CEIMB: Apple Brown Betty

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly selection was the Apple Brown Betty from Ellie's So Easy book. It was chosen by Jess of Learning to Love Vegetables, and it could not have come at a better time for me. I've been knee-deep in freshly picked apples lately, and have been coming up with all kinds of different recipes to put them into. This one, it turns out, was a fantastic addition to my repertoire of apple dishes.

First of all, it was a snap to put together. I decided to make them into individual servings and cut the recipe down to just a third of the full amount. This made enough to fill two little ramekins, which was perfect. I was able to assemble these in about 15 minutes, including the time the apples spent on the stove, and then all I had to do was wait for them to bake. I did bake the dishes for about 10 minutes less then the recipe indicated, since I was not baking a full 9-inch pie plate's worth of Brown Betty.

Second of all, it turned out delicious! My husband is a huge fan of apple crisp, and I make it for him every fall. But with this recipe, I've found a way to make him a similar treat, but with lots less butter and sugar! The use of whole-wheat bread crumbs in place of oats or flour for the topping is pretty genius, I thought. The walnuts provide welcome texture, and there's just enough sweetness and spice from the cinnamon. I could see how adding nutmeg or a dab of ginger to the topping could be great, too. Unfortunately, I didn't think of that until just now! Well, there's always next time, right?

I'm sure there will be a next time with this easy, scrumptious fall dessert. It's great on its own, would probably be even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce on top, and requires very little of you in the kitchen. I'm glad it was chosen this week; otherwise, I may have just skimmed right over this one in the book. Thanks, Jess! Be sure to check out the blogroll for everybody else's results. The original recipe can be found here.