Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Last weekend we had our first rain of the season. We usually have dry weather (no rain at all) from May - October. It was so nice to see, hear and smell the rain again...I LOVED it! It really put me in the mood to bake. I wanted apple pie but didn't feel like making the pie crust so I decided on Cinnamon Apple Crisp.
Slice the apples and toss with brown sugar and cinnamon.
To make the topping, blend flour, sugar and butter with a pastry blender~I am always shocked at how many people do not have this handy little kitchen gadget, it works great for cutting the butter into the dry ingredients. I could have used the food processor but I enjoy doing this by hand.
Add the apples to a baking pan and cover with the topping and bake it! The scent of cinnamon and apples fill the air. I really wish you could smell this through your monitor!

It's done! Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. I like to grate some fresh nutmeg on top of the ice cream.

This recipe was so easy and so good! I found it here on epicurious.com. (Yes, I'm still on my diet but I do cheat once in awhile!)

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Ingredients

1 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in large bowl. Add apples and toss to coat. Transfer apple mixture to prepared dish.

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar and butter in medium bowl. Using pastry blender or fingertips, blend ingredients until coarse meal forms. Spread flour mixture evenly over apples.

Bake crisp 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake crisp until apples are tender and topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.