cranapple crisp

my brother did us all a favor and introduced us to this new recipe at new year's. i'm in love! i've had it three times since! and really we can all thank jenn bryan for the recipe since she brought it to evan and karley after baby b was born and got them hooked. thank you for a new dessert that works just fine with our vegan+ modifications! this might be our new go-to recipe for birthdays instead of that funky cake. brett keeps saying we need to add banana to it. that boy and his bananas!

cranapple crisp
serves 12

filling ingredients:
6 gala apples, peeled and chopped
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

crisp topping ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1 stick butter, softened (i used 8 tbsps of applesauce instead)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

directions:
add 1 cup water and cranberries in pot and bring to a boil then simmer for 3 minutes. remove from heat and add corn starch, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and chopped apples. mix filling well and set aside.
combine the dry ingredients for the crisp topping, mix well. then add the applesauce (or softened butter, whatever floats your boat) and mix until crumbles form.
apply topping to filling in a 9x13 dish and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

*notes: this version that i posted has the sugar cut in half, so if you've got a killer sweet tooth you can double the sugar like my brother and jenn make it. i think next time i make it i'm going to use even less sugar than i posted here since the fruit does a good job of sweetening it. also just be aware, when you sub the applesauce for the butter, the topping loses its crisp (since no "frying" action is going on in the oven) so the topping turns out more like baked oatmeal. i sprinkled grapenuts on the top to give it a crispy crunch, but i like it either way. when i made it i cut the recipe in half and used an 8x8 pan. next time i'm going to half the filling but not the topping and do a layer of topping on the bottom of the pan too since we love crust around these parts!