This year we are growing a beautiful little variety of eggplant called Ping Tung. It’s a long, skinny, light purple eggplant with a lovely taste and texture. Each of the plants is very prolific and we often find ourselves with an entire crisper drawer full of these little purple vegetables.
Eggplant is very versatile in recipes because it soaks up the flavors and spices in the dish, so when my kids started to ask for a homemade dessert I started to think about what I could make.
This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please see my disclosure page for more information about cookies collected and our privacy policy.
Apple Crisp is a family favorite in our house, but since apples aren’t quite in season, we don’t have a lot of them hanging around just yet, but I do have all those little purple eggplant. And since eggplant gets rather soft when cooked, I thought I’d give Eggplant Crisp a try. The following is the recipe I came up with, and I have to say my kids are now begging for it all the time!
How to Make Eggplant Crisp:
You will need the following:
For the Filling:
15 Ping Tung* Eggplant
2 T flour
2 T sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 T lemon juice
1/8 cup water (or apple juice)
For the Topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Related Reading: How to Preserve Eggplant
Putting Your Eggplant Crisp Together:
Peel your eggplant and slice very thin. *You can use any variety of eggplant you have on hand, but if they are larger variety such as Black Egg, then quarter before slicing for smaller pieces.
Toss eggplant with water and lemon juice. Alternatively you can boil the eggplant for a few minutes, until soft and then toss with lemon juice.
Add flour, cinnamon, and sugar and toss to coat
Place the eggplant mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
In a large bowl, cut the butter into the flour.
Add the oats, brown sugar and walnuts and stir briefly to combine.
Sprinkle the crumb mixture on top of the eggplant
Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes or until the eggplant is very soft. Allow to cool before eating.
Related Reading: How to Grow Eggplant in Your Garden
Like this recipe? Keep it on hand by writing it down in my Blank Recipe Journal! It’s a great way to keep all of your favorite recipes in one place- and makes a great heirloom to pass down through the generations!
If you have excess eggplant and are in the mood for something a little sweet, I hope you will give this a try and let me know what you think! And if you are looking to add eggplant to your garden in the future, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company has an amazing assortment of eggplant varieties– including the Ping Tung I used in this recipe.
Sweet Eggplant Crisp
A mock apple crisp made with fresh eggplant instead of apples!
Ingredients
- For the Filling:
- 15 Ping Tung* Eggplant
- 2 T flour
- 2 T sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/8 cup water (or apple juice)
- For the Topping:
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
Peel your eggplant and slice very thin. *You can use any variety of eggplant you have on hand, but if they are larger variety such as Black Egg, then quarter before slicing for smaller pieces.
Toss eggplant with water and lemon juice.
Add flour, cinnamon, and sugar and toss to coat
Place the eggplant mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
In a large bowl, cut the butter into the flour.
Add the oats, brown sugar and walnuts and stir briefly to combine.
Sprinkle the crumb mixture on top of the eggplant
Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes or until the eggplant is very soft. Allow to cool before eating.
What a great idea! I love how you manage with what you have and make something so special from it.
I am always looking for ways to make dishes we love using what we can grow ourselves. Our apple trees are babies (or really mature!) so this was a great alternative to the requested apple crisp using homegrown produce!
Wow! Home grown Eggplants!!! They look really delicious!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
This sounds really good. And if your children love it, it has to be great, right? I have never seen this variety of eggplant. Thanks for sharing.
My kids LOVE it :) I’d never heard of Ping Tung till this year, and I think I’ll grow it every year now!
Awesome idea to use up Eggplant! Pinned:)
I never thought about using eggplant in something sweet! Great idea!
Kristen from The Road to Domestication
Eggplant is something that we’ve never been able to get into, but it could be because I never used it in a crisp!! Sounds delicious. I’ll have to try to sneak it by the family. lol
I never used to be a fan either, but this year we have a ton so I am coming up with recipes we love. I can’t say I would eat it roasted plain, but I enjoy the meals we eat with it very much now.
I’ve never really cared for eggplant but maybe in a sweeter dish eggplant could be good. I’m always willing to try new recipes.
You know, I never thought of myself as an eggplant lover either. But I try all sorts of things to see what grows best and this year we have a TON of eggplant. It’s really growing on me, and I really enjoy the meals I make with it now.
Thanks for sharing at the HomeAcre hop!
Hope to see you again Thursday.
When you say “15” eggplants, you mean 15 slices, NOT 15 eggplants, right? Do you peel the eggplant or just cut the slices with everything..outer skin included?? Thank you in advance.
No, I mean 15 ping tung eggplant. Ping Tung are much smaller than your black egg eggplant. They are the long, skinny light purple eggplant in the picture. If you are using a larger variety you will need much less. As stated in the recipe you should peel them before slicing. Thanks!
How many cups of eggplant is that equivalent to?
HI, Sarah! So I’m just crazy enough to want to make a novelty dish…and I did! I am enjoying it even as I write. This recipe is pure genius!
My husband went a little crazy when he put his garden in this year and we just had Japanese eggplant coming out of our ears. It’s late October and we still have a ton of eggplant!! (I’m in western NC and weather has been very mild this year!) I googled what to do with a bumper crop of eggplant and found your recipe. If you didn’t know it was eggplant, I don’t think you would ever guess. The texture is very much like a baked banana …the taste is more apple like. I did use apple cider in place of the water.
Thanks so much for a really good and different recipe. Can’t wait to spring it on my mahjongg girls, tomorrow!
I, also would like to know how many cups “15 ping tung eggplants” are equivalent to (since I grow black eggplants). Thanks!
Yes, also wondering how many cups is 15 eggplants? I have five very long ones and wondering if that’s enough?
Betty Crocker recipe for apple crisp said 4 cups apples so I started with 5 cups eggplant since one I grew was so huge! But when I put it in the 13 X 9 pan it looked too skimpy so I added another generous cup; I’d say 6-7 cups sliced eggplant. (Betty’s recipe also made less topping, only 1/2 cup of oats)
Made this. Almost right. in order to taste like apple pie, needs more sugar in the main recipe.