breakfast apricot crisp
[Just add yogurt.]
Breakfast Apricot Crisp
Apricots, especially these early-season ones I picked up, are a bright and tiny bunch. The first time I made this it was so tart, I thought it was borderline caustic. The second time, I tripled the sugar in the fruit from one tablespoon to three and ended up with something that was… also crazy tart.
But then, like magic, I chilled it in the fridge where its acidity mellowed and it’s flavors came together and the next morning, with a scoop of plain yogurt, I was in breakfast nirvana.
As for putting this together, it couldn’t be easier. Trust me, there is nothing more fun than a crisp you have made with fruit you tore apart with your bare hands. Heck, you could even mix the topping with your fingers, if you’re feeling that rustic.
Fruit Base
1 pound apricots
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Grated fresh nutmeg, a pinch
Crisp Topping
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces) butter, melted
6 tablespoons turbinado or regular sugar (turbinado, also sold as Sugar in the Raw, gives an excellent crunch)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour)
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
Prepare fruit: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull apart apricots at their seam, remove pits, and tear them one more time into quarters, placing them in a small baking dish (one that holds two to three cups is ideal). Stir in sugar, flour and pinch of nutmeg.
Make topping: Melt butter and stir in sugar, then oats, then flour, salt and almonds until large clumps form. Sprinkle mixture over the fruit. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes and serve warm.
Although you could dust this with powdered sugar and serve it warm with vanilla ice cream for dessert, as I noted, it is on the tart side for an after-dinner treat. Truly, this excels cooled in the fridge overnight, and mixed with a scoop of plain yogurt for a weekday breakfast that will cure you of all weekday breakfast doldrums. It sure did for me.
It looks a bit like crumble, and that has to be one of my all time favourite desserts, hell if I could have that for breakfast every day I wouldn’t mind getting out of bed nearly so much. Hmmmm!
This looks splendid and very tasty!
Crumble for breakfast *sounded* kinda decadent but I see what you mean, they’re actually all typical breakfast ingredients.
This is my kind of breakfast! And all you have to do in the morning is open the fridge. Perfect!
Drool……
Looks delicious! Time to go buy some apricots… :-)
it’s a better take on breakfast that my sturdy but boring oatmeal w/ cinnamon and bananas. I might just eat this by itself though, since yogurt now costs an arm and a leg. bye bye my lovely fage yogurt :(
Tell me your secret, Debs, really. How do you make the simplest things look so good that I flail at my computer screen for ten minutes before beginning my plots to set up residence under the Smitten kitchen table? I am house-trained, and will eat all your scraps. You’ll never know I’m there, I promise.
Heh… I saw your pictures and immediately headed for the kitchen to eat a few newly purchased apricots. I’m going to have to give this recipe a try (if I don’t eat all the fruit by the end of the day!)
What I love about this post is that your visual story telling. It’s a culinary picture book for the food obsessed reader.
Your pictures tell the beginning, middle and end of this dish’s story…And then, I make a quick skim read of the actual recipe (to see if I’ve missed any of the important bits) and I’m off! To the kitchen I gooooo!
Thank you so much,
Brooke
Oooh! This looks perfect for a hot summer day…kind of like we’re having here in NYC. I agree with Brook (commenter #9) about the photography here. It’s awesome. I’m totally nominating you for the “E Is for Excellence” blog award!
Do you think macerating the apricots with a bit of the called-for sugar would cut down on the acidity and bring up the sweetness a bit? Maybe I’ll give that a shot.
Thanks for the recipe and the gorgeous photos!!
Deb–I am in love with your site and your cooking–it’s similar to my own obsession of food (including being a vegetarian until marrying a carnivore and creating an omnivore-ish marriage), except I’m not as clever, I live in the middle of nowhere Indiana, and even if I were to take pictures of my food, it would never be so lovely.
Anyway, I’ve been meaning to mention to you two websites that I think you NEED to check out. I lived in Scotland for two years and found two amazing British recipe sites that will just make you drool (and perhaps even think that Epicurious is not measuring up). First: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food which publishes all the BBC cooking show recipes. These can be spotty sometimes as chefs are creating new recipes weekly and there is no rating system, but there are some amazing gems there. And, my personal favorite out of all food websites: http://www.waitrose.co.uk . It’s an upscale food store in the UK and I have never tried a recipe on there that is not just a sliver (or huge piece) of heaven. You at least have to go to the latter. And now I’ve given you all my secrets, but I thought you needed to know. I mean, we never really need hundreds of more recipes bookmarked on our browser, but then again, I don’t think you can ever have to many, right?!
Cheers!
What a great idea! They look really good!
