Foodie Fridays: Dueling Apple Crisps

A couple weekends ago I went apple picking, so on this foodie Friday, I’m posting about my double apple crisp challenge. We filled a bag with 1/3 gala apples (for eating), 1/3 Cortland apples and 1/3 honeycrisp apples, with the intention of making 2 different apple crisps. However, after tasting some delicious peach cobbler my friend made from store bought crisp/cobbler mix, I decided I wanted to do an experiment instead. Which is tastier: store-bought mix or homemade mix? Is homemade worth the extra effort?

In the red corner is the store-bought apple crisp

Simple enough: 3 quick ingredients.

In the blue corner, home made apple crisp!

I used this recipe, which was still labeled “simple”. Definitely not too difficult, but compared to the box it was still a fair amount of work (especially since I had to grind my own cinnamon since I forgot to buy some at the store). The only alteration I made was to slightly reduce the amount of sugar due to a comment saying it was much too sweet. As you’ll see later, I probably should have left it the way it was.

After peeling, cutting and baking for most of the day, what’s the verdict? Well, I’m tempted to give them a tie. I did a blind taste test with my boyfriend, who thought the store-bought one was actually the home-made one because it was crunchier and sweeter. He liked both of them, but he told me couldn’t decide which one was better. (I think he actually liked the store-bought one better but didn’t want to belittle my work in the kitchen, which is arguably a smart move on his part 😉 ). For me, I think I liked the home-made one better because it had a more substantial crust, but I did have to agree that the store-bought one was crunchier and sweeter.

Due to the fact that the store-bought one really was significantly easier, I think I have to give it a win. If you’re short on time, you can’t go wrong with at least this brand (Concord Farms) of boxed apple crisp mix.

That being said, I must say that I prefer to make things homemade and think that I would probably be more likely to make the homemade version (but maybe leave it in the oven longer and be less stingy on the sugar).

What about you? Do you prefer homemade or boxed mixes when you bake?