Apple Goody

Fall is in the air and the fresh apples are ready! We stopped at Merceir's in Blue Ridge today on the way back from ATL. The apples there literally come off the trees and fight into the bags in the store. This is one of our favorite fall recipes!

This is so good that I usually double the apple filling and bake it in a 9x13-inch pan. This makes a lot of crumbles on top if you bake it in a 9x9-inch pan! You might want to make just half of the topping for a smaller pan.

5 cups diced peeled apples
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup water
¾ cup quick cooking oatmeal (NOT instant)
¾ cup self-rising flour
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
½ cup finely chopped pecans, optional
Vanilla Ice Cream, optional (Not really "optional"! Go ahead and add a big scoop; it is soooo good on it!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine apples, sugar, flour and cinnamon in 9x9-inch baking pan. Pour water over mixture. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Stir with a fork until mixture becomes crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake 45 minutes or until topping is brown and crunchy. Serve warm with ice cream.

Helen’s Notes: If you don’t have self-rising flour, substitute 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.