A Fruity Friday

Oatmeal Fruit Crisp

With our school year almost coming to an end, it certainly feels like summer. To us, summer not only means wearing flip flops, swimming outdoors, getting a suntan (or sunburn), and experiencing a change of pace from the regular year, but also means that we will be eating tons of fresh fruit. Although it is only May, soon fruit such as apricots, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and peaches will be in season. We knew that we wanted to create a versatile recipe that could be cooked while substituting any of your favorite seasonal fruits. Because we had a lot of apples, pears, and strawberries around our house, we decided to cook up our fruit crisp with them. Feel free, however, to use any fruit of your liking! This warm, sweet fruit crisp will taste great paired with vanilla ice cream on any of the upcoming warm summer days!

Oatmeal Fruit Crisp
Yields 8-10 servings

Cooks for approximately 20 minutes

 

Ingredients

            2 apples, cut and peeled

            2 pears, cut and peeled

            5 strawberries, sliced

(*Note: we just used whatever fruit was in our house, but feel free to use any fruit that is in season or your favorite—total fruit should be approximately 3 cups)

            1 teaspoon vanilla extract

            3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

            1/4 cup light brown sugar

            1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Oat Mixture

           1 cup old fashioned oats

           1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

           1 teaspoon vanilla

           2 tablespoons applesauce

           1 tablespoon light brown sugar

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Combine sliced fruit with vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, and lemon juice
3. In a separate bowl, combine oats, vanilla, and cinnamon
4. Take 1/3 cup of oat mixture and combine with fruit. Mix until oats are evenly dispersed
5. Pour combined fruit and oats into a shallow bowl or pie dish
6. Add 2 tablespoons of applesauce and 1 tablespoon light brown sugar to the remaining dry oat mixture
7. Spread remaining oat topping on top of fruit in pie dish
8. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until top is golden brown and fruit is bubbling around the edges
9. Allow the fruit crisp to cool for approximately 25 minutes
10. Serve with vanilla ice cream or eat alone!