Grandma's Apple Brown Betty (Apple Crumble?) and a Year-End Review

It's been... quite a year. Has it felt that way for you too?  It seems like everyone I know is chugging along chanting the same mantra: "let's just get this year over with!" Of course, I think we've done this the last few years, and the New Year has yet to bring something significantly better, but hope springs eternal, right? And I have the most comforting dish for you today for those days when hope betrays your trust.

Sometimes after a break on the blog, I wonder if it's worth addressing that I've been gone. My statistics don't show that I have a lot of regular readers, and direct feedback suggests that my only readers are my close friends and family who already know what's been going on with me (and I suspect a lot of them, as much as I love them, quickly scroll through and give it a  consolation like while thinking "tl;dr"). In getting this post ready, I've been beautifully surprised at how many apparently random views I've gotten while I've been away (Hello to you, new friends! I'm glad you've stopped by! Leave a comment to let me know that you aren't just web-crawling bots what you think of my recipes/writing/etc!). Since I don't have this down to a science, I'm going to be self-indulgent and give you all an update. (Ooh, did you hear that whoosh of everyone scrolling past?)

The last time I published something was in May. That was about 7 months ago, but it feels like years. In that last post (Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies), I started to mention what was going on, but decided I didn't want to get into it and deleted all the touchy-feely stuff. I replaced it with a rant about Pinterest. This is kind of how I deal with things in real life, too. I even sat down and typed out all the crazy stuff that happened this year, but then decided to delete it all and just sum it up for you: My grandmother passed away; I had laser eye surgery; my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; Mom has fought cancer really hard and is recovering well from surgery and doing more chemotherapy to finish the full course of treatment.

I think that, even without much detail, you can see why I got a little distracted from the baking blog for a while. And all that was on top of my normal cycle of "bake, eat, gain weight, take a break from baking." I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that I have a cursed recipe I've been working from. Twice now, I've tried to make a blog post about my S'mores Ice Cream Cake only to get stuck. The cake was delicious. It just didn't photograph well. But I didn't want to make and eat another one (because ice cream cakes are difficult to take somewhere to share and I'm not huge on throwing parties for no reason).  That's happened twice now.  I needed a different recipe to make and post, but I was feeling fat and uncreative.

But a couple of months ago, one of my friends was put on bed rest for complications with her pregnancy (she and baby are doing well now), and when I went to visit her, my mom sent along an Apple Brown Betty. Both the friend I was visiting and the friend who came with me gave me blank stares when I proudly announce what I had brought. Having grown up eating this dessert, which was a recipe of my grandmother's (the same grandmother who gave us these adorable donut-hole-esque apple fritters), I forgot that not everyone is familiar with it.

Then, when I sat down this morning to write up this blog for you, my lovely readers, I did what any good writer should do and did a little research. I wanted to answer your own befuddled stares more eloquently than I had answered Courtney's and Rachel's. I also wanted to make sure that "brown betty" wasn't one of those phrases that used to be part of common speech but was later cast aside for being sort of racist. This is a very real struggle for a progressive living in the blurry borders of maybe-maybe-not-the-South. I was relieved to find that people outside of my family have heard of, eaten and enjoyed the apple brown betty and that while the term "brown betty" seems to refer to an actual brown-skinned woman who created the recipe in the mid-1800's, it appears safe to use without risk of offending anyone.  

It turns out, what I have here is not, strictly speaking, a brown betty. My research (okay it was just a quick Google search) for differences between crisps, crumbles, buckles, and brown betties told me over and over again that what I have been eating my whole life is really just an apple crumble on account of the streusel containing oats and only being on the top of the dessert. So if you want to be a party pooping pedant, yes, it's an apple crumble. But my grandmother lived 93 years calling this recipe an apple brown betty, and it just seems disrespectful to her memory to for me to change it now. 

Regardless of what you want to call it, it's delicious. It's warm and homey (as in, "of or like home," not as in "yo, dawg,"), packed with apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a crunchy-soft oat topping, and it's ridiculously easy, to boot! I've done my best with the pictures today, but this is not the most beautiful dessert. It is not something grand that you make to impress people with your artistic skills. But it is the perfect comfort dessert, and while the apples and cinnamon easily lend themselves to autumn baking, it really is good any and all of the time. Especially right out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is beautiful in the way that anyone you love can never be ugly. It tastes like a hug on a cold, rainy day. But enough bad poetry. I know why you're really here.

So here's what you do:

Peel, core, and slice some apples. This takes about 6 apples, give or take, depending on how big your apples are. This is a very forgiving recipe, so don't worry over having exactly the right amount of apples. And if you have one of these crank machines, it's even easier (I don't make anything if you buy one from that link; I have that one, though, and I like it. But similar models are available from other retailers). Another word about apples: I prefer to bake with Granny Smiths because they have a nice tartness that helps keep baked goods from getting cloyingly sweet and they hold up well when cooked. My mom often uses a mixture of apples for baking. Grandma's favorite apples were Fujis. If you have a favorite baking apple, go with it. If you are new to this and just don't have any idea, start with something a little tart and pretty crisp. Mix together your sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over your apples. Spread the apple-y goodness in a 9 x 13 pan. You can also cut this in half and make it in a 9 x 9. Or make the whole thing in a 9 x 9 and just have the whole bake be a little bit deeper. As long as your 9 x 9 pan isn't unusually shallow, you should still have plenty of room). 

Next, make the topping. Mix together your oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt, and then add the melted butter and stir it all to combine, until it looks (and smells) like oatmeal cookie dough. You may worry that the butter won't be enough to mix through, but just keep stirring; I promise it will be enough. Crumble the oat mixture over the apples (you can use a spoon if you really think you need to, but fingers seem to work best) and bake for half an hour. A good way to pass the time while your brown betty bakes is to listen to your stomach growling and do a little happy dance around your kitchen to celebrate the tastiness you're about to enjoy.

You'll know the apple brown betty is finished when the apples are bubbly and soft and the topping looks and smells like a lightly browned oatmeal cookie. Let it cool as long as you can stand (if this is just long enough to pull it out of the oven and set it on the counter, I won't judge you; just make sure you blow on it so you don't burn your mouth!). Any leftovers are best warmed up with a quick spin (about 30 seconds) in the microwave.

Grandma's Apple Brown Betty (Apple Crumble)

Filling:

6 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon  cinnamon

Topping:

3/4 cup oatmeal (rolled oats work best)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup melted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together apples, sugar, and cinnamon; spread in 9 x 13 pan.

Mix together topping ingredients and drop on apple mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm.