Preserving the Apple Harvest & My Grandma’s Apple Crisp Recipe

My parents have a gorgeous apple tree that produced a huge harvest this year! I’m always lucky to be able to get a bunch of free apples from them. There were so many this year that we had to get busy figuring out easy ways to preserve them. These are Norland apples, and we find that they are great when they’re fresh, but it doesn’t take long for them to become soft and mushy, so it was best for us to use them up right away.

We have been making big batches of dehydrated apples that make such a great snack. We’ve also made large pans of apple crisp, and then are freezing them to enjoy later! In the past, we’ve also made batches of apple butter, which is a good way to use up apples that aren’t in prime condition anymore. And of course, you can always make apple sauce too!

To keep the apples from turning too brown after slicing them in preparation to dehydrate them, my mom’s trick is to dip them in lemon juice and coconut sugar before putting them in the dehydrator. Use a few tablespoons each of water, lemon juice, and coconut sugar, just enough to coat the apples. Dip each slice into the lemon juice mixture and then place in your dehydrator.

The fastest way to get your apples sliced is to use an apple corer/peeler which cores the apples and creates long, thin pieces of apple. You then just slice the long strands to create the “pieces”. You can choose to either peel the apples or not by adjusting the peeler mechanism to either touch or not touch the outside of the apples. We like to keep the peel on whenever we can!

Another great way to use up an apple harvest is of course to make apple crisp! We thought we’d share my Grandma’s apple crisp recipe, which was passed down to my parents, and now passed down to me too! You can make a a few batches of this, and then freeze it to eat later. We’ve changed her original recipe to make it a little healthier, by using coconut sugar and also reducing the overall amount of sugar. We also make sure to use organic whole wheat flour (or another less processed flour) instead of white flour.

My Grandma’s Apple Crisp

A classic apple crisp recipe that is versatile and easy to make with only 7 ingredients! We've made it a little healthier by reducing the sugar and using only coconut sugar. You can use coconut oil or butter, and substitute the whole wheat flour for a gluten-free flour.

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Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: 350 F, apples, baked, easy, fall, low sugar, summer

Servings: 6

Equipment

• 1 8×12 baking dish (glass is preferred)

Ingredients

• 4 cups apples, diced with peel
• 1 cup organic whole wheat flour
• 1 cup organic oats
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter

Instructions

• Mix together all of the dry ingredients.
  1 cup organic whole wheat flour, 1 cup organic oats, 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt
• Next, incorporate the coconut oil or butter into the dry ingredients.
  1/2 cup coconut oil or butter
• Dice the apples (keep the peel on), and add to your baking dish. Add 1/4 of the flour mixture to the apples and fold together.
  4 cups apples, diced
• Add the remaining flour mixture on top of the apples and spread evenly.
• Bake at 350 ℉ for 35-40 minutes.

My parents opted to make several batches of apple crisp at a time and freeze them in trays. You can then let them sit on the counter overnight to defrost and enjoy the crisp the next day.

I hope you enjoy this easy and versatile recipe! What are your favourite ways to preserve and use up a harvest of apples? Comment below and let me know!