Cranberry-Apple Crisp

A few months ago, I was searching through my fridge for some "leftover" inspiration. This is what I found:

A little peeling and coring, a handful of cranberries, and a sprinkle of orange zest later, and I had this:

Add some butter, sugar, and flour:

And soon a delicious smell wafted from my oven:

What else was I to do?

(look, I shared!)

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

This recipe is a combination of what I had in my fridge, and my mother's crisp topping recipe. I used this amount of cranberries and apples because I had them on hand; I may try adding more cranberries next time I make it. I love the combination of tart and sweet that you get from a tart filling and a sweet topping, so I do not add any sugar to my filling. You can adjust the amount in either the filling or the topping according to taste.

Here is what I used:

Filling:

2 or 3 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup cranberries (you can certainly use more--this is how many I had in my fridge!)

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated fresh orange zest (or lemon, optional)

1 tablespoon orange juice (again, optional--just add a few squeezes from the citrus you just zested

Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup cold butter

Instructions:

1. Layer half of the apples and cranberries in an 8x8 inch baking dish. Sprinkle half of the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, zest and juice over the top. Repeat with the remaining filling ingredients.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour and sugar for the topping. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Sprinkle over filling.

3. Bake at 350 degrees until mixture bubbles along the edges, about 45 minutes.

Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream for an extra treat.