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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Cait says
So yummy! We loved it! How do we store it? In the fridge or countertop with foil?
The Chunky Chef says
I would store it covered, in the refrigerator 🙂
Tony says
Amazing
Sara says
My absolute favorite apple crisp recipe!
Karen says
I made this for our family’s Apple Crisp day in remembrance of my sweet sister in law. Today is her birthday. I had a variety of apples in the refrigerator so I used them. I think I forgot to put the cinnamon in the topping so when it was already in the oven I sprinkled some on and slightly worked it in so it wouldn’t burn. My daughter and I think it is delicious! Thank you for the recipe. @the_chunky_chef
Marijke says
I love this recipe and have made it several times and have gotten rave reviews. I’d like to make it when having family over but my son is gluten free. Any suggestions?
The Chunky Chef says
I don’t have any experience with gluten free baking, as we’re not a gluten free household, but I *think* you would need to replace the flour with a gluten free flour (many of my readers love Bob’s Red Mill), and while oats are technically gluten free, there can be some contamination. I would run the recipe by your son, and see how he would adapt it (since he likely has more experience in that particular area than I do).
Jae says
HI! I don’t know dont know if you have figured this out yet but I’ve adapted this for myself since in celiac. I use certified GF oats (bobs or trader Joe’s) and a 1 for 1 GF flour or 1/2 cup almond flour and had fantastic results! I’m sure you already know, but a new pan/dish is safest unless cooking with something glass like pyrex or ceramic. Let me know if this works out for you!
The Chunky Chef says
Thanks for chiming in Jae!
Angela says
I am also gluten free. Cross contamination is not a problem for me. I substitute gluten free oats and use King Arthur All purpose flour. I use the same amounts as called for in the recipe and it works perfectly!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you for chiming in Angela!
Karen Mickler says
Top notch! Was gone in two hours!
Tammy Green says
Your might be able to use Almond flour
Instead of all purpose flour.
Kelly Osborne says
Best apple crisp recipe I’ve found and we’ve tried many!!!
Brenda Locke says
Just made it today! Delicious!!
Lisa Jones says
Our family loves this recipe!
Sally says
Send me recipes
The Chunky Chef says
Are we requesting, or commanding? This website is run by a real person, not a chat bot. All of my recipes are available on this website, for free. If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter and receive an email blast when new recipes are posted, fill out your information when prompted, and you’ll be signed up.
Samantha Avery says
You are rude, Sally, she is not an robot and it is not nice to demand things.
Samantha Avery says
Can you sub butter for coconut oil? Thx
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe using coconut oil, so I can’t say for certain how well it would work in the crumble topping. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂
Katie M says
This is delicious! I covered while baking as some said it was dry and that may have helped. I also used protein oats to add something more and it turned out wonderfully.
Anita Wingerter says
Use a different type of apples. Some are not meant for baking.
Dana says
I cut the sugar to half a cup for crumble. It was great.
Victoria says
Very yummy! Our family enjoyed this dish. I increased the ingredient quanities for use in 9×13 pan to accommodate the number of family members. My DIL plans to make this dish for a tailgate. Thank you for the recipe!
Meghan Fauss says
What were the measurements you used for a 9×13? I’m hoping to do the same!
Jessica P says
I just multiplied everything by half. So 9 apples, 1.5 cups of brown sugar etc.
Mercedes Brietzke says
I really love this recipe, but I find it very sweet. Cloyingly sweet unfortunately. I served it with ice cream and I wish I had just used milk to cut the sweetness. The topping is generous, and delicious but I think next time I will reduce the sugar to 2/3c or less and lightly sprinkle the apples. And a little vanilla is nice too! 😊
BetsyBoo says
Deliciously scrumptious!! I also tried it with your caramel sauce!! Yummyyyyy
Jaymie says
I’m sad. It was dryyyyyyy. I just used a different butter and used all the other ingredient. I dumped some apple juice in it and back in the oven so we’ll see….
Melanie says
Question please.
I am looking for an apple crisp to do in individual servings for my great nieces wedding. Does this do well served at room temperature instead of heated up? Will try the recipe and see but thought I would ask if you have any experience with it. Thank you.
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, I think this still tastes good at room temperature 🙂
Terry says
Absolutely the best Apple Crisp I have eaten!
Ian Shook says
Perfect. I used 1050g of peeled and sliced (apple pie like) apples. Thats about 1500g of unpeeled uncut apples if you’re figuring out how many to use. I used 6 Honeycrisp. I subbed half the butter with Smart Balance and it was still good. I’ve followed other Apple crisp recipes and this is the best one.
Tony says
Great taste and easy to make. Took longer to peel and core the apples 😂😂
Tina says
Purchase an Apple peeler/corer. Huge time saver!
Corinne says
Once you use an apple Peeler\corer\slicer you will never go back to the old way. I love it!
Kathleen Lapointe says
I never use unsalted butter. It imparts zero flavor.
The Chunky Chef says
That’s the great thing about cooking/baking; you can make things to your tastes.