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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Brenda Cooley says
I added a tsp of pure vanilla flavoring to the apple mixture, and about 1 cup chopped pecans to the topping and more butter. It’s was fabulous! Thank you! I also baked it a total of 45 minutes. Maybe my oven is “slow”.
Jean Marcel says
First time making this delicious recipe. I had too many apples and wasn’t willing to let them go bad. I made this recipe and my husband told me to be sure to keep it! He ate two helpings of it right out the oven. Will try it with vanilla ice cream next. Delicious!
Sonia says
Smells amazing but I ended up with a dry/unmelted/uncooked topping at 40 minutes. I precisely followed the recipe. I used a stick of COLD butter.
What level should the baking rack be on?
The Chunky Chef says
I’m not sure what happened, as I’ve never had that happen and I make this recipe all the time. Was the butter properly cut into the flour mixture? I know a few readers have preferred to melt the butter and add it that way when they were having trouble with making a crumble topping. I bake all recipes on the center oven rack unless specified.
SabbyMom says
I had the same issue… the filling was delicious, but the topping was still dry and “sandy” after 40 minutes of baking. I will try with melted butter next time.
BSLB Walrus says
Whenever I need a crumbly or flaky consistency for baked goods containing butter, I freeze the butter stick and then grate it on a standard-sized cheese grater. This helps distribute the butter evenly while keeping it solid. This technique worked great for Amanda’s topping. I still used quite a bit of pressure with my spatula against the bowl to get the ingredients mixed thoroughly enough that the final consistency was buttery crumbles rather than flecks of butter scattered throughout the dry ingredients. Love this recipe! (Note: grating frozen butter is awesome for biscuits.)
BSLB Walrus says
Scrumptious. Lets the variety of apple shine. Decadent but not out of control. Handy to adjust the recipe to a desired number of apples. I should have adjusted it to one apple’s worth and made a breakfast portion separately tomorrow cuz WHOOPS, that’s gone.
Shelley Diamond says
Awesome! Best topping I’ve made yet!
Crunchy and sweet!
Makes the house aromatic and the tummy satisfied!
Marv says
Super delicious recipe
Amy S LeVault says
Just like my grandmas!! Yummy memories.
Brenda says
I made this recipe to avoid having to throw apples away and to satisfy my sweet cravings. It is very easy to make and oh so delicious! This is a recipe I am going to keep for future use. I generally don’t make desserts, but this is my new go to. I used Pink Lady apples and it didn’t seem to affect the outcome.
Sue Senyk says
Any advice about substituting gluten free flour?
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe using gluten free flour, so I can’t say for certain how well it would work. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂
Julie Britton says
I had some apples to get rid of and I decided to try this recipe and turned out delicious.
Two things I substituted, instead of white sugar, I used coconut sugar and used 1/2 cup of gluten free flour and 1/4 of regular flour.
Thank you for your recipe it was quick and easy.
Anna says
I used king Arthur’s gluten free flour in replacement and it turned out delish! I have found that is the best flour to use with baking.
Dakota Navock says
We use Bob’s Red Mill and absolutely love it. The more crumble the better. Also are dairy free so we use vegan butter.
Kathleen says
LOVE THIS!
Easy yet taste like it was a lot of work. My family loves this on a cold day.
Christine. Elizabeth says
Mine just didn’t turn out! I still had dry brown sugar and oats on top after 40 minutes. I did add a half stick of butter and drizzled to help the topping. I just won’t make again!
Mary says
Christine, this recipe calls for a whole stick of butter to be cut into the topping mixture. That’s probably why yours didn’t turn out.
Jodi Collins says
I have made this several times and it’s to die for. Everyone in my family loves it. Thanks Chunky Chef.
Mary Mazzeri says
Reminds me pretty much of the apple crisp my mom used to make. Love it )may be a little too much?)
Kathy says
Too much flour not enough liquid had to add applesauce to moisten the oat topping
The Chunky Chef says
Did you happen to check out the video? It shows that the topping is supposed to look dry and crumbly, and when baked, the butter melts and it becomes a classic crumble topping.
Cathy says
Best Apple Crisp I’ve ever made & I’ve tried a lot if recipes for this dessert.
Jodi Collins says
Me also Cathy
Rachel says
Great recipes! Thank you!!
DRM says
Normally I don’t comment on recipes, I’ve been known to make my own adjustments, but I thought these were worth sharing.
I added a bit of corn starch to the apple mix. This makes the final “sauce” a bit creamier. Plus, last night before Googling a “real” recipe and landing here, I drowned 1/4 cup of raisins in spiced rum and added them (drained) to the apples.
The cold butter was straight from the freezer, that is a really great part of the “crumb” rather than melted butter! Will make this again!
Benita mcgettrick says
I love this I’m going to make it for my family thank you so much for sharing this
Jackie says
Just what I was looking for in a Crispy topping. Used dark brown sugar as that is what I had. Delish!
Thanks
Donna says
Oh my gosh this is the best recipe I’ve found! Thank you for sharing♥️♥️♥️