Photo: Apple Brown Betty Recipe
My mother made this all through my childhood. It's lighter and crunchier than a cobbler. She made her own bread crumbs by drying the bread in a low oven until crispy and running it through the food processor. They could also be broken into small pieces and cut up smaller with a knife. More simply, store-bought unseasoned bread crumbs are a fine substitution.
Ingredients
- 6 apples, Granny Smith or Braeburn, peeled and cored
- 3 lemons, zested and juiced
- 1 1/2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 additional tablespoon for greasing the baking dish
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- Equipment: 5 creme brulee dishes, shallow and oval
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the center of the oven.
Place the apples on a flat surface, cut them in half, and then into thin slices. Put them in a medium bowl and coat them with a light layer of zest from 1 of the lemons and all of the lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and bread crumbs. Season with salt. Set aside.
In a third bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Mix to blend and add the apple slices.
Grease each baking dish with the remaining butter. Layer the bottom with the apples and cover with the bread crumb mixture.
Cover the dishes tightly with aluminum foil and place in the center of the oven. Bake until the apples are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and bake until the top browns. Serve immediately.
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By barbinvb_7948646
Virginia Beach, VA
on May 24, 2011
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Too bad that when I saved this recipe to my recipe box I couldn't also save the reviews. I ended up with something that was not so good.
By Chef Paree
Dallas, TX
on April 27, 2009
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It is unfortunate that the Food Network does not give more attention to the accuracy of the recipes posted. The chefs themselves might consider checking the accuracy once it is posted. It would not be that big of a job given than we see reruns and more reruns so it is not that often that a new recipe gets posted. As much as I enjoy Food Network, they seem to take little responsibility for their website. As a result, people waste money on ingredients for a bad recipe.
By drobie_11225129
Mazomanie, WI
on November 07, 2008
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The written recipe is flawed due to editing.
Too much lemon and the preparation step of mixing a little of the sugar mixture with the apples is screwed up. On the show, Alex mixed the brown sugar, then sprinkied about a tablespoon of just the sugar mixture on the apples and mixed them in.
She then combined the remaining sugar mix with the bread crumbs and finally, poured and mixed the melted butter throughout.
I'll try a teaspoon of lemon juice and skip the zest next time. They bury the apple taste as written.
With those small changes it sould be a pretty good recipe.
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