BAKED (APPLE CINNAMON) OATMEAL from Taste of Home

This is very good and comes from Taste of Home. It's basically cake that's made with oats and no flour. I made half in a 1.5 qt. stoneware baking dish. I baked it 35 minutes but I think it could have taken a few minutes less as the edges browned more than I wanted. I added one peeled and finely chopped apple and added 1/4 c. finely ground toasted pecans and 1/2 t. vanilla extract. In place of butter I used Blue Bonnet spread, which is salted. Because of that the salt level is perfect.

I give this 5 stars.

EASY APPLE CRISP from Chowhound

This comes from Chowhound. I used 4 apples instead of 5-6 and used the same amount of everything in the filling but used less cinnamon. The topping is good but too loose from too much oats and not quite enough butter to hold it all together. 

I give this 4 stars for several reasons. The topping doesn't hold together that great and the filling needs a bit of flour in it, in my opinion. 

CLASSIC APPLE CRISP from Pinch of Yum

This is from Pinch of Yum. I used about 5-5 1/2 c. of apples, not 4 like the recipe said to use. I didn't add more sugar or flour but did add 1/4 t. salt, 1/2 t. cinnamon, and I used a 10"/2.5 qt. pan. It baked in 35 minutes. I accidentally left the baking soda out of the crumb topping. The author didn't say why it was used. I googled and found that it makes toppings crispier. This topping is very very crispy so it wasn't needed after all. I used tart Pink Lady apples and they're perfect, as is the topping. 

 I rate this 5 stars and I'd make again.

APPLE CINNAMON BREAD (CAKE) from Mostly Homemade Mom

This excellent recipe comes from Mostly Homemade Mom. It's moist cake, not bread, so I don't understand why it's called bread. I used just one apple because I didn't have two and it was enough. I just mixed it in the batter and didn't layer it in between the batter and on top of the batter. The recipe called for no salt and I cannot understand why that is. I added 3/4 t. fine/table salt and it needed more. I also added 3 tablespoons toasted and ground pecans. I omitted nutmeg because I don't like it and used a little less cinnamon but shouldn't have. The 9"x5" loaf pan took 40 minutes.

I made a glaze for this while the cake was baking and drizzled it over the cooled cake. Recipe: 1 tablespoon melted butter/margarine/spread, 1 tablespoon milk, 1/4 t. pure vanilla extract, a drop of pure almond extract, 1 c. powdered sugar.

I give this 5+ stars.

Edit- I made half this recipe again but in an 8" round pan and it took just 18 minutes. I really only needed a 7" pan but didn't have one.

APPLE CUPCAKES from Cupcake Project

This recipe is from Cupcake Project and it's excellent. I recommend it highly. I made half and got 8 using 1/4 c. batter per cupcake. They baked in 17 minutes. I omitted all spices except cinnamon. The recipe doesn't call for salt so I added 3/8 t. but it needs more. I used one large apple, finely diced. I made my own thick glaze for this. 

Edit- I made half the recipe twice since the first time, using milk in place of the 1/4 c. sour cream and 1/2 t. fine salt and they turned out great! 

AMISH-STYLE BAKED OATMEAL from Once Upon a Chef

This is good and comes from Once Upon a Chef. I made half in an 8"x2" round baking dish and got four smallish servings. It took 40 minutes. I used far less cinnamon, no vanilla, no raisins, and I didn't sprinkle nuts on top but did add them to the filling. I chopped my apple pieces much smaller so that they'd cook through more than larger pieces would and they did soften mostly.

I think this needs a little less oats and a pinch more salt and less sugar as it's awfully sweet. I think this would have worked better with quick oats since they're not quite as firm as rolled oats, and they're smaller. The top is a little too firm because the liquids (egg, milk) sank to the bottom, only wetting the oats there.

I grade this a B. 

LEFTOVER RICE PUDDING from Taste of Home

This comes from Taste of Home. I used to make "leftover rice" pudding often over 10 years ago but got sick of it and haven't made it since. You use leftover salted white rice, or make some fresh, which is what I've always done, including this time, add milk, salt, and sugar to it and simmer it until it thickens. That's it. Very simple and basic, and good. I added cinnamon, less than 1/8 t., raisins, and 1 c. diced apple. This recipe called for a little too much milk, in my opinion, so I used 1/4 c. less and that was perfect. This calls for way too much vanilla. I didn't use any.

Because of calling for too much vanilla and not enough salt, I grade this an A-. The directions didn't tell you how much uncooked rice you'd need to equal 2 cups cooked (you'll need 2/3 c. rice and 1 1/3 c. salted water, by the way since rice triples in volume) so if you don't know how much rice increases in volume you'll have to look it up online and you shouldn't have had to. The recipe should have told you.

