Cobble Together the Ingredients to Make This Magnificent Apple Slump

When my sister-in-law joined our family a few decades ago, she made our favorite dessert — apple pie — for her first Thanksgiving with us. We were touched by her thoughtfulness, and we told her so. Still, she was clearly puzzled by our collective reaction. Though we praised its flaky crust, we left the insides of the pie on our plates.

No doubt, my brother had failed to tell her about our strange familial predilection: We prefer our pie apples so soft that they sag over the edges of our forks. And while her dessert was as beautiful as one from a bakery, it featured mounds of perfectly crisp apple slices that held their form.

Velveteen apples is one of the reasons why I love this take on a good old-fashioned apple slump. A slump is a dessert that is similar in many ways to a cobbler except that it is traditionally cooked on a stove, and so called because of its slouchy appearance. In this version, the fruit, twice baked and mixed with chopped Cheryl's Cookies Pecan Pie Bars, practically melts into the crust.

The biscuit-dough lid is another reason I'm a big fan of this slump. With the pecan pie bars adding a nutty richness and caramel tones to the apple filling, the crust is a sturdy, confident contrast.

Traditional slumps sport discontinuous dumplings that have been dropped by the spoonful on top, and crust lovers usually wind up fighting for these bits and pieces. This version makes enough to cover the apples entirely.

However you prepare your slump, there's really only one way to plate it: topped with vanilla ice cream and garnished with a few more chunks of the aforementioned pecan pie bars.

As for my sister-in-law, she bravely stayed in the family despite our stubborn predisposition. The next holiday, though, she very smartly avoided the situation entirely and arrived with pumpkin pie.