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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Kim says
Cut the butter in half first time – surprisingly tasty but followed exactly second time and it was delicious! Thanks!
Jarrett says
YUM! The “crisp” turned out wonderfully, and the apple chunks were just the right size to cook thoroughly without becoming mushy, and oh so very tender! PERFECT marriage of ingredients – which you can adjust the seasonings/sweetness by adding a little/reducing a bit to your personal likes !
This is a KEEPER!
John says
Making it now and it looks yummy right now before the oven baking! Thanks again this looks delicious. The “after” is yet to be discovered after it bakes.
Sharon L Maxie says
Yummy! Came out excellent! Going to pick up some vanilla frozen yogurt.
Rosey says
I made I used 1\2 pecan flour and 1\
2 white flour is just yummy
Alecia Dawn says
Can you make Apple Pie Crisp in the air fryer? If so, temp and cook time??
Thank you
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe using an air fryer, so I can’t say for certain what the specifics would be. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂
Jarrett says
I made this in my Emeril Lagasse Air Fryer, and just it took 20-22 minutes, at 325 degrees. I started watching and checking the Apple Crisp at 15 minutes, and used a sharp knife to check the apple chunks for doneness. (when the tip of a sharp knife can pass through the apple chunks with ease – it’s done!)
You’ll LOVE this Alecia Dawn!!
Polli says
Yummy recipe. I made this gluten & dairy free by substituting rice flour instead of all purpose flour and extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. Used 1/4 cup white sugar & 1/4 cup brown sugar to cut back on sugar. Will definitely make this again!
Tina says
This recipe delivers an outstanding finished product. Made this yesterday and everyone in my household said it was delicious. I also made the caramel sauce recipe you provided (WOW), along with ice cream and homemade whipped cream. Went with slicing the apples instead of chopping and added a lot of extra cinnamon to both the apples and the crisp. I’m an avid baker and this is by far one of the best apple recipes I’ve made. I highly suggest using Ceylon cinnamon vs any other type. It’s flavor cannot be topped. I use it in everything and buy it in one pound bags online (I go through a lot lol). Thanks for a fabulous, easy and quick recipe!
tiffany says
could you leave the skin on? is it necessary to peel?
The Chunky Chef says
You can leave the skin on if you prefer it that way 🙂
Kathy Ryan says
Super easy to make and the taste was amazing. Perfect amount of apples and crisp! My husband loved it and he is very fussy about his desserts.
Shellie says
Yum, delish’!! I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, plus I lack some equipment. But it’s hard to go to wrong with apples, cinnamon, brown sugar and oats. Some of my favorite flavors! I’m not sure how to serve it or cut it; mine is more like a casserole. Is it supposed to be like that? One mistake was that I sliced the apples instead of cutting them into pieces as you said. So they took up more room. Then, my baking dish is more like 7×11 but it’s not very deep. I had a lot of apple slices, couldn’t put them all in there. I only cut up five apples and not that big. How deep is the 8×8 dish? Mine is two inches high.
I used an assortment of apples: Fuji, Gala, whatever. Well, the dish tastes delicious, but it’s not too presentable. I’m single, so I’ll just freeze half (?) (or invite my neighbor over to share) and have the rest for breakfast and dinner all week! Yogurt would be good on it for a healthier angle. (I haven’t cooked much; trying to get back into it now.)
I started out trying to make an Apple Brown Betty but I wanted oats on it and then I found your recipe. But the first recipe wanted sliced apples and I was stuck on that idea. But that one had two layers. I didn’t think it would matter but it does (I guess). Would you ever make yours with slices instead of chunks? As I said, I’m not a very experienced cook! (Guess I should just follow the recipe!) It’s still yummy though. I didn’t know if the oats would cook like that.
The Chunky Chef says
Glad you enjoyed it! This is one of those desserts that doesn’t look pretty and fancy, but just tastes great. You could certainly use apple slices, you’d just need to adjust the baking dish to accommodate more volume. Also apples do vary in size, so it’s possible yours were just bigger than mine. I do highly recommend following recipes closely (especially with baking), but I’m glad you enjoyed the final product!
Brad says
This was excellent! My wife said it is difficult to find an apple crisp recipe that doesn’t create a “break your teeth” crumble. _And_ one that has a proper balance of crisp to apples ratio. Kudos!
Teddy says
Walnuts or raisins sometimes, maybe?
The Chunky Chef says
You could certainly try adding some 🙂
Elena says
I made it this morning and so simple and easy best of all came out really good had to tell myself to wait for after dinner can’t wait!
Nicholas Ray Bradford says
I made this today at church for 120 people!! It was sensational and paired well with whipped cream. I did add nutmeg to the crumble mix for a bit of kick.
Seth Barker says
It is so good, and the Best Apple Crisp I have ever tasted.
Thanks to the Chef.
Randi says
I doubled the recipe and it was absolutely delicious!
Mia says
the measurements should be in both metric/imperial
The Chunky Chef says
I live in the United States, as do the vast majority of my readers, however there are thankfully some great online converters out there 😉
Tina says
Have made it twice now, very good!
Cheryl says
It was reallly good!
Claudia says
This will be my first receipe from you so will let you know how it turns out. I had this cook book but I do believe my granddaughter cobbed onto it one day as there was a receipe in the I used but used di my own litle thing with it as have been cooking for for over 65 years so will definitley send you a message.