Apple crisp recipe for Rosh Hashanah

Celebrate Rosh Hashanah — or an epic haul from apple picking — with a warm apple crisp. The aroma when it is baking may just be what a hug smells like: it envelops your senses in comfort and pleasure.

It is a simple matter to make a crisp: the most time-consuming part is peeling the apples … that, and waiting for it to come out of the oven. (Once that smell wafts through the house, the waiting time seems especially long.)

This recipe makes a crisp with a generous amount of topping. It fills a 9-inch pie dish or 8 x 8 baking dish, and may be doubled and baked in 9 x 13 baking dish.

CLASSIC APPLE CRISP

FILLING:

3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled and sliced

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

TOPPING:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Coat a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Toss the apples with the vanilla: add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and toss thoroughly. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

3. For the topping, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers until well-combined. Add the oats and pecans (if using) and work the mixture until they are evenly distributed. The mixture should form clumps when you squeeze it. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples.

4. Bake until the topping is golden brown, the filling bubbles at the edges, and when you stick a fork or toothpick in the center the apples are soft, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

MAKES 4 to 6 SERVINGS