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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Cinnamon Smith says
Fantastic recipe, loved every bite!!!
Jamie Mills says
Absolutely fantastic! Used seasonal apples we had on hand.
Jody Foote says
Can you use one minute oats?
The Chunky Chef says
The texture might change slightly, but yes, you can use quick oats if that’s what you have available.
Q says
Was delicious! I used Ambrosia Apples and found it was perfect. 🙂
Natoya Gayle says
I try this recipe and I love it I didn’t change anything wrll the only thing I did was double the ingredients to make a larger amount my son love this dessert so I make it for him when he’s home .
Lori Proctor says
Excellent and oh so easy
Karen Gruling says
Just like my grandma makes, the best apple crisp ever, simple and delicious. I used Pink Lady apples , perfect firmness and slightly tart. Bravo great recipe 😊
Bonnie (loving desserts) says
I had my entire family over for dinner last night and I made this Chrisp for them. My son-in-law is a very big critique when it comes to these kind of desserts and he gave it a big thumbs up. I’m not a big apple person when it comes to dessert dishes but I actually liked it to. I had to add a few more apples I think I used 8 cups instead of six so when needing 3/4 of a cup of flour I want to 1 cup I just increased each ingredient to the next level and it came out fabulous. Thank you so much chunky chef such a delicious dish I will be putting this in my saved recipe area and looking forward to trying other dishes that you prepare.
Sincerely
Loving desserts
Carol Gielen says
I tried this recipe and so far it was the best one
Kate says
I don’t normally comment on recipes, but this one is so good – consistently!
Sarah FitzGerald says
This recipe so simple and SO good!!! By far the best apple crisp that I’ve ever made. Even my kids approved.
Glenda Stroud says
This is the best apple crisp I have ever had!!!
Alice says
Going to try. I love apple crisp.
Jen says
Since having to medically go gluten free 6 years ago, I’m always on the hunt for recipes I love that I can tweak to make gf. I make this gluten free by using gf flour mix and oats- the BEST apple crisp ever!! Thank you for not over complicating a beautiful dessert.
Kathy says
I was searching for a new apple crisp recipe, and goodness have I hit the jackpot with this one. The whole family loved every bite. Soooo delicious, thank you ❤️
John says
Easy apple crisp is so good Thanks
Leslie says
It was delicious and the entire pan of dessert didn’t last more than a day. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Janey DeVries says
I made this last night and it was delicious
Larry Farr says
WOW. Fantastic recipe. Hey, thanks Amanda. This was the easiest, tastiest apple crisp yet. Very satisfying. Fifty minutes in the oven was perfect. Thank you so much! Everything went smoothly, just as your directions indicated.
Peggy says
I made this today, using instant cinnamon spice oatmeal, it turned out really good, the only thing missing was some ice cream
Nan Wagner says
Great recipe
Katrinka Schroeder says
Taking off one star for cooking time. Took an hour and I turned the oven up to 375 for the last 15 minutes.
Mrs.Willis says
Tried this recipe last night, it was delicious! My family loved it! One of my kids said it taste like apple pie without the crust 😋
Selina Scott says
Delicious ❤️❤️❤️❤️