This easy apple crisp is made the old fashioned way like Grandma used to make, and is perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce!
A true classic Fall dessert, this easy apple crisp recipe is reminiscent of generations past. Pop this apple crisp in the oven and wait for the delicious smell to waft through your house!
Do you have a classic Fall dessert that you just LOVE? I have several, but one of them is definitely this apple crisp recipe! Growing up, my Mom had two classic desserts that she made… one was her famous Carrot Cake, and the other was a mouthwatering apple crisp.
This isn’t her exact recipe, but it’s one that I’ve tweaked and been working on for a while, and I’ve finally gotten it just right! While I do love pumpkin, apple is actually my favorite Fall flavor. Mostly because of this crisp lol.
Some apple crisp recipes don’t use oats, which is totally fine if that’s your thing, but I LOVE the crispy oat topping, so I made sure to add a good amount of it.
What apples do I use for this easy apple crisp
Simply put, you can use any apples that you like! My personal favorite for this recipe is the golden delicious variety, but Granny Smith or Fuji are some other great varieties.
To peel, or not to peel
It’s 100% up to you! I’ve made this recipe both ways, and I like them both equally. Generally, when I make this easy apple crisp, I’m making it for my family, and my kids wouldn’t eat it with the skins on, so I peel them more often than not. I’m sure this goes without saying, but if you choose to leave the skins on, be sure to wash the apples thoroughly 🙂
That right there is my FAVORITE way to enjoy hot apple crisp… with a cold scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, and drizzled with my luscious browned butter salted caramel sauce! If you’ve never tried it that way… you totally need to!
Looking for other recipes that use that caramel sauce?
- Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream
- Vanilla Chai Cheesecake Bars
- Butterfinger Toffee Cookies
I invite you all to join me in making my favorite Fall dessert… this easy apple crisp. Once you have it in the oven, you’ll LOVE the smell that fills your house!
Shop the recipe
- 8″ baking dish – I love the clean white look, plus it bakes beautifully!
- Vegetable peeler – You probably already have one, but in case you don’t, this one is my personal favorite!
- Pastry Cutter – I love that this is sturdy and the blades don’t bend nearly as easily as some other brands!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
Spiced apples
- 6 golden delicious apples peeled and chopped (other varieties can be used, can also be sliced)
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Crisp topping
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup old fashioned oats quick oats can be used, but it may have a slightly different texture
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter diced into small cubes
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Butter an 8×8 baking dish, or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Make spiced apples
- In a mixing bowl, add chopped apples, granulated sugar, 3/4 tsp of the cinnamon and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then transfer to prepared baking dish.
Make topping
- In a separate mixing bowl, add topping ingredients (brown sugar, oats, flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, salt, and diced cold butter).
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the oat mixture, using a slight downward twisting motion, until mixture resembled pea-sized crumbs. Alternatively, you can use two forks or even your hands to cut butter into the mixture.
Bake
- Spread topping over apples in baking dish, and gently pat to even it out. Bake 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.
Serve
- Serve warm and enjoy! We love to top ours with some vanilla bean ice cream, or whipped cream.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- The amount of chopped apples would be about 6-7 cups.
- Note that all ovens bake differently, so yours may take a little less or a little more time to bake.
- I don’t have an issue with my crisp being watery (due to the water content in the apples), but if a little juice at the bottom is something you want to avoid, you can try adding a little all purpose flour to the apple mixture.
Make-Ahead Directions:
- Bake as directed. After the crisp cools, cover and refrigerate until the next day. When you’re ready to reheat, set it out at room temp for 20 minutes or so, then bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, or until hot throughout.
- I haven’t tested assembling this ahead of time (although I’m pretty sure other readers have done this successfully – you’d have to check the other comments).
- I haven’t tested freezing this recipe, although many other readers have frozen it successfully.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
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Tamara says
Make this recipe often. So easy to adjust amounts for a bigger crowd. A little trick I do is simply put a stick of butter still in wrapper and microwave 60seconds. Mix it in with the other topping ingredients with a fork and it still comes out nice and crumbly. Enjoy your recipes
Marsha Mullen says
This was the worst Apple Crisp recipe I ever made! It was way too sweet, not juicy and quite dry.
