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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Wendy Lambert says
IYour apple crisp recipe was so easy to make.,and the directions laid out so well.Sure love the smells of baked apples.
Tim says
I would love any advice on how long I should bake a double batch of this if anyone has attempted to. I know what the charts say online but every recipe is different, especially when it comes to baking. Without advice, I’m leaning toward taking the temp down to 335 and adding 25 min. Am making this later this evening for a treat for my wife and appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks!!
Karen Luke says
Made this today with macoun apples. That’s all I had and it came out delicious. Will make again.
Becky Dean says
The best Apple crisp recipe I’ve made. Super easy and delish!!
Shari says
I’ve made this multiple times, everyone loves it. Simple, excellent recipe.
Abby says
So good! I’ve used recipes where everything turned out dry, but not this one! So moist and good. I used honeycrisp apples and everything turned out phenomenally. I didn’t measure the cinnamon- I measured with my heart. Thanks!
Mary Johnson says
We all loved it!
Veronica says
Excellent recipi! A great way to use mushy and bruised apples so they don’t get wasted. I have made this twice already, whenever my apples sit too long on my counter and are no longer crisp, I use them in apple crisp.
Teresa says
What’s a pastry cutter? I thought this was supposed to be easy! 😂
The Chunky Chef says
I can’t tell if you’re being facetious or not, but this is a pastry cutter (https://amzn.to/3DT3iy4), and as mentioned in the recipe, you can use two forks, or even your hands to cut the butter into the flour mixture. If that’s challenging you, several other readers have melted the butter and stirred it into the flour mixture.
Mary-Lynn Miller says
Wonderful recipe I’m so glad on went online to find a recipe for APPLE CRISP thank you
Frankie Wilson says
I cut the brown sugar in half
Debbie says
Fast and easy served with Carmel drizzled on top and everyone raved!!
Had to make a second one right away for my husband…..first one was served with company 😁
AMELIA SHEKITKA says
Sweet, tangy, crunchy, apple-y…all yum!
Brenda says
I added 3/4 of a cup chopped walnuts.
Kim says
Excellent!!!! My adult son claims it’s his new favorite dessert!
Sharon says
Can you use apples that have been frozen?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not tested this recipe with apples that have been frozen, so I can’t say for certain how well it would work, or if any adjustments would need to be made.
Siobhan says
Hi Amanda, thank you for your great recipes. I made your apple crisp last night using frozen sliced apples & adjusted to serve 16. Everyone absolutely loved it. One guest described it as ‘magic’ 🙂
J says
I don’t understand why it calls for unsalted butter AND a pinch of salt. Is there a reason for this? Why not skip the salt and just use salted butter?
The Chunky Chef says
It’s so you can control the amount of salt. However, you can use salted butter, and just omit the salt if that’s what you prefer.
Karen says
Yes. I have frozen apples for use in pies and in crisp.
Jared T says
I made this for the first time and everyone really liked it. However, it seeed to have a lot of juice when done that had to be drained before serving it. Is that normal or did I do sometjing wrong? Any idea?
The Chunky Chef says
Unfortunately, all apples (even those of the same variety) will have different amounts of moisture inside, which comes out during the baking process. You can certainly stir a little flour into the apple mixture if you’d like 🙂
Cheryl says
I made this for my son’s family as he had lots of apples needed to be used. I doubled the recipe for 13 X 9 glass dish. I used quick oats and also melted the butter. Everyone raved about it! This is a keeper.
Thanks for sharing!!
Lauren C says
I had so much fun making this very easy recipe, and I already had all the ingredients in my home! I put some gloves on and pressed the butter cubes into the topping by hand (the same way we pressed cold butter into pie crust dough in pie-making class!) and I wanted to eat everything before I even baked it! Delicious, totally gotta make this again!
Craig says
Made it several times now. Really love it.