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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Lorraine Goodfield says
Excellent
Allegra Rodriguez says
Can I make ahead of time and bake from the fridge?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not tested this recipe that way, so I can’t say for certain, but I believe many other readers have done this successfully.
Donna Oliver says
Excellent-precisely the same one my grandmother made and she shared with me!
Rhonda says
We went apple picking last weekend and I made this recipe with a combo of Jonathan and Macintosh (just picked) apples. I am not a baker at all and this was amazing. I made exactly as recipe is written and would not even consider changing a thing,
Hubby went wild and we each ate two large pieces with vanilla bean ice cream. Honestly, the topping is so darn yummy it does not need anything else on top as far as I’m concerned.
Laurie says
Really delicious! Thanks for sharing 👍
Norma says
This is indeed the best apple crisp I have ever made. The salted caramel sauce was not as successful. It tastes fabulous, but it’s more a solid than a sauce. I’d love to know what I did wrong. Immersing the bottle in hot water made no difference at all. Still a sticky solid.
Lauren Bryant says
I made the Apple strudel recipe and used gala apples. Thank you it was delucious
Paige says
Is there a different size pan I could use? I have a bunch of different sized pans but non of them are 8×8
The Chunky Chef says
Any pan will work, as long as everything fits 🙂
Guyla Eaton says
Delicious
DENISE BELEUTZ says
Can you freeze this ??
While apples are in season easier than apple pie but will if freeze ok? Do you cook it after if you can freeze
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t frozen it myself, but I know several other readers who have frozen this recipe successfully 🙂
Sandy says
Excellent apple crisp
Jen Kalashian says
Marvelous darling
Mary Corbett says
I have been trying to duplicate my high school cafeteria’s apple crisp recipe for years. Graduated in 1976, this is very similar! Love your apple crisp recipe!!! So delicious!!!
Dee says
I just put this in the oven! I doubled the recipe and I am a bit worried that it was way to much topping! We will soon find out. To be continued…
Kate says
Delicious. Used a food processor to make the crumble.
Art McHugh says
I have been waiting for a recipe that would take me back to my childhood and this is it!!! The moist crumbly topping and the delicious apples just made my heart sing and my stomach smile with delight. SOoo good.
Frank says
It looks great I haven’t tried it yet but do I need to cover it with tinfoil when I put it in the oven, also can I prepare it and put it in the fridge for a later bake time ??
Amanda says
Bake it uncovered, so the topping can crisp up, and yes, you can assemble it, cover it tightly and refrigerate for a day or so before baking as directed. Since the pan and contents will be cold when going into the oven, it may take a little longer to bake 🙂
Kerry says
Hello. This looks delicious. Can I make it ahead and then reheat? I’m having guests over and would rather have the mess cleaned up before arrival. Bake before and then reheat? Or prep it all, place in fridge and wait til I’m ready to actually bake it?
Amanda says
Hi Kerry 🙂 You can assemble it, cover it tightly and refrigerate for a day or so before baking as directed. Since the pan and contents will be cold when going into the oven, it may take a little longer to bake 🙂 You could also bake it, cool it completely, cover tightly and refrigerate. Then bake again at 350°F for about 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
LaShern Neal says
This apple crisp has the perfect amount of sweetness. I’ve made slight changes to other recipe for it to be just right, but not this one. Oh well actually I changed one thing and that was doubling the recipe 😋
Geraldine Kelk says
Awesome recipe, delicious. Made a double batch so my grand children could take 1/2 home. Thanks for sharing 😋