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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REG J says
I plan on using your recipe but adapting it to a ‘cookie’. Anything in a pan, tends to go stale, or weird, so I will report back, only if I come up with a stunning success from our oven. This is what you do, after the kids leave home for school, etc.
Molly Sharma says
What a delicious recipe! We all love it 🙂
Deborah says
Delicious!
I added just a little nutmeg to topping as well. Increased cinnamon on apples by 1/2 tsp.
Served with home style vanilla ice cream drizzled Carmel sauce and topped with fresh made whipped cream. OMG !!
sania hashmi says
It turned out great there was liquid that was coming out of the apples. Is this normal?
Amanda says
All apples have different moisture content, and it’s totally normal for them to cook down a bit when baked 🙂
Grace says
Delicious and easy. I didn’t have rolled oats, but I had instant oat meal packets. Substituted Three packets of instant oatmeal for 3/4 cup of Oats !
Dave Larmouth says
I made this for a small group of friends, and they loved it! The recipe was easy to follow, and it turned out great! I didn’t have enough frozen apples, so I added some raspberries. Thanks for making me look good! I told them all about your website.
ClaudiasCrochet says
I loved it!
Patricia Mary Cino says
I cannot believe I am going to say this but I am putting aside my grandmother’s apple crisp recipe for yours! This was amazing. Thank you!!
Tricia
Grace says
This was so delicious! Thanks for the wonderful recipe 🙂
Darla says
Thank you for the recipe..Its so easy and tastes great! I will be making it again!!
Rich Seif says
I made this apple crisp recipe for Easter dinner. My company said it was the best ever. I doubled the recipe and made in a 13×9 glass dish. Thank you for a beautiful dessert.
Molly says
In the oven now. My house smells heavenly! Can’t wait to try it!
Cindie Pearce says
Just served this to my husband for Easter dessert. He will not eat pie!! But he loved this!!! The house smelled wonderful before I put the ham in! I made a one and a half recipe, to make him happy. It was not difficult to change it. And I also used Spartan apples. They are great for baking!! Will be sure to make this again!! Yummy!!!
karen johnson says
I also precook apples spice up with cinnamon and brown sugar. This way the apples dont shrink down resulting in a thin layer of apples. Enjoy!
karen johnson says
Top with pecans in the flour oats mixture. Melting the butter in this topping results in a crispy cookie topping also..
AmyKS says
So far so good. It smells awesome! I had to tweak the temperature and time since I am using an air fryer. I like that it’s just so simple to make and it’s a great way to get rid of some apples that have been sitting around for a while.
Jessica Buttee says
My whole family loved it . Thanks for sharing.
karen johnson says
This is a great recipe! And also a good base to changing up the ingredients..I and pecan, and also mix the top layers with melted butter it makes a great cookie type crust
Jessica says
I’ve made this before and it’s amazing! I want to double the recipe in a bigger pan for my family Easter, do I still bake it the same amount of time? Any tips?
Amanda says
So happy to hear that you love this recipe as much as we do! I would add a bit of extra time, but I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain exactly how much time.
Vk says
Very yummy and easy recipe
Phyllis Gibson says
Ok, just finished and into the oven. Smells delicious. Now waiting to see how it tastes. My special taster will do tell me gods or not. 4/3/21
Glenn says
This was so easy to make and my family loved it. I’ve had it with and without whipped cream but either way it was so good. I’ve also baked a larger version and adjusted the recipe a bit.
Cathy says
this was delicious!