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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Kaitlyn W says
Can I freeze this?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not frozen this recipe myself, but I know many other readers have done so successfully.
Aditi says
I ended up with a LOT of water at the bottom. The top was nice and crumbly. Did I take it out of oven too soon? Do I need to dehydrate the apples a bit first? I used honeycrips.
The Chunky Chef says
Honeycrisp apples have a lot of moisture, so that could be why you had so much liquid. As long as the apples are tender when you pierce them with a fork, then the crisp was done.
Tom M says
Our guests raved about the crunchy topping. I like that it’s so simple to do. Thx
Courtney L says
Love this! I’ve never made a caramel sauce before, but this was pretty easy-peasy. The desert would have been yummy on its own, but the extra oomph that it added was soooooooo gooooooood!
Ang says
One of the best recipes I have made thanks for sharing it ❤
Susan says
Very yummy!!! Thank you for sharing!
Wende says
Amanda, this is sooooo good. Thank you for sharing it.
Han says
Is the lemon juice required? Have everything but lemon!
The Chunky Chef says
You can omit it if you’d like.
Soozy says
Thanks for the recipe! First time ever making this and found your recipe as my guide. It’s very good and doesn’t last long in my house! My daughter was glad that she didn’t need to buy any at a local fair since I had made some!
Angela says
I made this tonight for the first time, with apples from the orchard. OMG!! What a great recipe. Family absolutely loved it!!
Amarti says
I made this and accidentally put the whole 1 3/4 tsp cinnamon in the apple mix. After I realized my mistake I still made the topping with the 1 tsp cinnamon and prayed it wouldn’t be overpowering. My family loved it! They loved the added cinnamon flavor and this recipe is their new favorite apple dessert (it used to be apple pie). The Oatmeal makes for a nice crunch. I did use gluten free oatmeal because that’s all I had but it was still great. My family didn’t even notice any differance. Love this recipe.
Bella says
So good Use this recipe all the time .
But make it with crab apples and rhubarb sometimes and sometimes strawberries
Lisa says
Awesome recipe! Loved it!
Heather says
I made this apple crisp tonight, but gluten free. I substituted a 1 to 1 flour and certified gluten free oats and it came out amazing! I used 3 varieties of apples I got at the farmers market. This recipe is a hit!
Marci says
Made your recipe exactly as stated (6 peeled Fuji apples) and OMG…the pan is almost gone. It truly is a keeper recipe and thank you for sharing! YUM.
AMD says
I used organic gala apples, gluten free flour and oats.
So. So. Good. Thank you!!!
Victoria Tallman says
Way too much brown sugar in this recipe.
The Chunky Chef says
As always, feel free to adjust things to your tastes… but we love the recipe as is. The type of apple used can also affect how sweet the dish is 🙂
Kira says
So so so delicious, it’s fall and I wanted to make a sweet treat for my family and this turned out amazing! Not only does it taste good, but it smells good. I used 5 golden delicious apples and 1 granny smith, turned out lovely.
Carol says
can I use quick oats instead of old fashioned oats?
The Chunky Chef says
The texture might change slightly, but yes, you can use quick oats if that’s what you have available.
Theresa you says
Awesome
Ashlyn says
Don’t know what happened the crumble turned into a dough it felt like. Maybe needed it all together too long. It’s in the oven with the dough like crumble on top see how it turns out