Last Updated January 2nd, 2023 at 06:19 pm by Lisa
Bake a delicious Apple Crisp with a sweet crust, caramelized apple filling, and a streusel crumb topping. Serve this easy dessert after a nice family dinner, and it is fancy enough for the holidays or other special occasions!
The hot crumble topping gets a little crispy topping in the oven, with a melting scoop of ice cream, and caramel sauce drizzled all over, what a delicious apple dessert...
Why this is the Best Apple Crisp!
- This easy recipe is made with simple ingredients, most of you might have these on hand right now!
- Tastes amazing, and has a fast bake time of 45 minutes.
- The crust, filling, and crumble topping are incredible.
- Serve with coffee, it's divine.
- A fast dessert for after dinner with ice cream and caramel sauce.
- No pie crust to fuss over. It's definitely an easy apple crisp recipe.
- It's ready in just over an hour.
- It keeps well refrigerated for several days if it lasts that long!
- Many other kinds of fruit crisp recipes can be made from this recipe, try peaches, berries, or pears in place of the apples.
- Feel free to make this even faster with cans of apple pie filling. You will need approximately 28-32 ounces of canned apple pie filling.
Apple Crisp Recipe
One of the best things during the Fall time of year is apple everything! This dessert recipe is wonderful for family dinners, Christmas holidays, in the Fall during apple season, and Thanksgiving.
It comes together faster than a pie made from scratch and is so good with a cup of coffee. The full recipe and printable instructions are below in the recipe card.
Crust and Streusel Topping Ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- old fashioned oats
- sea salt
- brown sugar
- white sugar
- butter
Caramelized Apple Filling Ingredients
- apples - Honeycrisp, Granny Smith apples, or Mac Intosh
- granulated white sugar
- corn starch
- sea salt
- butter soft
- vanilla extract ~ make your own at home!
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- optional: scoop of ice cream or caramel topping
Make the Crust and Streusel Topping
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt ¾ cup cold butter in the microwave.
- In a medium bowl, add 2 cups flour, ¾ cup old fashioned oats, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, and ¾ cup melted butter. Mix well until combined with a spatula or pastry blender.
- Spray a 9 x 9 square baking dish with non-stick spray like coconut oil.
- Reserve 1 cup of mixture for the topping in a small bowl.
- Press the remaining crisp mixture into the dish using the bottom of a 1 cup measuring cup.
Make The Apple Filling
- Wash apples in cold water, peel or you can leave the peels on if you prefer, I do! and slice the raw apples into ½" small pieces. Set into a large bowl.
- In that bowl, add ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
Cook the Apples and Baking
- Cook the apples on medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes. Stir constantly, they will thicken. Don't leave them alone or they can burn due to the sugar. The apples and ingredients will become "sticky" and look like a caramel sauce. Remove from heat.
- Let the apple mixture cool for about 10 minutes, then give them a good stir. Spread them evenly onto the packed crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of topping all over the top.
- Bake 350 degrees f for 45 minutes.
- Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce.
Apple Crisp FAQ
Traditional or Old-Fashioned crisp streusel/crumble topping is typically a crumbled mixture of several ingredients. Sprinkled on top of the apples, and then baked until slightly crisp.
These are the classic apple crisp recipe ingredients:
Old Fashioned Oats (not quick oats)
All-Purpose Flour
Brown Sugar
White Granulated Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Butter
Salt
Honeycrisp apples are super huge, juicy, sweet, firm, and tart which makes them a top choice for a crisp.
Granny Smith apples are great in crisps and pies. They have a slight tart flavor that balances perfectly with the sweet crumble topping, and hold up well during baking, and are a classic choice.
These are classic apple varieties and top favorites. Some fall into the firm-tart category, and some the firm-sweet. You can even use a combination of the two listed below for apple crisp.
Esopus Spitzenburg
Northern Spy
McIntosh
Idared
Pink Pearl
Ginger Gold
Golden Delicious
Jazz
Jonagold
Pink Lady
According to Food Network, there are some fresh apples to avoid in baking desserts. Gala apples, Fuji and Red Delicious are very common varieties, and are great to eat for snacks but don't hold up in the heat of the oven resulting in a watery-mushy pie, tart, or cake.
Fruit cobbler desserts are typically baked fruits with a biscuit dough topping, pie dough, or batter dropped in dollops on top in place of a full pie crust. With ripe fruit, you can create different flavors. Try a blackberry, blueberry, and peach cobbler and you don't need a pie crust in a cobbler. A crisp typically has a crumbled crust base and crumb topping.
