Quince crisp

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's blog for a breakfast apple crisp and thought the idea of a not-too-sweet fruit crisp that could be eaten for breakfast with some yogurt was a genius idea. And amazingly, I ended up making this recipe not long after reading about it!

Usually, I sit here and *think* about making a recipe for months, if not years, before my lazy butt finally gets around to it. (For example, I started reading her blog a looong time ago after I saw her post for home-made oreos. I LOVE oreos, and yet it took me over a year to make them...)

Anyways, I digress. So I was going to make these with apples, but I accidentally bought quince at the market one day. You see, there was a tangerine cake recipe I saw in Martha Stewart's magazine but for some reason I thought it said quince. Yea, I'm dumb sometimes, I have no idea what I was thinking. Anywhoo, I bought quince to make the cake and realized it was totally the wrong fruit.

No biggie, I'd just eat the quince I bought, right?? One problem: I didn't really like them. Don't get me wrong, they smell RIDICULOUSLY good, and they tasted similar to an apple. But their texture was like a semi-unripe cross between a pear and an apple- yuck. It probably didn't help that I'm not a fan of pears (I don't like their mealy texture, except asian pears, they're delicious!) So I figured I'd try her apple crisp recipe using quince instead.

And I'm happy to report it was delicious!! Something about cooking the quince totally saved them.

Wanna see how I turned this...

... into (not-too) sweet deliciousness??

She calls for peeling the apples. I'm lazy (and don't mind the skin) so I left mine on. Just cubed the quince after cutting out the seeds in the center. Slice 'em, dice 'em, cut 'em up however you like.

Now just sprinkle on lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt...

.... and mix

Now get your "granola" topping ready. First just melt some butter and honey together. If you think THIS sounds good, just wait.

I'm not gonna lie, I had to try the melted honey + butter mixture. Just a little dip of the finger. mmmmmmmmmmmm. Soooo good!

Now go ahead and add the flour. Then mix in the oats, sliced almonds, whatever else you want (she added coconut, I didn't have any so didn't use it). I had a bite of this stuff, you know, just to try it out. And OMG I could have eaten the whole thing with a spoon- raw oats and all. I couldn't believe just how good it was.

Then just layer the oat mixture over the quince (or apples). I wish I had about 5 times as much sweet oats on top of the fruit! But that would make it a dessert and no-longer work for a "healthy" breakfast. So only a little bit of sweet and fat-ass oats for me.

Bake it up, and you're done!

I have to admit, I was expecting the oats to be really crispy. I guess the original name of "apple granola crisp" led to that assumption. However, the oat layer isn't really that crunchy. A little bit crispy, sure, but it was still quite soft. It was fairly soft and didn't have the nice crrrrrunch you get when you add granola to yogurt. BUT, it was delicious. And I bet it would be even better with apples (Quince seemed a little less sweet and more dry compared to apples).

Jackie

Apple/Quince/Pear/whatever crisp, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the fruit mixture
1.5 pounds apples/quince/pear/etc, cut into chunks (peeled, optional)
1 TBSP lemon juice (the ghetto concentrate kind works fine)
1.5 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt

For the oat topping
4 TBSP (half-stick) butter
4 TBSP honey
1/4 cup flour
1 cup oats (not instant)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (or any other nut you'd like, or no nut)
1/4 shredded coconut (optional)
feel free to add whatever else you want in the topping. Other spices, mix-ins-whatever.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix fruit chunks with lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt in a (9×13-inch) baking dish until evenly coated.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with the honey. Stir in the flour first (to avoid getting chunks). Add in the oats, almonds, coconut and another pinch of salt. Stir to mix. Avoid eating the entire thing.

Sprinkle evenly over the fruit mixture. Bake uncovered for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the apples are softened and bubbly. If the granola is getting too dark, cover the dish with foil. Remove the foil and cook for 5-10 minutes, enough to crisp up the oats. Enjoy warm (with ice cream for dessert) or cool (with yogurt for breakfast).