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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S. Gross says
Really good. I cut the sugar in the topping and only used 3/4 cup. Also added ginger and nutmeg to the apples.
Mariana Nassar says
This is my favourite crisp recipe! It’s so versatile. You can use any combination of fruit and it’s foolproof! The topping tastes like an oatmeal cookie. I add extra salt on my serving before I eat it. I love the sweet and salt together. It’s the best!
Christopher Pitts says
I followed this recipe word by word and OMG it came out perfect. Thank you for the awesome recipe.
Chris, Stockton, CA.
Linda Currey Post says
Sensational!! We used “Sugar in the Raw” instead of the traditional brown sugar and it added a delightful crunch! A scoop of vanilla ice cream topped off this delightful dessert!
Becky says
Loved this recipe! First time the topping stays crispy!
Gayle Allyn says
Delicious!!
JT says
I made this recipe. I cut up 5 large Honeycrisp Apples and realized there was no way this would fit in an 8X8. So I added 50% to all of the recomended ingredients and baked it for 1 hour. It came out perfect! It not only looks great It tastes great and the apples were perfectly tender.
GWLimones says
The best apple crisp recipe ever! I like to drizzle caramel topping across my desert as soon as I remove it from the oven in my cast iron skillet 😋
W.J. Hallett says
easy to follow, simple ingredients, and very tasty!
Lydia P. says
Yes, I made this. My friends and family enjoyed it.
Jessica W says
My oats are still chewy after baking for 40 minutes and my topping has no crisp to it… what did I do wrong?
The Chunky Chef says
Hmm are you sure you cut the butter fully into the topping? There’s a video that will show you what it should look like.
Micah I. says
absolutely delicious recipe, my family loved it!!
i substituted golden delicious apples for granny smith, as they were what i had in the fridge. i used a bit more sugar to sweeten them a little more and skipped the lemon juice completely. i will definitely be making this again with golden delicious apples to try out the authentic apple taste, but mine was still delicious!
Nooni says
Every bake should be this simple!!
Perfect every every time…
🌹
Julia Kulhanek says
It just came out of the oven and it looks delicious. I tried to add my picture. But I can’t get it to comments,?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Julia, so glad it looks delicious! Unfortunately this platform doesn’t allow for users to be able to upload photos, but you’re welcome to share your image on social media (thechunkychef on facebook, and the_chunky_chef on instagram).
Marcelle Burgess says
Simple and delicious ⭐️
Stephanie Haas says
This turned out amazing. Best apple crisp recipe I’ve ever tried.
Emily says
I subbed lime juice, added a pinch of ground ginger and 1/2 cup fine chopped walnuts/sliced almonds. Soooo good!
Genny Siler says
Fantastic recipe
Sonya Heater says
Perfect apple crisp !
Susan says
Easy to prepare and well received by guests. I used Granny Smith apples and increased white sugar to accommodate the tart apple.
Lisa says
I replaced the white sugar with maple syrup. Turned out great!