This looks so yummy. Could it also be a dessert? Or is it not sweet enough? I made the big crumb coffee cake this morning but with blueberries. It was amazing. my markets out here in CA have yet to produce any rhubarb.
I’m going to have to run to the market for apricots in the morning. My mouth is WATERING! I will use Splenda since my husband is a diabetic and real careful with his diet. I’m sure it will be just fine. I’ll let you know.
I simply cannot wait to make this!
Now that’s my kind of breakfast!
What a creative breakfast idea! It looks absolutely delicious! I’ve been finding gorgeous plump California apricots here lately. They would be just perfect for this.
Looks delicious. I love a healthy, hearty - but also sweet - breakfast. Love that pic of the turbinado.
Hi, just found your blog and I must admit that it’s a feast for the eyes (especially before breakfast!). I will visit often and have added you to my favs! Thanks for the visual delights.
Tora in Chagrin Falls, OH
amanda, fage yogurt is just regular yogurt with the water drained out - get a sieve and some thin cotton cloth or some cheesecloth.
or, make yogurt yourself - very easy, very little work - use lowfat not nonfat milk for more substance, and add milk powder, then do the draining again.
never waste your money on the fage brand….
This looks lovely. I love the idea of dessert for breakfast! I am not a huge fan of apricots, but I am sure other fruits would be good as well.
I was wondering what to do with all of the apricots we recieved yesterday… Saw this last night in my selection of blogs I subscribe to and thought wow she must have read my mind! Thankyou… It’s in the oven… :)
Shilpa - I think FAGE yogurt also uses some cream in their formula. There’s something about the exact ratio of milk/cream and the cultures they’ve got going - I’ve never been able to duplicate it exactly : (
First of all, those pictures of apricots almost got me to run out of my airconditioned paradise and into the inferno to buy some. They look so.darn.good.
Secondly, as to Fage… my parents love it, but it is very expensive, so they bought a yogurt maker (really just a plastic box with a fine mesh screen) and make their own version starting with plain, store-brand yogurt- not exactly cheap these days, but more so than Fage. It’s actually remarkably similar, in both taste and texture! They use non-fat, but I’m sure it would be better with lowfat.
Mmmm, that granola looks really nice and crispy. I’d bake that alone so I could sprinke it on any kind of fruit.
I bought some ‘cots the other day that were in a plastic pkg. BIG mistake. When cut, they were way under ripe. (and I live in CA and know better..what WAS I thinking?) I ended up cooking them down to a saucy jam and had to include a can of ‘cots to sweeten it and sauce it up some more. They really needed the canned and the sugar. NEVER do that again..sheesh.
I love fruit crisps in the summer! And I’ll take any excuse to have dessert for breakfast.
Mmmmm this sounds like it’s a great twist on traditional crisps. I like the idea of pairing it with yogurt. I will be trying this!
Yummy looking granola. I keep promising myself I’ll make some, and never get around to it. I know those apricots are pushing me to get it done. I’m a sucker for them.
dessert for breakfast? sign me up.
must go to greenmarket, search out apricots.
Apricots are amazing and so is your crisp. I’m so glad it’s apricot season!
My kind of breakfast!
You’ve been tagged…see my blog for details. :-)
Oh, I love the idea of having apricot crumble for breakfast! I have some amazing Greek yoghurt in the fridge that is just crying out for some apricot crisp to go with it….
OMG those pictures are glorious! I want to run out and buy apricots right now. (my boss will understand, right?)
I simply cannot get enough fresh apricots right now, since they’re at their peak - what a wonderful way to enjoy apricots, with that scrumptious crisp!!
I just made strawberry rhubarb crisp because I was inspired by your use of rhubarb from a previous post. My husband loves all crisps/crumbles, but with all that butter this would be a dangerous breakfast for us to have around the house. Looks amazing though. Our apricots arent really seasonal yet in Chicago, so they are just sad and little and not fragrant at all. I’m a bit jealous of how great yours look.
It’s like dessert for breakfast! Amazing! I love all the pictures of apricots. They’re one of my favorite summer fruits. This breakfast would even be lovely with a few fresh pitted cherries thrown into the apricot mix. Oh the possibilities!
I can’t do much to claim locavore status [you will take my coffee and chocolate and lemons from me when you pry them from my cold dead hands, for example] but one thing I’ll say about apricots, of which I am passionately fond, is that they are exponentially better when they are in season locally. Roundabout mid-July to mid-August, hie you hither to a Greenmarket where Red Jacket farms have a booth (like Union Square, for example) and get some of their luscious beauties. Then try this recipe again if you can stand lighting your oven. I’ll lay you odds that you won’t need the extra sugar at that point. I swear this year I’m not only going to make apricot curd, but maybe homemade apricot chutney and some sort of jam that will make my hair stand on end and every other part of me do happy dances.
