Katherine Center’s THE BODYGUARD Apple Crisp
In The Bodyguard, the Stapleton family gathers at the ranch on Thanksgiving for a big, friendly, potluck-style neighborhood feast with friends and neighbors. They sit outside at tables with mismatched family tablecloths under string lights, drinking peach schnapps with homemade moonshine. We don’t drink moonshine —my first time to ever taste it was for research for this book—but we do gather out at the ranch every year for Thanksgiving, usually with a big crowd of family and a few extra friends. And every year since college, I’ve been in charge of bringing a homemade apple crisp, which is just about the sweetest, crunchiest, melt-in-your-mouthiest comfort food I know. The “crisp” of an apple crisp is essentially just cookie dough, so you’ve got warm, lemony, cinnamony baked apples topped with crunchy sugary crisp, and the combination is pure heaven. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the contrasting cold creaminess takes it all to the next level.
Enjoy my own personal, beloved apple crisp recipe!
-Katherine Center
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Katherine Center’s THE BODYGUARD Apple Crisp
- 8 medium apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I use Granny Smith)
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter, , cut into small pieces
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
- Heat oven 375 F°. Grease a shallow two quart baking dish.
- Put apples, water, and cinnamon in a large bowl and stir to combine. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
- In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. With a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter into the mixture until it’s crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture.
- Bake, uncovered for one hour, or until crisp is bubbling and top is lightly golden brown. Serve warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.