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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Laurie says
What is the approximate serving size? I’m making this for two people and I’m not sure if I should cut the recipe in half.
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve never measured it exactly, but I would estimate between 1 – 1.5 cups per serving.
MommyG says
OMG…. this was excellent! I usually hate “cooked” fruit. This was wonderful! I also made extra topping and doubled the cinnamon and used a variety of apples. I added 15 minutes to the cook time due to the extra topping. The crisp turned out perfect! Entire family loved it! Will definitely add to my favorites recipes!
One thing I did was added the chilled butter pieces and dry ingredients to my Ninja food processor. A few quick pulses and the topping was well blended and ready to top the apples! 🍎🍏
KRISTINE HOLZHAUSER says
for some reason my apple crisp never comes out crispy…could my problem be that im using quick oats? can you use quick oats for this recipe or should i get some old fashioned oats?
The Chunky Chef says
Quick oats will give the topping a slightly different texture.
Meredith says
Made this last night- just spontaneously googled ‘best apple crisp recipe’. This is a delicious and easy recipe. I peeled and chopped the apples I got from my farm share. What a surprise! So tasty!! Served it with ice cream for my family and it tastes even better the next day as a snack. Thanks for this recipe!
Celeste McGuire says
Love these recipe makings the apple crisp fr about the 5 time since October everyone loves it but the topping is their favorite
Kathleen A Suydam says
Fugi? really? You may mean Fuji?
The Chunky Chef says
Really? Yes, it’s a typo. Surprise… I’m a human being, who makes errors from time to time 🙂
Paul Stone says
Amen!
Brooke says
Haven’t made this yet but so excited to share it with our “2020 pod” this Thanksgiving. FIVE stars for your recipe and spot on reply to the Fugi comment. Really!
Toons says
Used assorted apples, no oats so used instant maple brown sugar and apple cinnamon oatmeal packets No lemon juice, 1/4 cup brown sugar all I had left in the house. Just a pinch of regular salt. It was still amazing. Just goes to show that when given an easy recipe and you don’t have money to go buy what you need it still turns out great!!!
Cheryl Hebard says
Glad to hear of your substitutes.
Jenn says
Made this recipe and it turned out great! Very easy, and delicious. I doubled the topping (oats) part which made it stick together more which was great. Big hit! Highly recommend 🙂
Hailey says
Can u use room temperature butter instead
The Chunky Chef says
It doesn’t work as well, because you want those little pockets of cold butter to release steam and create a great crust.
Shawn Fischer says
Wonderful… used 5 honey crisp apples and 1 granny smith. Delicious!
Kristen says
I’ve made this recipe twice already in the last couple weeks. It doesn’t last more than a day or two with my husband around! The first round I followed the recipe to the T. The second time I played with it a little bit, swapping out the light brown sugar for dark brown sugar, changing the apples to a mix of Pink Lady and Macintosh and using melted butter in the topping instead of cold. I really, truly believe that this is one of those recipes that you can’t ever go wrong with! It’s very flexible to what you have available. Delicious!
Elizabeth Welty says
Trying it now . It’baking now.
Carrie Thompson says
I am baking your recipe now, which it smells ABSOLUTELY SCRUMPTIOUS, and I’m so Looking forward to tying it! However, in this day & age, I want to offer up what I believe is the best compliment I could possibly give you! You are an AMAZING human being. It made my heart smile to read a COUPLE HUNDRED of your reviews only to find that you deserve the “Most humble & Kind human on this planet”. Even when unkindness or other assorted people that obviously have NO CONCEPT of cooking, baking or basic manners, you kept your composure with a smile on your face, and never ONCE belittled many of the idiots you SO had the right & opportunity to do so. You are a much better woman than I 😉, and I believe you deserve to hear that. My Mom died not all that long ago, and even though we have No clue who you are, I still know exactly what a kind hearted, good human you are with the ability to keep things “politically correct” without ever taking a cheap shot and anyone else. Thank you for being such a leading example to my 14 year old twin (Autistic) boys that I’m trying to raise in our cesspool of a world right now. You ARE appreciated, and your kindness does not fall on deaf ears. People just have a tendency of forgetting to point these things out, MYSELF INCLUDED! I hope you and yours stay healthy & happy and have a very Blessed Holiday Season! 🤗
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Carrie 🙂 You just made my whole weekend! Thank you so much for your kind words and beautiful attitude towards others 🙂 Very refreshing to see nowadays! Prayers to you and your family through the loss of you Mom, and I wish you a wonderful (and also healthy) holiday season as well 🙂
Amy says
How “chopped” should the apples be? Are we talking bite-sized chunks or more finely chopped than that?
The Chunky Chef says
I do about 1″ pieces, but it can be chopped to any size you like.
Emily Colon says
is it ok to use quick oats for this recipe?
The Chunky Chef says
It might have a slightly different texture, but should work well
Janice says
This was absolutely amazing!!! I doubled the recipe and I was able to freeze one for Thanksgiving! I will cut back a bit on the sugar next time by a quarter. I couldn’t wait for after dinner, I had to have it after lunch. Thanks so much for sharing. Very easy to prepare as well😊
Victoria Turner says
I got up in the middle of the night to make this and I loved it!!! I used both kinds of apples and that was a fabulous choice and I did peel the apples. The smell in my house at that time was like a dream come true. I served it warm with the choice of icecream or cream. Oh gosh ,the words are hard to express because everyone loved it. Thank you so much for the new tradition in my home. Sincerely Victoria Marie
Laura says
Can you prepare a day ahead? Will the lemon juice help reduce browning of the apples?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not tried, because I feel like the lemon juice wouldn’t work for that long of a time period.
Jordan Andersen says
I am looking up make this today but I have mini Dutch ovens I want to cook them in. Do you think if I divided this recipe into 4 it would work? Or do you think adjustments will need to be made?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not tested making these in mini Dutch ovens (love that serving idea!), so I can’t say for certain, but I think dividing the crisp into fourths would work well. The baking time might be a little less, but the apples will still need to soften, so I’d start checking them at about 30 minutes.
Alexzandra says
I tried this and it turned out fantastic!!! Subbed the oats for some fancy gluten free ones and found a lactose free butter and voila! Delicious and so easy to follow!! Everyone raved about the dish! Thank you so much!!
B Persoon says
I always like to make mine with half apples and half pears. Maybe a dash of cardamon to the crisp. And there can never be too much crisp in my family’s opinion.