Category: Dessert

Lemon Squares

Servings: 16
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: Total time 1 hour
Source: NYT’s Food section – best lemon squares

The recipe for these sweet, tart squares, adapted from the “Wellesley Cookie Exchange Cookbook” by Susan Mahnke Peery, was published in The Times in December 1990, part of a Christmas cookie roundup. But they can be made for just about any occasion, whether you’re in the holiday spirit or just craving something with a little pucker. The buttery shortbread mellows a lemon topping, as does the dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Make it to cap off a weeknight dinner, or for a weekend afternoon snack, paired with a cup of tea. —

Ingredients: 

2cups/256 grams flour, plus ¼ cup/32 grams
½cup confectioners’ sugar/61 grams, plus 2 teaspoons
1teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup/227 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs
2 cups/400 grams granulated sugar
⅓ cup/80 milliliters lemon juice (from about 1 to 2 lemons)
½ teaspoon baking powder

Directions: 

Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together two cups flour, ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and salt. Add melted butter and stir to thoroughly combine. Spread with clean hands in an even layer into a 9-by-13-inch pan and bake for 25 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice, baking powder and remaining flour. Pour onto the hot baked shell and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until just set. Using a small, fine meshed sieve, sift remaining confectioners’ sugar on top when cool. Cut into equal bars.

Key Lime Pie

Servings: 8
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014850-key-lime-pie

Unlike the NYTimes instructions which is unbaked and frozen, this recipe heeds the comments and calls for baking 15 minutes @350F. I also followed the suggestion to make the graham cracker crust instead of buying a prepared crust.

Yield: One 9-inch pie (8 servings)

Ingredients: 

For the graham cracker crust:
10 rectangles of honey graham crackers
6 Tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 C sugar

For the pie filling:
6 large egg yolks
2 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 8 Costco Mexican limes)
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest (from 2 limes)

For decoration
1 cup whipped cream
Vanilla
Powdered sugar

Directions: 

Make the crust.
Roll 10 rectangles out in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Add softened butter, sugar, and work with fingers until evenly distributed. Smash it down with a cup/fingers in the pie pan. Bake at 300F for 10 min.

Make the filling.
While the pie shell is baking, in a mixing bowl, beat yolks until thick, about 3 minutes. Add condensed milk, lime juice and lime zest. Beat again until well blended, about 1 minute. Pour into pie shell, filling it to the brim and mounding slightly on top. Bake @350F for 15 minutes and refrigerate.

Decorate:
Whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla. Pipe rosettes on top of chilled pie.

Apricot pistachio squares

Servings: 16 or 25 bars, depends on how you cut them
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Source: Smitten Kitchen

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RECIPES
apricot pistachio squares
AUGUST 7, 2014 JUMP TO COMMENTS
Let me just get the obvious out of the way because I know what you’re thinking: what am I doing here? Shouldn’t I be packing for our move, which is less than 24 hours from now? These are all valid questions, but you see, there is history here, a long history of kitchen-related procrastination. Two days before our last move, I sheeted pasta and peeled favas. I spent the last week of my pregnancy stocking the freezer with foods to bribe charm labor and delivery nurses with. When I was done with that, I made a cake for people coming to visit the new baby. When my induction was trudging along pitifully slowly, I pulled out my laptop and wrote up a new recipe I’d made in the days before. Thus, it should be no surprise that on Tuesday, with a totally straight face, I made the argument by turning the last splash of heavy cream, handful of chocolate chips and a half-pint of vanilla ice cream leftover from this into hot fudge sauce, I was “packing.” But yesterday, I didn’t even have an excuse; I just needed a break from having exasperating conversations a store that lost the mattress we ordered and could maybe get us a replacement sometime in September, arrgh.

pistachios and apricots
apricots everywhere this summer

Ahem. I’ve been in a bit of a fervor this summer over the apricots from Red Jacket Orchards. I shared a photo of them the other day and someone asked me what I was going to make with them and I was confused. Make? With apricots? Why on earth would you make something with apricots, when you could eat them as-is, even four in a row as my son did before my dropped jaw yesterday. But then the next wave of procrastination hit and why, yes, making something with apricots was a brilliant idea!

