I know I'm a writer... But....

In my first posts, I talked about writing, something I love. I am a writer, but I'm also a cook. I love to cook and bake. When I'm not elbow deep in a novel, I'm elbow deep in the kitchen. This happens in spurts, kind of like my writing.

So today, Saturday, my grandparents came over for a big family dinner. This is a frequent, almost weekly thing. No big surprise. Last time we had the usual Italian dinner, but this time, we went all American. Burgers and hot dogs....but there was still that bowl of olives in the table....

Now, last time they came over, I made affogato. It's a shot of espresso or really strong coffee over a scoop of ice cream or gelato. My grandparents love this. I stick an Italian cookie in it and it's like the grown up float, with coffee instead of root beer.

But this time we were doing American. Hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob. So for dessert, I made my version of apple crisp. Some call it Apple Betty. I call it awesome :)

Whenever I bake with apples, I always use organic and combine a few different types. My go to, Fuji and Granny smith. I LOVE to bake with Fuji apples. They have the best flavor. But that's just my preference. I use the granny smith to add a little pucker and tartness.

The difference between my recipe and others is that it's gluten and cane/white sugar free. I sweeten with agave.

So I started off with a ton of apples. Really, I lost count at how many I peeled. Maybe....8 I think it was. (I'm the kind of person that eyeballs it and uses my hands to measure.)

So I chopped them up, and added a handful of gold raisins, regular raisins, and dried cranberries.

I added cinnamon and pumpkin spice. Again, this is me, putting it in the palm of my hand and seeing how it feels. I'd guess it was somewhere around a tablespoon of those combined. Then I added a few tablespoons of melted unsalted butter and around half a cup of agave syrup. Now for the flour, I used Namaste gluten free flour blend. But you could use any gluten free flour blend. The only recommendation I have is that you use one without potato flour or starch in it. I think the potato over powers when you bake with it.

So I mix the apples and other ingredients together, then placed it in a casserole dish that I've greased so the apples don't stick. Then I top it with a crumble. Equal parts gluten free flour and gluten free rolled oats...I used about a cup of each. Then I added about a third of a cup of agave, the mixture of raisins and cranberries, and a couple tablespoons of melted butter. Mixed it all together, and spread it over the top of the apples.

I baked it at 375 degrees, until the apples were tender and the top was golden brown.

This was how I spent my Saturday afternoon :)