Leftovers -- mini apple crumble

2 weekends ago, i made an apple pie; this past weekend, i used the leftover pastry and apples to make apple turnovers. Not realizing how small my turnovers would be, and that it would only take 3 or 4 small pieces of apple to fill them, i had peeled 4 apples. I had also made up a brown sugar/cinnamon mixture to put in the tarts and had plenty of that leftover as well...so what to do?

Back-story: winter 2007-2008, i lived in a tiny apartment, scraping by on 50 dollars a month for groceries. As i have mentioned before; that winter i had adapted a lot of recipes. I thought of one that i had created when company was coming, a perfect size apple crumble for 2. Fancy, but cheap and easy. 

I use a mini bread tin, it is about 4 inches long and 2 inches across. It fills nicely with 2 apples, three if they are small. Peel, core and slice them into the tin. In a cereal bowl, mix together 1 + 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp oatmeal. Pour this over the apples.  Bake in a 350 F oven for about 30 to 45 minutes, until the apples are soft. I usually set it on a cookie sheet, since it is so small it makes it easier to take out of the oven hot. Usually the apples to not shrink down so much, the pan was almost overflowing when it went in, but as you can see above, only half full when it came out. 

Serve alone, or with whipped topping. The perfect 2 servings of apple crumble.

Oh, i also discovered when i first started making it, if you use extra juicy apples and 2 Tbsp of brown sugar, it makes a sickeningly sweet syrup at the bottom. Part of the experimentation process :-) 

This weekend, i will have the full recipe to post, i have been asked to take an apple crumble to Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday.