Apple Crisp

This is Rives the Younger's recipe. Lucky for me (and you), he was willing to share the gold. I used a mix of Gala and Granny Smith apples.

APPLE CRISP - serves 10-12

Filling:
4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
Juice of one small lemon (less than 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Topping:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups rolled oats (not steel cut)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put apples in large bowl and toss with lemon juice and vanilla extract. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and black pepper. Sprinkle over apples and toss to combine. Spread evenly into a 9x13 pan.

In the same bowl add oats, flour, brown sugar and salt. Toss to combine and break up the brown sugar. Add butter; with your hands, squeeze and blend well until clumps form (your hands will ache!). Sprinkle topping evenly over apples. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!