Classic Easy Apple Crisp
Apple Crisp is one of the easiest dessert recipes but so yummy. They’re a fruity treat with a crunchy, buttery oat topping that’s great with ice cream!
If you can cut apples you can make apple crisp, it is that easy with a handful of basic ingredients. Apple is one of my favorite fall flavors and we get fresh apples from our garden. Apple Crisps are very popular in the fall and winter months, which also happens to be apple harvest season. The name ‘Crisp’ derives from the fact that when you take this dish out of the oven, the topping has become deliciously crisp.
If you search for apple crisp recipes the ingredient varies, some recipes don’t use oats but I love the crispy oat topping.
What apples can you use for this easy apple crisp?
You can use any type of apple! Pink Lady and Granny Smith is my particular favorite for this dish, but Golden Delicious or Fuji are excellent choices.
Do you Need to Peel the Apples?
It is really a choice! If I am just making for my family then I usually do not feel them but make sure to wash the apples thoroughly. If you are making for little kids or for a party, then you may want to peel them because some people prefer without skin.
What You’ll Need For Apple Crisp?
- Apples: You can mix different eating apples for this recipe. Peel and core the apples, then quarter and chop them into thin slices. Try to slice your apples about same thickness so it helps to cook evenly.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: goes very well with Apples. If you like other spices like cardamom, cloves, apple spice or allspice you can add those to your taste.
- Butter: Use very cold butter to avoid it melting too quickly and losing its texture. Cut it into cubes as soon as it comes out of the refrigerator. Then combine it with the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon using a pastry cutter or fork.
- Brown Sugar: You can use either light or dark brown sugar. Use dark brown sugar if you like more of caramel flavour
- Lemon Juice: When you toss apple with lemon juice it prevent your apple from turning brown and also add nice punch to the crisp.
- Cornstarch: As the apple cook it leave out some liquid and you want the liquid thicken up little bit, that is the cornstarch going to help with.
- Vanilla
- Nuts (Pecans or flaked Almonds)
- Whole Oats
- All-purpose flour
What Makes this Apple Crisp Special?
- Simple Ingredients
- No eggs
- Crispy Oats flour Topping with warm cinnamon apples is delicious
- Easy to make than making Apple pie
How to Serve Apple Crisp?
Serve it with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle with salted caramel sauce!!
Classic Apple Crisp
Ingredients
For the Crumble Topping
- 1 cup Rolled oats (Note 1)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter cut into small pieces 1cm/1/2inch cubes. Cold. 115g (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar (Note 2) Adjust to your taste. If you like really sweet, then use 3/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup.
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup Pecans or flaked almonds Optional
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon Adjust to your taste
For the Filling
- 8 apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped, 2½ lbs apples.
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (half of lemon juice)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/3 cup brown sugar(Adjust to your taste) (Note 3)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 345 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a buttered 8×8 baking dish.
- In a large bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, corn starch. Peel and core the apples, then quarter and chop them into thin slices. Transfer sliced apples to the bowl and add lemon juice and vanilla. Toss all together and mix well. Add apple filling to the prepared baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients for the topping, all-purpose flour, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar.
- Dice the cold butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients. Work the butter into the other ingredients with your hands or pastry cutter until it begins to warm up a little. The finished crisp should have a granular crumbly texture, but there shouldn't be too many big lumps of pure butter. Add oats and pecans and mix well. (You can also use a pastry cutter or fork to mix the ingredients until it looks like small peas and just begins to clump together).
- Spread the topping over the apple filling in an even layer and bake for 35 – 45 min, or until the crisp is golden brown and crispy on top, and the filling is cooked through, nice and bubbly on the edges!
- Let the crisp sit for a good 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
These both fruit desserts are very similar and use almost the same ingredients and cooking methods. Fruit crisp will have more oats than crumble to add that extra crunchiness and crispiness.
The Apple Crisp Topping will be golden brown and juice will be bubbling at the edges of the baking dish. You can also test with a small knife to check the softness of apple pieces.
You can store apple crisp in the refrigerator covered for up to 3-4 days or 1 – 2 months in the freezer. It is best to serve as warm. It may lose some crunchiness after you keep it in the refrigerator or freezer but it still tastes good.
Apples that are firmer are better for baking. Avoid apples that are soft and mushy otherwise the pieces won’t keep their shape after cooking. It’s preferable to use a combination of tart and sweet apples to get the most taste. Tart Apples: Granny Smith, Jonathan, Braeburn & Sweet Apples: Pink Lady, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Fuji
You can serve apple crisp as a dessert with a bit of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and hot coffee or tea.
. It is a classic comforting fall dessert with seasonal fruit
Yes, this is a wonderful dessert to make ahead of time and eat at room temperature. It’s a perfect Thanksgiving dessert to make because it can be prepared a day or two ahead of time.