This Apple Crisp Recipe is the ultimate fall classic, combining warm, gooey cinnamon apples with a crunchy oat-pecan topping. It’s an easy, comforting dessert that’s perfect for any occasion. 🍂
Simple yet incredibly satisfying, it’s sure to become a family favorite, just like it is in ours. This crisp is delicious on its own, but it’s even better with a dollop of homemade whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
- Golden Delicious Apples: These apples are perfect for baking because they hold shape and have a balanced sweet-tart flavor. They become tender without turning mushy, making them ideal for apple crisp. Any good baking apple works well here.
- Lemon Juice: Adds a bright, tangy flavor that enhances the natural sweetness of the apples and helps prevent them from browning as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Sugar: Helps sweeten the apples just enough without overpowering their natural flavor. It also caramelizes during baking, giving the filling a subtle richness.
- Kosher Salt: A small amount of salt brings out the sweetness of the apples and balances the flavors in the filling and the topping.
- Cinnamon: A warm, comforting spice that pairs perfectly with apples, giving the dessert its classic fall flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: Used in the topping to create the crumbly texture. It combines with the butter and sugar to form the crisp on top of the apples.
- Brown Sugar: Adds a deeper, molasses-like sweetness to the topping, giving it a rich flavor that pairs beautifully with the apples.
- Pecans: These add a nice crunch and texture to the topping, as well as a mild, nutty flavor. Chopping them finely helps them blend well into the crumble. 👉You can easily substitute with walnuts or sliced almonds.
- Unsalted Butter: The fat in the butter helps bind the ingredients of the topping together, giving it that perfect crumbly, crisp texture when baked.
See the recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳 How to Make Apple Crisp
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Peel, core, and cut the apples into ¾-inch chunks. Toss with lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cinnamon, then transfer to a 13x9-inch baking pan. Dot the top with the cold butter pieces.
Mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, and pecans (if using) in a bowl. Add softened butter, working the butter in until the mixture is evenly moistened.
Scatter the topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the apples are golden and bubbly. Serve warm.
Hint: To get a crisp, clumpy topping, gently squeeze the mixture into small clumps before scattering it over the apples. I used this 13x9-inch non-stick metal baking dish.
🫙 Storage & Reheating
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Place the desired amount of apple crisp in a small oven-safe dish and bake it in the oven at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until heated through.
Alternatively, microwave it in a microwave-safe dish for 1 to 2 minutes or until hot.
❄️ Make Ahead & Freezing
Make Ahead: You can prepare this up to 1 hour in advance. After baking, cover it with foil and keep it in the oven at a low temperature (200°F) until ready to serve.
Freezing: The baked crisp can be frozen, tightly covered, for up to 3 months. Before serving, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and reheat, uncovered, in a 300°F (150°C) oven until warmed through and the topping is crisp again.
📝 Camila's Tips & Variations
- Mix of Apples: For a more balanced and complex flavor, combine tart apples like Granny Smith with sweeter ones like Honeycrisp.
- Richness: Dot the apples with 2 tablespoons of cold butter pieces for extra richness.
- Nuts: Swap pecans for walnuts or almonds.
- Extra Spice: Add a pinch of nutmeg or ginger to bring extra warmth and depth to the flavor.
- Sweetness: For a sweeter topping, increase the sugar to 1 cup.
🛠️ Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the Difference Between Apple Crisp and Apple Crumble?
These two desserts are quite similar, with the main difference being that an apple crumble typically doesn’t include oats or nuts in the topping. Other than that, the overall concept and flavors are essentially the same.
What are the best apples to use?
You can use a variety of apples to make this apple crisp, such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Honey Crisp, Golden Delicious, Gala, or Fuji.
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📖 Recipe
Apple Crisp
Tools
- 13x9-inch metal baking pan.
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 3 pounds Golden Delicious apples (or Honeycrisp, Braeburn as alternatives)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cold, cut into pieces , plus 1 tablespoon, softened, for the baking dish
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon powder
For the Crisp:
- 125 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 80 g ( 1 cup) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 150 g (¾ cup) packed brown sugar. Reduce to 100g (½ cup) for less sweetness, or increase to 200g (1 cup) for more sweetness.
- 50 g (½ cup) pecans, finely chopped (you can substitute with walnuts or sliced almonds) , optional
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons lightly softened unsalted butter cut the cutter into six pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Butter 13x9-inch metal baking pan.
- Peel, core, and cut the apples into ¾-inch chunks. Toss them with lemon juice, sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Transfer the apples to the prepared baking dish. Dot the top with the cold butter pieces.
- Prepare the topping. In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, and chopped pecans. Add softened butter. Use your fingers to work the butter into the mixture until evenly moistened. The mixture should hold its shape when squeezed.
- Squeeze small clumps of the topping in your hand and scatter them evenly over the apples, breaking up any large pieces.
- Bake until the topping is golden brown and the apple juices are bubbling around the edges, about 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: Place the desired amount of apple crisp in a small oven-safe dish and bake it in the oven at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until heated through. Alternatively, microwave it in a microwave-safe dish for 1 to 2 minutes or until hot.
- Make Ahead: You can prepare this up to 1 hour in advance. After baking, cover it with foil and keep it in the oven at a low temperature (200°F) until ready to serve.
- Freezing: The baked crisp can be frozen, tightly covered, for up to 3 months. Before serving, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and reheat, uncovered, in a 300°F (150°C) oven until warmed through and the topping is crisp again.
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
