This Classic Apple Crisp Recipe features warm, tender apples baked with cinnamon and topped with toasted oats coated with butter and brown sugar. Sure to become a family favorite, this easy Fall dessert recipe is timeless!
All about this apple crisp…
- Easy: this recipe comes together quick and easy! If you’re a fan of apple pie but not a fan of the time it takes to make one then this is the dessert recipe for you.
- Classic and Timeless: warm and comforting this dessert is a family favorite. Toasted oats tossed with butter and brown sugar layered on top of warm, tender cinnamon apples are sure to invoke fond memories from those who get to enjoy it.
- Easy Ingredients: most of these ingredients will already be in your cabinets or pantry.
Ingredients Needed:
Notes on Some Ingredients:
- Apples: this recipe calls for Granny Smith apples, these apples have a tartness that balances well with the sweetness of the brown sugar. They also hold their shape nicely while baking which prevents mushiness in the finished dish.
- All Purpose Flour: this is used to create the crisp topping, if you need a gluten free option feel free to substitute with a 1:1 option.
- Butter: called for in both the apples and the topping, the apples use melted butter while the topping calls for cold butter. This is to prevent it from melting too soon in the baking process and helps create a crumbled topping.
- Oats: the recipe uses Rolled Oats, these give a flakey, hearty texture to the crisp topping.
How to Make (step-by-step):
- Chop Apples
Peel and chop the apples to bite size chunks, this makes it much easier to eat than using thin slices. Be sure to cut into uniformed size chunks though to ensure they all bake evenly.
- Combine Apples with Ingredients
Mix the apples with melted butter, lemon juice, spices and sugar. This makes tender, sweet and flavorful apples for our crisp.
- Prepare Crisp Topping
Combine the ingredients for the topping including flour, brown sugar, and oats. Then cut in the cold butter to create a coarse, crumbly texture.
- Bake
Layer the crisp topping over the prepared apples in a large baking dish and bake until apples are bubbly and the topping is golden brown.
Expert Tips:
- Peeling apples: This is not a necessary step, thanks to baking the apples if you leave the skin on it will be softened. If you prefer to remove the skin, simply peel before slicing. Be sure to slice the apples thinly to ensure they bake completely through and have all the slices be uniform to help with even baking.
- What to serve on top: Give this crisp a drizzle of caramel or top with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream.
- Oats: This recipe uses old fashioned rolled oats. The oats give a wonderful texture and crispness to the topping. Quick oats could be a replacement, but steel cut oats are not recommended. If you need to omit the oats you can simply replace with more flour to create the topping.
Apple Crisp: Frequently Asked Questions
The topping of the crisp will traditionally contain oats or nuts to give that crisp texture. Crumbles are made with a streusel topping of flour and brown sugar and have a softer texture.
Granny Smith apples are my go to when it comes to baking. The tart flavoring pairs nicely with the brown sugar resulting in a not too sweet dessert. Other great options would include Honeycrisp, Gala and Fuji apples.
The trick to ensuring a nice crisp topping getting a nice coarse texture when cutting the butter into the topping ingredients. The addition of butter to the oats, flour and sugar mixture being baked is what gives that nice crispy texture.
If you tried this recipe please leave a comment and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below! Thank you so much!
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