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.
NEVER MISS A CHUNKY CHEF RECIPE:
FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / PINTEREST / TWITTER
Dianne A Kinder says
I did measure and used 6 1/2 cups of apples. I also used Nutmeg. Just a pinch.
Very good recipe
Dayna Hauenstein says
Great 👍
Cathy says
Prepared it following the recipe and is turned out great!!! Not too sweet. I used Granny Smiths. Will definitely make again!!!!
Lisa L. Nance, Retired RN says
Easy breezy when in early September, pick apples, wash peel, core, slice them and
add cinnamon and package them in in freezer tight packaging and freeze. Pull-out frozen prepared apples and follow directions for favorite recipe.
The above recipe is exceptionally wonderful!
Teresa Allmon says
I have made this recipe several times since one of my friends shared it with me. It goes over well every time I make it. I have taken it to several social functions and usually someone will ask for the recipe
CA Hendy says
Great apple crisp! Easy to make and it turned out perfectly.
GG says
how many servings in this recipe?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve estimated that this recipe serves 6. For future reference, the amount of servings in each recipe is always in a light green colored bar in the recipe card, right underneath the recipe name, cook time, etc 🙂
Peter A Daniel says
Chunky Chef Apple Crisp recipe is an excellent starting point to make my own Apple Crisp. I deleted the salt for low sodium diet also skipped the oatmeal… I used more apples..4.5 lbs or 2 kilos. A much bigger pan… I also add 6 ounces of water to keep it more moist so it can cook a bit longer. I imagine my recipe isn’t quite as crispy. But thanks Chunky Chef. Without your ingredient list and instructions I would be lost.
Cassie says
Can I double this recipe for a 9×13 dish?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes 🙂
Josiah Morris says
Hi, I was wondering if I could halve this recipe and make half of it?
The Chunky Chef says
Sure thing 🙂
Peggy Jacobs says
Very good and easy to make. I did replace the white sugar with sugar blend Splenda and brown sugar with Splenda brown sugar. Worked great.
Lily says
New family favorite!
I’ve never baked apple crisp before and had some apples sitting around so I decided to try my hand at this. Thank you for such an easy, delicious recipe!
Cheryl Edwards says
Could I Use Harvest Crunch cereal instead of Oats?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain if that would work. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Alitash Johnson says
My family LOVED THIS!!!
Ambie says
Overall loved this recipe. My kids had fun cutting up the apples with me, and no fingers were lost in the process.
Based on other people’s comments, I used dark brown sugar and also grated some frozen butter over the top before putting it in the oven. I baked using a convection oven for 50 minutes which I will cut back to 40 minutes next time.
I will also use less sugar because the mix of apples that I used provided enough sweetness.
Kim Ford says
This is exactly what I grew up with! I didn’t alter at all. thx.
Melissa Agnew says
Love this, made it several times and everyone asks for the recipe!
Lise says
I also poured carmel sauce over the apples and between layers of the topping. Yummo
Linda Thomas says
I followed the directions exactly with the exception of adding a little extra cinnamon, some nutmeg (cuz I love it in apples), and a dash of vanilla. It turned out perfectly. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Anna Evans says
Great recipe I grew up with followed the recipe but added raisins! Nice treat for my grands!
Peg says
I also had apples to use so luckily found this recipe!
I followed the 40 minute bake timethen took out to check it. It looked a bit dry so I sprayed it with butter spray and baked another 10 minutes. That made it crunchy and it was delicious!!
(Hope butter spray doesn’t offend)