EASY APPLE CRISP from Life is But a Dish

This recipe comes from Life is But a Dish. I used a 13"x9"x3"/4 qt. baking dish. I chose this one because the topping uses a mixture of brown and white sugar, which I prefer. Most use all brown sugar and I'm not a fan of that. I sliced my apples thin then cut them crosswise to make smaller pieces. I omitted nutmeg and lemon juice/zest from the filling and I added 1/2 t. table/fine salt and 2 T. flour to it. I used 7 T. margarine and 3 T. butter in the topping. I softened both slightly in the microwave because it's much easier to cut into flour and oats if it's not hard as a rock. I truly feel that butter is wasted in an all-butter crumb topping. You get the exact same results with using mostly margarine and you don't get the strong butter flavor.

I'll grade this an A- because the filling, which has a large amount of added sugar, had no salt in it but it desperately needed some. I always use a heaping 1/4 t. fine salt per 6 apples no matter how much sugar is added. This had 4 lbs. of apples (8 medium ones) and a full cup of sugar so it's criminal that we weren't told to add any. The recipe states to use "oats" but didn't say which type, quick-cooking or rolled. Someone in the comments asked the author if they could use quick cooking ones and was told by the author that those "should be ok" so I used rolled oats. It should have been made clear in the recipe.

Edit- I think the topping should use 2 T. less each flour and oats. It's more crumbly than it should be, and I think it makes a little too much for this recipe. You taste the topping more than you do the apples, and the cinnamon is too much. I'd use 3/4 of the topping next time for this size pan but it truly is a great one.

IMPOSSIBLY EASY FRENCH APPLE PIE from Betty Crocker

This crustless apple pie recipe is from Betty Crocker and it's basically apple custard. It uses Bisquick biscuit and pancake mix and just three apples. This is at least the forth time I've made it but the last time was about five years ago so I didn't remember much about it. It has three steps; you have to peel just three apples for the filling, you have to make a custardesque mixture that you pour over the apples, then you sprinkle a crumb topping over the apples, and I always make the topping the day before. I bake mine at a higher temperature, 350 F, and it took about 35 minutes this time. I did have to raise the temperature way up 450 for the last five minutes so the topping would brown more. I leave out nutmeg and use just half the amount of cinnamon. I also add 3/8 t. salt because the recipe calls for none at all. The recipe said to use butter or margarine in the topping so I used margarine.

This tastes great but I think it needs less egg because the layer it makes on the bottom is too thick. I do think using just one egg would probably work fine. I cannot imagine how this would have tasted without the salt I added. The crumb topping isn't very firm and it softens even more once it cools.

I grade this a B. 

DUTCH APPLE PIE from Shugary Sweets

This recipe is from Shugary Sweets. I didn't make the crust recipe. I used one that is all shortening. I omitted the nutmeg and lemon juice from the filling and used half the amount of cinnamon. I added 1/4 t. salt but it needed double that. The amount of flour used in the filling was the perfect amount for six cups of apples and 1/2 c. sugar. This didn't need that much sugar. The topping is very good and crispy, made with equal parts white and brown sugar, but needed salt too. 

Overall, a decent recipe but it needs tweaking. I grade this an A-.

THE BEST, CRISPIEST TOPPING from Chew Out Loud

This crisp topping recipe comes from Chew Out Loud. I'm reviewing the topping only, not the peach filling recipe, as I made apple crisp to go with it. Like the name says, it's very crispy, which is how I prefer a crumb topping. It's made with equal parts flour and oats, and equal parts brown and white sugar. I did use half the amount of nuts. I didn't add spices to the topping.

I grade this an A+.

APPLE CRISP from Cooking Classy

This comes from Cooking Classy. I unintentionally used a lot more apples so I needed a larger baking dish, 13" x 9". I didn't increase the filling ingredients (sugar, flour) at all and it was perfectly fine. I omitted both lemon juice and vanilla extract from the filling. My dish baked in 50 minutes. Slicing the apples very thin is key to them cooking fully. The topping was good too. I'd maybe use less sugar in the topping next time. Using equal parts flour and sugar isn't a good ratio, IMO.

I grade this an A.

APPLE STREUSEL MUFFINS from Taste of Home

This recipe is from Taste of Home. These are very good and are made with melted butter and contain no milk so the batter is thick. I made half the recipe and got seven and they baked in 15 minutes. I didn't make the streusel topping or glaze and I added cinnamon to the batter and three tablespoons of ground toasted pecans. These need more salt, an extra 1/8 t. for half the recipe. I stored these in an airtight container and they were just as moist the next day.

I grade these an A.

BAKED APPLE PIE ROLL-UPS from Spend With Pennies

This recipes comes from Spend With Pennies. It uses sandwich bread that you flatten out, canned or homemade apple pie filling, melted butter, and cinnamon sugar. I got eleven, not ten, and there wasn't enough cinnamon sugar mixture to roll them all around in so had to stop in the middle and make more, so I suggest you use 3/4 c. sugar and extra cinnamon for the coating.

The recipe is excellent and easy. I suggest you roll out the bread slices and cut up the apple pie slices from the filling the day before just to make it go faster when you go to assemble them. I also baked them at a higher temperature, 400 degrees F. I wore disposable gloves too when making these since my hands were to be all over them. These reheat nicely in the oven on 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.

I grade this an A++.