try converting this recipe and reporting back? (Hint, hint)
Denise – I thought the same thing while baking this dessert & taking these photos, “This looks fabulous and I haven’t even baked it yet!” Have fun at the grocery (it’s one of my favorite places to shop)!
Mental Mama – No, but this is one of those desserts where it’s best to exercise some portion control, especially if you are dieting!
That looks lovely! I love desserts like this that have loits of different textures! We don’t use cranberries in Europe as much as we should!
This sounds like my kind of dessert and I absolutely love the plated (er, glassed?) photos. Its difficult to make something as rustic as a crumble look so sophisticated.
You’re so right – this is definitely a timeless classic!
-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com
may it never be said that i have deprived myself of anything food-related.
yes, warm is definitely best. the vanilla ice cream i would most definitely add would then melt slowly rather than immediately melting into a pool.
We served the Apple Cranberry Crumble this AM to our guests, along with our Bacon, Egg and Cheese pizza and sliced kiwi…WHAT A HIT! They all commented how decadent it was to have dessert for breakfast (as they scraped every last bit up with their spoons!) Thanks so much for sharing an awesome recipe…it definitely will go on the repeat menu at Aska Lodge!
This is comfort X2…the checkered table cloth and crisps are log-cabin cozy food.
I would not complain about having that for breakfast at all. Looks awesome!
We were served this decadent dish along with Breakfast Panini at the Aska Lodge B&B in Blue Ridge, Georgia. It was served in a white souffle cup with a little “melon size scoop” of vanilla ice cream! It was….incredible!!! I will be definitely serving this at home to family and guests!
What a delicious dessert for Thanksgiving also! Thanks for sharing this gem!
I made this today….had a bag of cranberries left and wanted to make something new for dessert. It was awesome. My uncle said it was scrumptous! I have never heard him use a word that big! Anyway I am now hooked on your website and will be checking here often for new recipes.