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.
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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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Jess says
Can I use just cane sugar I don’t have any brown sugar
The Chunky Chef says
Without testing it myself, I can’t say for certain it would taste the same, but my gut says it’ll be just fine 🙂
Haicam says
I love a simple recipe like this. I used half the sugar in the topping and it was still plenty sweet. Thanks you!
Melissa says
I love apple crisp and have tried for years to successfully make one. Never had any luck and then I found your recipe. Being honest, I didn’t even make it my daughters (23&11) did. They used honey crisp that they had picked from a local orchard. It was a sweet memory and the apple crisp was the best I have ever had. We had enough apples to make six so we shared with family and friends. Everyone has been enjoying them. I seriously have to stop myself from eating the entire pan myself! They are going to make them again for Thanksgiving Day.
Sue says
Just made this yesterday and it was excellent! Used 2 granny smith and 4 gala apples and it was scrumptious!! Only thing I added was a small amount of nutmeg to the dry ingredient mix (topping). Just delicious!! Will definitely be making it again…..probably for Thanksgiving! Thanks for the great recipe!!
Fiona says
Can I use quick oats instead of old fashioned oats? It’s all I have on hand
The Chunky Chef says
It might have a slightly different texture, but should work well 🙂
RJM says
Thank you for the recipe it came out delicious. I would recommend reducing the brown sugar in the topping to either 3/4 or 1/2 cup as the apples have enough sweetness. I will definitely make this again. For a twist could also add raisins.
Jodi says
Does this need to be refrigerated after baking?
The Chunky Chef says
I always recommend to refrigerate apple crisp since it will extend the shelf life by several days and it will prevent bacteria from growing.
Stacie says
Delicious and super easy!
Brianna says
Too much ‘crisp’ and sugar. If you’re looking for healthier, try half sugar and crisp measurements!
The Chunky Chef says
As I mentioned in the post, I like more crisp topping on my apple crisp, so that’s how I make mine 🙂 As always, feel free to to adjust to your tastes 🙂
Polly says
In order to serve for Bunco, would it work to get the recipe all together and into pan, set in fridge for a few hours, then pop into oven to cook?
The Chunky Chef says
Without testing it myself, I can’t say for certain… but I think that would work well 🙂
Catherine says
Excellent! Me and my family really enjoyed this recipe, and it is fast and easy.
Juliet says
Soooo delicious and so easy!!! I made a few adjustments – extra lemon juice (~1 1/4tsp), 3/4c dark brown sugar instead of 1c light brown sugar, lots of extra cinnamon and some pumpkin pie spice (to both the apples and the crumble). Used a mix of apples – not sure what kind, a variety of local ones. Baked it in a shallow ceramic pie dish. Oh and I have celiac so I used gluten free oats and gluten free flour (GF Jules flour). It truly might be the best apple crisp I’ve ever made!!! Definitely will be my new go-to recipe. Thank you!
Melody says
What weight or volume does 6 chopped apples come to? Apples come in all sizes so we could be talking about 2 cups of apples vs 4 cups of apples.
The Chunky Chef says
I would estimate about 6-7 cups 🙂
Joyce says
I used Gala and McIntosh, doubled the recipe turned out perfect.
Greg Hauser says
It was amazing I used lime instead of lemon as that is what I had thanks
Kelly says
I just made it and looking forward to trying it
Laura says
I don’t have cinnamon, but really wanting this! What else could I use?
The Chunky Chef says
I really don’t think there’s any good substitute for the flavor of the cinnamon, I’d just pick up a jar.
Mina says
Just made this last night with some apples I’d picked up from a local orchard. I haven’t made apple crisp in years but it was a favorite of mine growing up. This came out PHENOMENALLY. It had the perfect mix of sweetness and tartness and crunch. My husband had to restrain himself from eating the whole batch lol Will definitely be making this one again and again!
Nate Anderson says
I was looking for a good Apple Crisp recipe since I had some apples I got from my Aunt that needed to be used up and settled on this one because I too love a good classic Oat crisp topping. This recipe definitely hit all the marks. I did make a couple small alterations though: I added an extra tablespoon of sugar and upped the cinnamon to 1 tsp. Since the apples I was using were pretty juicy I added a dash of flour to the filling as well to ensure it didn’t come out too watery. Instead it came out perfectly.
Maggie says
This was my first apple crisp that I made and it turned out perfectly. I used granny Smith and red delish. I also added 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and 1/8tsp of ginger to the crisp. Absolutely amazing now I have to try to keep from eating the whole tray.