Maple Vanilla Apple Crisp

I went in on a couple of pounds of vanilla beans with some friends last month so not only has my house  smelled amazing these past few weeks - I've been trying several new recipes as well.  This recipe calls for one of my favourites - vanilla sugar.  Vanilla sugar is a great way to get a real, fresh vanilla flavour into a recipe without having to scrape a fresh vanilla bean each time.  You also can't beat the awesome look of using real vanilla bean... everyone will think Martha Stewart was there! 

We had Uncle Frank over for dinner last Sunday and I served this crisp for dessert.  Marc ended up working out of town this week so I put the leftovers in his lunch on Monday.  He liked it so much I made up another crisp and divided it into containers for the rest of the week.  It keeps really well in the fridge, if it makes it that long!  

Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) butter, cold, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup old fashioned oats (really, any oats but steel cut will do)
- 3 lbs of apples, cored and sliced
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp juice, such as apple or lemon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Combine granulated sugar and vanilla sugar.  Set aside. 

Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tbsp vanilla sugar mixture.  Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Add oats and mix with hands.  Toss mixture in the fridge while you prepare the apples.

Wash apples and pat dry.  Core and slice apples, then toss with remaining vanilla sugar, maple syrup, juice and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

Butter the inside of a pie plate (or baking dish) and add apples mixture.  Add topping and bake for 45-55 minutes,  until top is golden brown and juices are bubbling. 

Let cool for 10-15 minutes.  Serve with frozen yogurt or ice cream. 

Enjoy!