Cobblers are called that because they look like a cobblestone street or path as the batter or biscuit dough puffs up like a cobblestone street. These fruit desserts date back to the nineteenth century.
And receive a free guide on How To Build A Charcuterie Board as our thank you!
More Apple Recipes
These are some of my favorite recipes for a delicious dessert to serve for a family dinner, a special occasion, or the holidays.
An Apple Crumble Pie made with homemade Pie Filling, "foolproof" crust, and a crumble topping make this one scrumptious recipe. Some people also call this a Dutch or French Apple Pie.
An easy Apple Pie Filling using crisp fresh apples and warm spices that can be made ahead and is freezer-friendly. A Classic apple pie recipe is one of the most popular American recipes of all time. And there is nothing better in the Fall season, than baking your favorite dessert like warm apple pie or a soft apple pie filling baked in apple turnovers with flaky crusts in the oven!
Salted Caramel Apple Dip has crisp green apples, salted caramel sauce, and crushed Health bars. A beloved recipe and pot-luck party hit for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and all through Autumn. As people dig in for another bite, they will ask you for this apple dessert recipe...I promise.
If you like caramel apples, then you will love these Caramel Apple Brie Appetizers, a scrumptious combination with creamy brie, the crunch of macadamia nuts, and tart-sweet dried cranberries. It is addictive...
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Apple Crisp Recipe
Ingredients
crust and streusel topping (reserve 1 cup to sprinkle on top)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup old fashioned oats
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¾ cup butter melted
caramelized apple filling
- 4 cups apples sliced - Honeycrisp, Granny Smith or Mac Intosh
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon butter soft, salted or unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- vanilla ice cream or caramel topping optional
Instructions
crust and streusel topping
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt ¾ cup cold butter in the microwave.
- In a medium bowl, add 2 cups flour, ¾ cup old fashioned oats, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, and ¾ cup melted butter. Mix well until combined with a spatula or pastry blender.
- Spray a 9 x 9 square baking dish with non-stick spray like coconut oil.
- Reserve 1 cup of mixture for the topping in a small bowl.
- Press the remaining crisp mixture into the dish using the bottom of a 1 cup measuring cup.
caramelized apples
- Wash apples in cold water, peel or you can leave the peels on if you prefer, I do! and slice the raw apples into ½" small pieces. Set into a large bowl.
- In that bowl, add ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn starch, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
- Cook the apples on medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes. Stir constantly, they will thicken. Don't leave them alone or they can burn due to the sugar. The apples and ingredients will become "sticky" and look like a caramel sauce. Remove from heat.
- Let the apple mixture cool for about 10 minutes, then give them a good stir. Spread them evenly onto the packed crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of topping all over the top.
- Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce.
Notes
Baking Tips
Spray your dish with a non-stick spray, it helps to serve your apple crisp easier and makes clean up so fast.Apples
You can use any apple for this recipe, my favorite is a Honeycrisp but Granny Smith apples and McIntosh work great.Storage
After the apple crisp cools, if there is any leftover, cover with plastic wrap and keep chilled in the fridge.Toppings
Vanilla Ice cream is classic, sometimes I pre-scoop and refreeze on a parchment-lined sheet pan them for parties, it makes serving really easy. Caramel Sauce drizzled over is so good too.More Apple Crisp Tips:
- This easy recipe is made with simple ingredients, most of you might have these on hand right now!
- Tastes amazing, and has a fast bake time of 45 minutes.
- The crust, filling, and crumble topping are incredible.
- Serve with coffee, it's divine.
- A fast dessert for after dinner with ice cream and caramel sauce.
- No pie crust to fuss over. It's ready in just over an hour.
- It keeps well refrigerated for several days if it lasts that long!
- Many other kinds of fruit crisp recipes can be made from this recipe, try peaches, berries, or pears in place of the apples.
- Feel free to make this even faster with cans of apple pie filling. You will need approximately 28-32 ounces of canned apple pie filling.
This is our favorite apple crisp recipe! So easy to make and absolutely delicious- perfect for Thanksgiving!
What an incredible apple crisp recipe, our whole family loves this recipe and we make it every year in Fall. The topping is incredible!
So glad your family made the recipe a tradition Betsy, hope you make it a few more times this year!