Easy Summer Fruit Crisp

So, you have a fruit bowl on your counter with all kinds of fresh, seasonal fruit because it just looked too good to pass up at the farmer's market...and now you can't eat it fast enough and it's getting soft and squishy, right? (Go with me here.)

That's exactly what happened to me last week. Rather than letting this bounty go to waste, I decided to whip up an easy fruit crisp that has the smells of the not-too-distant holidays wafting throughout my house.

I started by cutting up the peaches and plums. Then, I added a bit of lemon zest and lemon juice to add a hint of freshness.

And some sugar to create the syrupy juice to bake in.

Then, I added spices and a bit of flour to make it even more syrupy and delicious.

Let the fruit sit in the bowl a bit and get happy.

To make the topping, I mixed together some oatmeal, brown and white sugar (cuz there wasn't enough already), flour and cold, diced butter.

Then, I spread the fruit mixture into a deep dish pie plate and topped it with the oatmeal mixture.

 

I baked this puppy at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes, until I could see the sweet syrup bubbling up at the edges and the crust was golden brown.

No one had to tell me twice to dish up a bowl (it would have been oh so comforting had I had some vanilla ice cream in my freezer).

With nostalgia my bowl, I promptly went and re-read my childhood scrapbook of time spent at grandma's house.

Easy Fruit Crisp
(adapted from Ina Garten's Apple and Pear Crisp recipe)

Filling Ingredients:
2-3 large peaches, peeled and cut into chunks
3-4 plums, peeled and cut into chunks
1-2 medium apples, peeled and cut into chunks
zest and juice of one large lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp. cinnamon (you can use less if you like; you can also add nutmeg)

Topping Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks of cold, unsalted butter, diced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 oval baking dish (or deep dish pie plate, or 8x8 baking dish) with nonstick cooking spray (or wipe it down with butter if you prefer).

Mix all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl; pour into greased baking dish.

Mix the topping ingredients in an electric mixer on low until butter resembles the size of peas (mixture should be coarse).

Sprinkle topping over fruit mixture.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until topping is golden brown and mixture is bubbling.