Caramel Apple Crisp

I hate winter.  I really do.  So while most people are anxious for fall--the colors, the beautiful weather, the football--I just can't overlook the fact that fall is one step away from winter.  It's hard for me to get excited about that.

What I can get excited about, though, is apple season.  

I love to wander through the little metal-building-apple-shop at our favorite orchard, looking at the big bags of apples, checking out the different honeys, butters, pies, crisps, and samples.  What I have loved this year, even more, is the unexpected apples that showed up on our apple bushes.

Yep, bushes.

When we first bought our acreage, even before our house was built, we planted a few Haralson trees--my favorite variety.  That winter some hungry rabbits hopped along top of the big banks of snow around them and chewed off the tops of every single one.  What happens when you chew off the tops of trees?  They come back as bushes.  That was seven years ago, and those bushes have just sorted of existed.  Until now.  When strangely, one of them produced a small crop of apples.

Weird, right?  But hey, we'll take it!

With seven Haralsons and three Galas from the grocery store, I had ten cups of diced apples.  Just the right amount for our favorite apple crisp.  What makes it extra good?  Brown sugar instead of white...

and ice cream.  EVERYTHING is better with ice cream.

I toss the apples in a pot with cinnamon, brown sugar and ice cream and heat it until the ice cream melts.  It coats the apples in heavenly goodness.  

   
I prefer crisps with oatmeal.  More brown sugar, cinnamon and butter, plus a little white sugar go in...

Then some caramel drizzled on the top after it comes out of the oven.  Oh yeah... 

At this point, our house smells like glory.  

 

You could enjoy it just like this.  

But why not send it right over the edge and add a scoop of vanilla?  

With a little more caramel on top, of course.

It almost makes the thought of impending winter bearable.

Almost.

Caramel Apple Crisp

My own.

 

10 cups diced apples (8-10 apples, depending on size)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

1 T cinnamon

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1 stick (half cup) butter, melted

1.5 cups flour

1.5 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 T cinnamon

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caramel sauce (your own or from a jar)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick spray.  Peel and dice apples, then place in a large pot.  Top with brown sugar, vanilla ice cream and cinnamon.  Heat on medium low, stirring until ice cream melts and sugars coat the apples.  Pour into prepared 9 x 13 pan.  In a separate bowl, whisk together oats, flour, brown and white sugars and cinnamon, then pour in butter.  Combine until crumbly, then spread evenly over the diced apples.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, until top is browned.  Pour caramel sauce as desired over the hot mixture, then allow to cool at least an hour.  Serve with a scoop of vanilla and additional caramel sauce, then enjoy!