I love apricots and this looks delicious. What a great breakfast idea.
I can not wait to make this one. What a delicious morning it will be!
Thanks for a gorgeous post.
Denise
Oh yum. I’ll definitely make this this week. I’m always looking for something more exciting than cereal.
Whoa.
Now I know exactly what to make this weekend for guests…nothing better to show off than something insanely delicious but yet has the air of, “oh, this old thing?”
That is a beautiful way to start the day and I’ll have to try this ASAP while the apricots are still here. Yum!
It does look like a crumble… what a great idea!
Yum! I just bought a huge bag of apricots at $0.79 a pound! I’ll have to try this recipe, it looks delicious, but for breakfast? That looks like a wonderful light summer dessert. What can ya do for me with the huge bag of peaches I got?
Delicious! Made this last night. It was great and so easy!
What a perfect breakfast! Looks yummy! :)
Hi, I’ve been a lurker here for a while. Thought I’d pop up and say hello. Hello!
I tried this recipe on the weekend and loved it. I drizzled honey on top of each serving for added sweetness. Wonderful!
like an answer from heaven, i found you by blogsurfing. i happen to have 70 pounds of apricots in my kitchen right now. (long story, i live in the country ok!) awesome. can’t wait to use some for breakfast!!
I made this last night and brought it into my office…..a resounding success with every morsel eaten within 15 minutes!
simply Beautiful post!
Wonderful, just finished eating it with vanilla ice cream. Anything apricot is heaven to me. thanks for the wonderful recipe and photos as well! It was all inspiring.
I made this last night and threw some fresh cherries in. I think the tartness is the perfect counterpoint to the sweet topping… but I tend to like tart thingsto begin with. At any rate, I’m eating some right now and it’s kind of blowing my mind (in a good way).
Sounds too sweet for breakfast but looks great!
I finally made this last night after thinking about it since Sunday. In an attempt to make it slightly more healthy I used a little less sugar (I used brown sugar in the fruit and turbinado in the topping) , a little less butter, whole wheat flour, and snuck some ground flax seeds in the topping. My apricots were on the sweet side so I didn’t miss the sugar. Like you said, this was much better the next morning. Thanks for the most exciting breakfast in weeks!
Inspired by this recipe, I created my own low-fat, low Weight Watchers points version of this. My recipe here:
Apricot Crumble
3 apricots, thinly sliced
1 apple, thinly sliced
2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. Splenda
2 packages of Quaker Simple Harvest Maple Brown Sugar w/ Pecans Multi-grain Cereal
1/4 c. applesauce
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a one quart baking dish, mix apricot and apple slices together with sugar and Slenda. In seperate bowl, stir together oatmeal packets and applesause, until it forms a crumbly mixture. Spoon oatmeal mixture over fruit. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking another 15 - 20 minutes or until top is crispy.
Makes 4 servings. 9 points for whole recipes, 2.25 points per serving (random, I know.) Serve with plain yogurt mixed with 1 tbsp. of sugar free maple syrup. Totally delicious and decadent.
I made this Saturday afternoon, chilled it, and ate it for breakfast Sunday morning. It was absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe except for the nuts–I had some chopped pecans hanging around and no almonds. Really, really good. Just the right amount of sweet, and crunchy, and not-that-bad-for-you!
Followed another’s advice of adding a handful of pitted cherries. Such homey gooey simple & comforting flavors meld together in this! The cherries really update it and highlight the smooth mellowness of the apricots. Well done deb, this one’s a keeper for dessert or breakfast.
Hi, thanks for posting this recipe. I made this last Sunday with a few mods and it came out great! I used a combination of apples and strawberries instead of apricots, used one less tbsp of sugar for the fruit, accidently used a whole stick of soybean margarine instead of half, so I added some more flour and oats to get the right texture. Turned out great within with all the changes.
I made this last night… HEAVEN! I was up early this morning just thinking about having it for breakfast with plain yogurt. (The only change I made was a heaping tsp of cinnamon in the crumb topping). My husband laughs at me eating “dessert” for breakfast, but it’s too delicious to be featured after a meal. It deserves it’s own course!
i made this last night for my boyfriend’s birthday breakfast this morning and it was AMAZING (i’m at work still thinking about a flavor). one question i’m hoping you can clarify. you said 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces) butter, melted. isn’t half a stick 8 tablespoons? i made it with 4 and cut up some extra to put on top during the baking process because i wasn’t sure. thanks deb! you’re my favorite food blog!
Glad it was a hit. One stick is 8 tablespoons, so half is 4. Glad you got it right!
This looks wonderful. Will definitely try it very soon (and it’ll be a nice change for breakfast). As others have said, lovely pictures too…