whirling the pistachios

making the cookie base

In another era of my life, this would have been a tart. I would have made a tart shell and pressed it into a fluted, removable bottom tart pan, trimmed the overhand, pricked it all over with a fork, filled it with pie weighs and par-baked it before filling it elegantly. This all feels way too fussy for my current lifestyle — and by “lifestyle” I mean “barely managed chaos” — and so I made bar cookies instead. Bar cookies are your friend. The crust can be whizzed up in a food processor and pressed into the bottom. You parbake it with no docking and no pie weights, and while it’s in the oven, you use the bowl of your food processor that you didn’t even wash (because la dee da, it doesn’t matter) to grind the pistachio frangipane filling.

pistachio paste filling
ready for the oven
baked

Frangipane is usually made with almonds; frangipane is delicious with almonds. But what I really want to eat with apricots is nubby green pistachios, and so I made a pistachio paste instead. As the sole purpose of this baked good was to allow me to avoid handling the real things in my life that need to be handled, and I was very distracted while baking it, my expectations were very low for the results. I figured it would be a disaster and one day, preferably in my new kitchen, I’d make it again properly. But the kitchen faeries were with me — it’s like they wanted me to willfully ignore my to-do list! And who am I to argue with faeries?! — and these are actually wonderful, buttery and rich but not too sweet. For a bar cookie, they are downright elegant. As a way to evade a big looming deadlines, astoundingly effective. Now, who wants to come over and help us pack?

apricot pistachio squares

One year ago: Kale Salad with Pecorino and Walnuts
Two years ago: Leek, Chard and Corn Flatbread
Three years ago: Peach Butter
Four years ago: Everyday Chocolate Cake
Five years ago: Lighter, Airy Pound Cake
Six years ago: Key Lime Meltaways
Seven years ago: Mixed Bean Salad

Apricot Pistachio Squares

This recipe is lightly spun from this pear-almond tart from Dorie Greenspan, with a simpler crust and streamlined steps. This is the kind of bar recipe that should theoretically be flexible to use with other ingredients. You can estimate roughly need twice the weight in pistachios if you’re buying them in their shells.

Ingredients: 

Crust
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine

Filling
3/4 cup (a scant 4 ounces or 110 grams) shelled unsalted pistachios
1 tablespoon (10 grams) all purpose flour
Few pinches of sea salt
6 tablespoons (75 grams) sugar
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract, 2 teaspoons brandy or another flavoring of your choice (totally optional)
1 pound firm-ripe apricots

Directions: 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cut two 12-inch lengths of parchment paper and trim each to fit the 8-inch width of an 8×8-inch square baking pan. Press it into the bottom and sides of your pan in one direction, then use the second sheet to line the rest of the pan, perpendicular to the first sheet. (If you have an 8-inch square springform, you can skip this and just butter it well.)

Make the crust: Combine the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into chunks, and add it to the bowl, then run the machine until the mixture forms large clumps — that’s right, just keep running it; it might take 30 seconds to 1 minute for it to come together, but it will. Transfer the dough clumps to your prepared baking pan and press it evenly across the bottom and 1/4-inch up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, until very pale golden. For the sake of speed, transfer to a cooling rack in your freezer for 10 to 15 minutes while you prepare the filing.

(Don’t have a food processor? You might have an easier time using softened butter and preparing this cookie-style: cream it with the sugar with a hand mixer, then spoon in the salt and flour, beating until just combined. It might help to chill this mixture a bit before pressing it into the pan, or it might feel too greasy to easily spread.)

Make the filling: In your food processor bowl (which I never bother cleaning between these steps), grind your pistachios, sugar, flour and salt together until the nuts are powdery. Cut the butter into chunks and add it to the machine. Run the machine until no buttery bits are visible. Add any flavorings and egg, blending until just combined.

Spread filling over mostly cooled (warmth is okay but it’s hoped that the freezer will have firmed the base enough that you can spread something over it) crust. Cut apricots in half (or, you might find that you can tear them open at the seams with your fingers) and remove pits. From here, you have a few decoration options: you can place the apricot halves in facedown or up all over the pistachio base. You can do as I did, which is cut them into strips, then slide each cut half onto a butter knife or offset spatula, tilt it so that it fans a little, and slide it onto your pistachio filling decoratively. (With this method, I ended up not using all of my apricots.) You could also arrange the strips like petals of flower around the pan, for maximum pretties.]]

Bake the bars for 60 minutes, or until they are golden and a toothpick inserted into the pistachio portion comes out batter-free. This might take up to 10 minutes longer depending on the juiciness of your apricots and the amount you were able to nestle in. Let cool completely in pan; you can hasten this along in the fridge.

