Baked apples with buckwheat-oatmeal crumble

I’ve been firmly falling for fall, tumbling down the rabbit hole of cozy sweaters, smoky fires, baked apples with cinnamon and copious cups of Kusmi tea.

And, really, wishing you the same because that’s one of the most enjoyable parts of this transition season, as the leaves start falling and the smell of apples baking is welcoming you home.

Tips: Reserve the lemon peels and a few of the apple peels to add to the baking pan – they will both flavor and thicken the fruit juices.

Baked apples with buckwheat-oatmeal crumble

You’ll need:

• 6 semi-sweet large apples, halved, peeled and cored
• 2 T maple syrup (I used Crown Maple light amber, in this case)
• 4 T honey
• 1/4 cup lemon juice + a few lemon peels
• 1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t allspice
•  1 t vanilla sugar
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 365F. Prepare the apples – I find a melon baller to be particularly useful when coring the apples neatly and efficiently – and nestle them snugly into a baking dish. Reserve some of the apple peels.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the topping by crumbling the softened butter with the remaining dry ingredients. Add maple syrup at the very end, right before topping the apples with the crumble.

3. Mix honey, apple and lemon peels, and lemon juice with 2 cups hot water. Pour hot water carefully into the baking dish.

4. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until apples are soft and the crumble topping is toasty. Top with extra maple syrup, if desired.

Also great with a big scoop of real vanilla ice cream, of course.