Apple Crisp Cake

This is a Pampered Chef recipe, so you know it's tasty! This is a good "semi-homemade" recipe if you know anything about Sandra Lee. She's all I kept thinking about as I made this. We had it late Friday night with two other couples -- good reviews all around! That was also my first night to make a full pot of decaf coffee without Matt around. And that was a success, too! Anyway, try this cake. It is good as a dessert, snack, or coffee cake for breakfast. It's good hot or cold, with toppings or not! It's so good, in fact, that the following is the ACTUAL unaltered recipe (save for some of the wording). That's rare for me!

1 pkg (17.4 oz) cinnamon swirl quick bread & coffee cake mix, divided
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
4 Tbs butter or margarine, melted and divided
4 medium Granny smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Caramel ice cream topping and thawed, frozen whipped topping (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x9 pan/stone with non-stick cooking spray. Remove 1/4 cup of the quick bread mix (white dry mix) from packet; set aside for steusel topping. Combine remaining quick bread mix, water, and eggs in mixing bowl. Place butter in small microwaveable dish. Microwave on high 45-60 seconds or until melted. Add 2 Tbs of the melted butter to cake ingredients in mixing bowl. Stir 50-75 strokes until well blended. Spread into pan/stone.

2) Peel, core, and thinly slice apples (from top to bottom, not side to side; you should end up with apple rings). Cut apple rings into eighths. Arrange apples evenly over batter.

3) Combine packet of cinnamon mix, oats, the 1/4 cup reserved quick bread mix, the remaining 2 Tbs of melted butter, and cinnamon in mixing bowl. Mix well until moist throughout. Sprinkle mixutre evenly over apples.

4) Bake 40-45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature. Drizzle with caramel ice cream topping and top with whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream!!! YUM!), if desired.

Notes:
~If you happen to have an apple peeler/corer/slicer, this recipe is lickety-split and super easy.
~If you have an apple wedger (cores and wedges the apple into 8 sections), use it! Peel the apples, then use the wedger. All that's left is to thinly slice the sections. If you use the peeler/corer/slicer, then just use the wedger to cut the peeled/cored/sliced apples into 8 sections.
~Next time, I will cover the top with foil towards the end of the baking time and let it bake a little longer. The center wasn't 100% done, though it was still edible and tasty!
~I can't tell you how good this cake is with vanilla ice cream and the caramel topping!!!
~I couldn't find the exact "cinnamon swirl quick bread & coffee cake mix" so I got a cinnamon swirl coffee cake mix. It just has to have two packets inside: one white quick bread mix and one cinnamon mix. The brand I got started with a "K" (sorry, can't remember exact name).