To finish, you can make a shiny glaze for your tart by warming the jam in a small saucepan until it thins, and brushing this mixture over the top of the cooled tart. Or, you can keep it rustic with just a dusting of powdered sugar, as I did. (This step is not necessary- JO and ES skip it)

Cut bars into squares — chilled bars will give you the cleanest cuts. Keep leftover bars chilled.

Sweet and Salty Cream Cheese Tart

Servings: 8 to 10
Preheat: 325
Prep Time: 45 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
Source: Alison Roman

The nice thing about this cheesecake is that it doesn’t require a water bath or any sort of special baking pan: More shallow than a traditional version, it gets baked right in a pie plate (or tart pan, if you’ve got that). While there is juice inside the cream cheese filling, it’s the fresh sliced citrus on top that makes this cake Creamsicle-like, so don’t skip it. The ultimate do-ahead dessert, this cheesecake can be baked three or so days in advance, just make sure to wrap it tightly as cream cheese tends to easily pick up on that “fridge” scent.

Ingredients: 

FOR THE CRUST

8 ounces Ritz crackers or Nilla
wafers (see Note)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted
butter, melted
Pinch of kosher salt

FOR THE FILLING
1 pound (2 8-ounce packages) full-fat
cream cheese, preferably room
temperature, or 2 cups labne
1 cup sour cream or full-fat Greek
yogurt
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons fresh grapefruit,
lemon, lime, or orange juice
Flaky sea salt
Fresh citrus, halved or sliced (optional)

Directions: 

1. Make the crust: Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Pulse cookies in a food processor until you’ve got a nice fine crumb (but not a powder). You can also do this by hand if you like, by placing the cookies in a resealable bag and crushing or smashing with a skillet or rolling pin, but you will need a food processor for the filling.
3. Transfer crumbs to a medium bowl and add brown sugar and butter, followed by a pinch of salt. Using your hands, mix until the crumbs are evenly coated and the mixture has a nice, wet-sand texture.
4. Press the crust onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate, tart pan or springform pan. (Alternatively, you could use a cake pan lined with parchment. You can even use an 8-by-8-inch baking dish here, although expect a slightly thicker outcome.) Use the bottom of a measuring cup or small bowl to make sure the crust is really pressed in there, otherwise the cake could be challenging to cut later on.
5. Bake the crust until it is lightly golden brown at the edges (it gets baked one more time, so best not to overdo it here), 10 to 12 minutes.

6. Make the filling: Combine cream cheese, sour cream and granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture is extremely smooth and well blended, a minute or two, scraping down the sides as needed to incorporate any stubborn chunks of cream cheese. Add eggs, grapefruit juice, and a pinch of kosher salt and keep processing until it’s even smoother and creamier than before (a miracle!), another 30 seconds or so.
7. Pour filling into baked crust (you may have some leftover filling depending on your chosen vessel) and bake until mostly set (a little jiggle is fine), 20 to 30 minutes. The filling should not brown at all.
8. Turn oven off and open the door a crack. Let the tart sit in the oven for a few minutes before transferring it to a wire rack on the counter to cool completely. Then place the tart in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. (This is to prevent any unsightly cracks from appearing on the surface, which can happen when there is a sudden or drastic change in temperature.)
9. To serve, scatter fresh citrus slices on top and sprinkle with a little flaky salt.

Italian Ricotta Cookies

Servings: 6 dozen
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 1 hour, plus 2 hours’ chilling
Source: New York Times

Jessica Hulett’s tender, cakey ricotta cookies taste like the white part of the best black and white cookie you’ve ever had. The recipe comes from Ms. Hulett’s grandmother Dorie, who used to flavor the cookies with anise, if she used flavoring at all. Adding lemon zest gives the cookies a fragrant brightness. We approve. —Melissa Clark

Ingredients: 

2 sticks (1 cup) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
425 grams sugar (about 2 cups)
1 ¾ cups ricotta cheese (15 ounces), preferably fresh
Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
480 grams all-purpose flour (about 4 cups)
10 grams baking soda (2 teaspoons)
4 grams fine sea salt (about 3/4 teaspoon)
450 grams confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup to 1/2 cup milk, as needed

Directions: 

Using an electric mixer, cream 2 sticks butter with sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add ricotta, lemon zest and 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and beat well. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula, then beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Cover dough and chill for at least 2 hours and up to a week.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line several cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Shape tablespoons of dough into balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake until pale golden on the bottom, about 15 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

Melt remaining tablespoon butter. Whisk confectioners’ sugar to break up any large lumps, then whisk in melted butter, lemon juice, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and enough milk to make a spreadable icing. Spread icing on cooled cookies, then let set for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Brownie Cream Cheese Bites

Servings: 5 dozen cookies
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Source: Fine Cooking – Issue 61

These mini cupcakes add a delicious burst of fudgy flavor and a playful element to the usual holiday cookie assortment.

