A delicious fall dessert made with only 7 ingredients, Baked Caramel Apple Crisp tastes like caramel apples! Serve this easy apple crisp warm with scoops of vanilla ice cream.
This recipe for easy apple crisp has a story to share. While on vacation at a lake house in Minnesota, I went wine tasting with my girlfriends. One beautiful winery had gorgeous apples for sale.
A box of apples caught my eye, and then this happened…
True confession: I made this apple crisp recipe twice in a couple days at the lake house. Can you believe that? And there were several happy people enjoying our Baked Caramel Apple Crisp, and it became a “breakfast situation.” Can you blame us?
Why You Are Going to Love Baked Caramel Apple Crisp
- This easy apple crisp recipe can be served as a “dessert situation” or a “breakfast situation.” Or, really, a “snack situation”!
- Served with coffee, it’s incredible. After dinner with ice cream, it’s a huge hit.
- It really tastes like caramel apples! Just when you didn’t think apple crisp could get any better, along came this caramel apple crisp.
- It’s definitely an easy apple crisp recipe. Apple crisp recipes are usually on the easy side and this one is no exception.
- It’s ready in just over an hour. But even if it took five, it’d be worth the wait!
- Just look at it…….
Ingredients for Easy Apple Crisp: Baked Caramel Apple Crisp
Consider this ingredients list “apple crisp 2.0”!
- 8 cups sliced Honeycrisp apples — see my section below, “What is the Best Apple for Apple Crisp?” for why I love to use Honeycrisp apples!
- 14 oz pkg. caramels (each caramel cut in four pieces)
- 3 cups oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)
- vanilla ice cream (optional, for serving)
How to Make Easy Apple Crisp: Baked Caramel Apple Crisp
Do not be intimidated by the number of steps! Each step is easy… I promise!
Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Step 2: Unwrap caramels, and cut each one into 4 small pieces. Set aside.
Step 3: Wash apples, and slice into pieces. Set aside.
Step 4: In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Step 5: Cut in butter until crumbly using 2 butter knives.
Step 6: Spray with non-stick spray a 9 x13 glass dish.
Step 7: Reserve 2 cups of mixture.
Step 8: Press remaining crisp mixture into bottom dish.
Step 9: Layer 1/2 apples, 1/2 caramels, sprinkle 1 cup of crumbled crisp mixture on top.
Step 10: Repeat layers with crumble crisp mixture on top.
Step 11: Bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or coffee.
Gooey melted caramels and juicy Honeycrisp apples bake together in this apple crisp dessert and it tastes like, caramel apples! How can 7 simple ingredients come together and be so good?
What is the Best Apple for Apple Crisp?
My answer to this question used to be “Granny Smith, of course!” After all, that’s the apple I always use in my Apple Pie Filling (Homemade and Make-Ahead) and French Crumble Mini Apple Pie. Granny Smith apples are perfectly acceptable apples to use in apple crisp, and go for it if that’s what you love!
But something happened on my Minnesota wine tasting trip with my girlfriends. The box of apples that caught my eye weren’t just any apples… they were Honeycrisp apples. Honeycrisp apples are super huge, juicy, sweet, firm, and tart which makes them great to eat raw. The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and boasts a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions.
The other thing that makes this recipe special is that Honeycrisp apples were originally cultivated in Minneapolis, Minnesota back in 1974, and came to market in 1991.
Now this recipe will always remind me of our Minnesota vacation, what an awesome trip souvenir! Who knew that wine tasting would lead to a new recipe? But hey, that is how it goes in my life. And I am so glad that Honeycrisp apples and I have become friends. These apples are now my absolute #1 favorite!
What is the Best Apple Crisp Topping?
Well, I am kind of biased and I think this recipe is the best apple crisp topping! It consists of:
- Caramels
- Oats
- All-purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Cold butter
“Traditional” apple crisp topping or “old-fashioned” apple crisp topping is often similar, but it omits the caramels (as you would expect) and may contain some granular sugar as well as brown sugar.
More Easy Fall Recipes
- Looking for a fall cocktail recipe? Try Fireball Cinnamon Apple Cider Fall Cocktails!
- Candy Corn Harvest Munch Mix is great for a sweet treat this fall.
- Don’t forget to make some Italian Sausage Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Cherries for your Thanksgiving spread this year.
- Oh, and here are some fun Fall Decor Ideas for you!
Lake vacations are deliciously relaxing…the sounds of lake life, the quiet, the pace.
So thankful, grateful, and blessed to spend time with my wonderful girlfriends in their family lake house cabin, on this gorgeous Minnesota lake. Memories were made on this vacation, making the Caramel Apple Crisp, our endless giggles, our canoe adventure, the wine tasting day, and our long chats at dinner, and walks through the fall colors.
Continue to enjoy fall and happy cooking!
All the Best,
Lisa
XO
- 8 cups sliced Honeycrisp apples
- 14 oz pkg. caramels each caramel cut in four pieces
- 3 cups oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup cold butter 2 sticks
- vanilla ice cream optional
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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Unwrap caramels, and cut each one into 4 small pieces. Set aside.
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Wash apples, and slice into pieces. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
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Cut in butter until crumbly using 2 butter knives.
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Spray with non-stick spray a 9 x13 glass dish.
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Reserve 2 cups of mixture.
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Press remaining crisp mixture into bottom dish.
-
Layer 1/2 apples, 1/2 caramels, sprinkle 1 cup of crumbled crisp mixture on top.
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Repeat layers with crumble crisp mixture on top.
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Bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
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Serve with ice cream.
Lisa I have made this a couple times since you posted. It is a family favorite and is good no matter the season. No one can resist it! The caramels really make a difference.