CHRIS lunsford says
FIRST TIME MAKEING ONE WHILE THE TURKEY 🦃 WAS ROASTING PUT INTO THE OVER RIGHT NEXT TO IT CAME OUT EXALENT
Kathi says
I made this at Thanksgiving… it was gone that night!! Making it again (it’s in the oven) for Christmas Day !!!
Cole D says
I’ve made this recipe as my gift to people for Christmas two years in a row, It’s been a great hit. I always make it ahead of time and give instructions on how to bake it, I’ve also frozen it before and I’ve had no issues with either.
Tammy Phillips says
Made this and it’s just like old school fantastic
Julie says
I’ve made this recipe twice and it is really good! I made it today for my neighbor’s 79th birthday lunch. He loved it!
Nevada says
Absolutely delicious, family can’t get enough of it!
Caroline M. says
I love this recipe and make it frequently. It’s always a hit. I change up the fruit depending on what I have in my house. I am making it tonight for a group of friends and one of us has celiac disease (gluten allergy). I was planning on subbing all-purpose flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour. Has anyone ever done this? How did it taste? I feel like flour is not the star of this recipe, so it will be fine. Are there any potential pitfalls I am missing?
Tonja says
I don’t know if you went ahead and tried making this with gluten free flour, but I always make it with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour, and it’s amazing. None of my “normal” family/friends have ever been able to tell the difference.
Karen Kinch says
Yes, you can change this recipe to make it Gluten Free as I’ve done it for years! Be sure to ⏺️use GF flour; ⏺️use GF Quaker oatmeal. There are many gluten free apple crisp (and lots of fruit varieties) recipes on Pinterest (it’s where I got started when cooking/baking gluten free!). Happy baking!
Mandi says
Yes. I also have a gluten allergy. King Arthur 1:1 gluten free flour is the best to use. It is absolutely delicious. Though I would recommend using a bit more butter. I use about 3/4 c of butter instead of 1/2 and make sure your oats are also gluten free. Other than those slight changes, I followed the instructions as listed.
Katie says
I have celiac and always use all purpose gluten free flour and certified gluten free oats (not all are!). Still is super delicious!
Linda W says
My daughter eats Gluten AND Dairy free…I have made this for her with “alternative” butter, GF oats and flour. I haven’t tasted it myself, but she requested it again so I guess it is tasty enough. Lol
Judi Brister says
Not bad! Quick and easy and quite frankly a recipe like this one is always a welcome addition for family get togethers! Great for summer and homemade ice cream (which is what I did) it was definitely great and my family truly enjoyed a nice desert after a summer BBQ!
Dee says
Good recipe. Turned out well.I was worried some of my apples were a bit dry so I added about 2 tbs of apple juice and a 1/2 tsp of flour to the apples. I will keep this recipe. thanks
Star Young says
Love it!
☘️ says
I made this with a friend and we adored it especially with honey salted caramel honey ice cream from Haagen Daz
Kim Moore says
My husband loved it. Just like Moms he said 👍🏻
Tiana says
Super delicious and simple!
Darlene says
Easy and delicious. I use way more cinnamon but it’s a favorite at our house
Deb says
Holy Cannoli!
I didn’t have enough apples, so rather than decrease all of the other ingredients and risk ruining the recipe, I added enough fresh blueberries to make the 6 cups.
SO GOOD! I can only imagine how over the top it will be when I have enough apples!
THANK YOU AMBER!
This I going to be a “go to” for fantastic and fast easy dessert, breakfast, snack!
Marcia Lake says
Perfectly delicious every time!
Raymond says
I tried making This and I suck. I assembled it with the oats on top. It didn’t look right in the oven so I mixed it up with a spoon and back in the oven 🤣😂
Erica says
My family can’t get enough of this recipe!! The only thing I do differently is I use salted butter instead of adding salt.