Ingredients: 

For the brownies:
4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 tsp. table salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5-3/4 oz. (1-1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

For the cream cheese topping:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions: 

Heat the oven to 350°F and line three one-dozen capacity (five if you have them) mini muffin tins with foil or paper liners.
Make the brownie batter:

Combine the butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over simmering water or in a microwave and heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until the butter and chocolate are melted and smooth. Set aside.

With a stand mixer (use the whisk attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the eggs and salt in a large bowl on medium speed until very foamy, about 2 minutes. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar. Beat until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. With a large rubber spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture into the eggs, add the vanilla, and fold until the two mixtures are just barely incorporated. Add the flour and continue folding until just incorporated. Scrape the batter into a 1-gallon heavy-duty zip-top bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal.

Make the cream cheese topping:

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Add the egg yolk and mix until blended. Pour in the chips and mix until blended. Scrape into a 1-quart zip-top bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal.

Assemble and bake:

Snip off 1/2 inch from one corner of each bag. Fill each lined muffin cup about two-thirds full with the brownie batter and then top with about 1 tsp. of the cream cheese mixture.
Bake the three trays in the center of the oven until the brownies are puffed and a pick inserted in the brownie comes out just barely clean, about 20 minutes. Let the brownies cool in trays on racks for 5 minutes before carefully lifting the liners out of the tins and transferring them to racks to cool completely. Be sure the tins are completely cool before lining and filling them with the remaining batters.
Store at room temperature or freeze in an airtight container, separating the layers with waxed paper.

Chocolate Walnut Tweed Torte

Servings: 10 to 12
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 
Source: Alice Medrich

Loads of ground bittersweet chocolate and walnuts held together with meringue produce a moist, deceptively light cake with a speckled (tweedy) appearance and intense chocolate flavor—without flour or even egg yolks. It’s perfect for Passover, and, of course, it’s gluten free. Whipped cream on top accentuates the flavor of the nuts and balances the jolt of bittersweet. Glorious, and simple as can be.

Ingredients: 

1 cup (3.5 oz.) walnut pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. (4.375 oz.) sugar
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate (70% to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 medium orange (optional)
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup egg whites (from 7 to 8 large eggs)
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Directions: 

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Pulse the walnuts with 1 Tbs. of the sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Scrape the nuts into another bowl. Use a paper towel to wipe excess oil from the sides of the processor bowl, add the chocolate with 1 Tbs. sugar, and pulse until it forms crumbs ranging in size from coarse meal to 1/4-inch bits. Add the chocolate to the nuts, along with the orange zest, if using, and salt, and stir to combine. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a large clean, dry bowl at medium speed until the egg whites are creamy white and soft peaks are formed when the beaters are lifted. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating at medium-high speed until the egg whites are glossy and stiff but not dry.

Pour half of the chocolate mixture over the egg whites and fold in with a large rubber spatula until nearly incorporated. Repeat with the remaining chocolate mixture, folding just until evenly incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the torte is puffed and golden brown on top and springs back when gently pressed with your fingers; a toothpick inserted in the center should come out moist and possibly stained with melted chocolate, but not coated with raw batter. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Slide a thin knife or a small metal spatula around the sides of the torte to release it from the pan. Remove the pan sides and transfer the cake to a serving platter.
Serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream.

Tangy Lemon Cookies

Servings: 50
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 
Source: From “The Last Touch”, Gourmet Magazine, October 1986

crsip delicious lemon cookie

Ingredients: 

1 ½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ tablespoons freshly grated lemon rind (about 3 lemons)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar for sifting over the cookies

Directions: 

In a bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the sugar, add the vanilla, the rind, and the lemon juice, beating, and beat the mixture until it is smooth.

Into the bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt and blend the dough well.

On a piece of wax paper form the dough into a log 1 ½ inches in a diameter, using the paper as a guide.

