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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Jody says
I always cut my sugar in half of most sweet recipes. this was still too sweet, for my taste. without adding any other sweet source. I also thing a bigger dish would work better.
Christina Bestvater says
Cam you use quick oats in place of old fashioned oats?
Amanda says
Yes, you can… it might alter the texture of the topping slightly, but will still work.
Rachel Emond says
Can I make this in a 9″ pie dish instead of an 8″x8″ pan? If so, do I need to adjust anything?
Amanda says
As long as everything fits, then yes 🙂
Heather says
Interested in making this but my apples are very small. Can you tell me approximately how many cups of chopped apples I should use? Thanks!
Amanda says
Around 6 cups 🙂
Marinna says
This was delicious!!!!! I don’t personally like granny smith apples, so I used Royal Gala and it still turned out amazing! I also don’t have a pastry cutter, and the double fork method to cut in the butter was taking too long. So, I used my food processor instead and it worked really well. Super happy with the results and already threw another doubled bath in the oven to freeze for later!
Monique says
Absolutely delicious! I doubled the recipe using home grown Gravensteins, baked in a 9×12. Will make again!
KTA says
Success! This is a very good and easy to make recipe.
Joe says
How should the size of the baking dish change with a change in servings being made. For example, if I double the recipe, what size baking dish should I use?
Amanda says
For double the recipe, I would use a 9×13″ 🙂
Amber says
If I use a 9×13 pan do I just double the recipe?
Amanda says
Yes 🙂
Bonnie says
Great recipe! I make 3x the topping and keep the extra in the refrigerator. A can of pie filling with the crisp topping makes a quick and easy dessert.
Jill says
One question: there seems to be a lot of juice at the bottom – lemon, apple, I’m not sure. Crisp tastes great but any advice on how to make sure there isn’t so much liquid?
Amanda says
Different apple varieties can give off more liquid when cooking, even the same variety can vary from time to time. You could toss the apple mixture with a bit of cornstarch to help thicken it. But you don’t want there to be no liquid at the bottom after cooking, it could end up being dry.
Amber says
Absolutely Outstanding
Sarah Peperissa says
The best apple crisp!! I doubled the recipe! Tastes amazing with vanilla ice cream!
Shari Rhodes says
I’ve tried a lot of apple crisp recipes over the years, and I’ve finally found THE ONE! I followed the recipe exactly and it’s delicious!!! Juicy, crispy, sweet, tart … a taste of salt and butter – everything you would ever want in an apple crisp! Next time I’m going to try the homemade caramel sauce for the ice cream … it looks amazing too!!! I’ll be making this apple crisp over and over!!! Thank you to the Chunky Chef!
paul geoffrion says
to sweet
K says
Very good recipe, didn’t adjust anything and it was a huge hit! I used 4 Fuji apples and 2 Granny Smith so a little tartness with the sweet.
Denise says
This was one of the best apple crisps I have ever had! My daughter-in-law made it for us on our last visit.
Peter Tercier says
Just tried making it this afternoon for supper, although I did not have six Granny Smith apples I did have one and the rest came from the tree under the backyard.
Have just taken it out of the oven about to have a bowl with my wife.
I hope she likes it it’s not too sweet I did put a little bit of allspice in it to give it a bit more later flavor. It is an excellent way to make apple crisp I recommend it to anybody to try it
Ardyth Geldart says
Have 2 of these crisps in the oven right now made with apples from an old apple tree in my yard… first year we’ve tried these apples in the 15 we have lived here lol. This is an excellent easy crisp recipe.
Ana says
Easy and excellent!!
Thanks for the recipe
Joanne says
Delicious, after cutting apples I realized I only had steel cut oats so I used 3 pkgs of Apple cinnamon instant oats and just used a little less brown sugar.