INGREDIENTS

• 3¾ pounds baking apples (about 7 to 9 medium)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1½ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons water
• ¾ teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more to taste
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Topping

• ¾ cup (6-oz) unsalted butter, melted
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving (not optional, sorry)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 400°F.
2. Prepare the filling: Peel, halve, and core the apples, then cut the halves into ½-inch-thick wedges. In a large bowl toss the apples with the lemon juice and set aside while you make the butterscotch.
3. In your braiser, stir together the brown sugar, water, and sea salt. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, without stirring, until it's dark brown and smells caramelized, about 7 to 8 minutes. Do not fret if it smokes; this is par for the course with butterscotch.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, and carefully (it's going to sizzle dramatically) whisk in the butter, then the cream, being sure to mix everything well into the corners of the pan. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla. You'll have 2 cups of butterscotch sauce. Remove from the heat just long enough to ladle half of it (1 cup) carefully into a spouted dish or bowl for later and set that portion aside.
5. Keeping the heat at medium, add the apples to the remaining butterscotch in the pan, and cook, stirring frequently, until the apples begin to soften and become translucent but aren't fully cooked, about 12 minutes.
6. Make the Topping: Mix all the topping ingredients in a large bowl until the butter is evenly dispersed, and the mixture is rubbly. Sprinkle the topping over the apples, then transfer the braiser to the oven and bake until the apples are tender, their juices visibly bubbling, and the topping is a light, nutty brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
7. To Serve: Scoop the crisp into bowls and top with ice cream and a drizzle of the reserved butterscotch sauce. If your butterscotch sauce has cooled and firmed up, you can warm it up quickly in the microwave -- checking every 10 seconds and giving it a stir, as it warms and bubbles up quickly -- or in a small saucepan on the stove.

Note: You're going to end up with twice the butterscotch sauce that you need to drizzle on the crisp -- you're welcome. The sauce keeps in the fridge for a month and tastes good on everything from ice cream to oatmeal, pancakes, and spoons. From the fridge, it will be too thick to pour and might have separated; rewarm it as noted above.