Chill the log, wrapped in the wax paper and foil, for 2 hours. The dough may be made up to 3 months in advance and kept wrapped well and frozen.

Cut the log into ⅛-inch slices with a sharp knife and bake the cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets in a preheated 350℉ oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just golden.

Transfer the cookies with a metal spatula to racks to cool and sift the confectioners’ sugar lightly over them. Makes about 50 cookies

Creepy Witch Finger Cookies

Servings: 36 cookies
Preheat: 325
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: https://www.simplysogood.com/creepy-witch-finger-cookies/

Tender crisp butter cookie shaped witch fingers. Creepy Witch finger cookies are a perfect Halloween treat. How can something that tastes this good look so bad?

Ingredients: 

1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon Almond extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon salt, if using salted butter)
3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
green food coloring (few drops)
1 tube red decorator gel or raspberry jam

Directions: 

In a bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond and vanilla extract; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Add a few drops of green food coloring until it reaches your desired green. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into one end for the nail. Squeeze in center to create knuckle shape; using a paring knife or toothpick, make several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes.

Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Let cool. Makes about 28 large cigar size cookies. If you only use 1 teaspoon of dough, you will get about 4 dozen cookies.

Fruit Crisp Recipe: Create Your Own

Servings: 8
Preheat: 375
Prep Time: 30
Source: https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/fruit-crisp-recipe-create-your-own

See URL for more info.

Fruits that are in season together make great combinations; think of Bing cherries and apricots in early summer, peaches and berries at summer’s height, and apples and pears in fall and winter. Berries, cherries, and rhubarb, work best when they’re used in combination, either with one another or with other fruit. They’re either too tart or mushy to use on their own.

The topping is my favorite part of the crisp, so I blanket it on thickly. But if it’s too thick, the bottom layer of topping doesn’t really get crisp. The solution I’ve devised is to sprinkle on only half the topping, bake for 20 minutes, sprinkle on the rest, and then bake until done , another 15 to 35 minutes. This way, the first half gets a head start on browning and crisping, so you get less of a gooey layer next to the fruit.

Crisps are best served the same day they’re made, as the topping tends to absorb the fruit’s juices and become soggy. If you fancy it for breakfast, however, you can reheat day-old crisp in a 400°F oven.

Ingredients: 

Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of table salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional) or 1/8 tsp. grated or ground nutmeg (optional)
8 Tbs. slightly softened unsalted butter

Fruit
6 Cups fruit cut into even-size pieces: 1/2-inch pieces for firmer fruit, 3/4-inch pieces for tender fruit.
2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup sugar. For less ripe or tart fruit (like rhubarb) use more sugar; for sweet, ripe fruit, use less.
1 Tbs. lemon juice
cornstarch (1 tsp for denser fruit, like apples and pears, 1 Tbs for juicier fruit such as berries, and 2 Tbs. for rhubarb.

Choose one topping add-in (optional)
Oatmeal: 1 cup old-fashioned oats (leftover gets mushy)
Cornmeal: 1/4 cup
Chopped walnuts: 1/3 cup
Chopped pecans: 1/3 cup
Chopped hazelnuts:1/3 cup
Sliced almonds:1/3 cup

Directions: 

Combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and cinnamon or nutmeg in a medium bowl. With your fingertips, rub in butter that’s been cut into pieces, until it’s well blended and the mixture crumbles coarsely; it should hold together when you pinch it. If you like, mix in one of the topping add-ins (see options below). Refrigerate the topping until ready to use.

Taste the fruit and sprinkle on 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup sugar. For less ripe or tart fruit (like rhubarb) use more sugar; for sweet, ripe fruit, use less.

In a small dish, dissolve your cornstarch in lemon juice. Pour the cornstarch slurry over the fruit. Use restraint when mixing in spices, extracts, zests, or dried fruit. These ingredients can add an interesting dimension, but too many ingredients muddy the flavor and overwhelm the fruit. Gently toss your chosen flavorings into the fruit.

Pour the fruit mixture into an 8- or 9-inch square (or similar-capacity) glass or ceramic baking dish. (You could also divide the fruit into small ramekins for individual crisps; just remember that the cooking time will be shorter). Set the pan on a baking sheet to catch overflowing juices. Top the fruit with half of the topping (refrigerate the other half) and bake for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the remaining topping over the crisp and continue baking until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife, the topping is crisp, and the juices are bubbling, another 15 to 35 minutes, depending on the fruit (apples take more time; berries take less). Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.