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An Easy Apple Crisp that’s warm from the oven and topped with salted caramel and a scoop of vanilla ice cream! The oat crumble mixing with the warm spices makes this a classic dessert!
Nothing screams fall like a warm apple crisp straight out of the oven.
Bonus points if it’s an easy apple crisp recipe to boot.
Let’s think about this for a second: a hot apple crisp coming straight out of the oven. Two things happen at this point. The house smells absolutely amazing. The warming spices waft throughout the space and I bet the family will be waiting with bowls in hand. The second, you’re left with the coziest desert to gobble up in front of the tv with a good show.
Plus, it’s easier than making apple pie and requires minimal skills. If you can add apple slices to a bowl with a couple of ingredients then top it with a crispy oat layer and place a dish in the oven, you can make this easy apple crisp recipe.
Step aside pumpkin, there’s another fall favorite dessert in town.
Ingredients for an Easy Apple Crisp Recipe
- Apples: more on what variety to use and why in a second. Feel free to leave the apple peels on or off. One benefit of leaving the peels on is that it will significantly increase the amount of fiber in the recipe. Plus, it cuts down on prep time!
- Lemon Juice: gives it a bit more tartness that helps balance the sweet elements.
- Brown Sugar: works beautifully with the warming spices.
- Vanilla Bean Paste: I like bean paste because the speckles run through the apple crisp and give it plenty of flavor.
- Cinnamon or other spices: you can play around and use apple pie spice, cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, or even a smidge of cardamom if you prefer.
- Salt: helps balance the sweetness in the recipe
- Cornstarch: helps absorb excess moisture from the apples in the apple filling.
- Rolled Oats: this is the base of the apple crisp topping. The rolled oats add plenty of texture to this all time favorite fall dessert. They also absorb the moisture that escapes from the apples and keep things from getting mushy!
- All Purpose Flour: is used for the crumb topping.
- Butter: using cold butter is essential because it helps create flakiness in the Appel crisp crumb topping. IT also helps coat the flour which stops from excess gluten from developing creating a tender and crumbly texture. Use can use your finger tips to help down the butter into the crisp topping or a pastry cutter.
- Serving suggestions: You absolutely cannot go wrong with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I also love to serve this with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce. You can even use my cider caramel sauce for even more apple flavor.
Recipe Tip
Firmer apples work best when used for baking. I like to avoid soft or mushy apples. Using a mix of slightly sweet and tart apples typically yields the best results because the variation of sweetness gives this plenty of depth of flavor.
- My golden ratio is a 50:50 split of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples. Using at least 50% Granny Smith apples takes your apple crisp to the next level. This allows for the apple crisp to be sweet but not cloyingly sweet. And remember, if you’re planning on adding the salted caramel, there’s another layer of sweetness coming in at the end. So If you’re not into super sweet desserts (like me) I typically opt for 6 Granny Smiths and just a couple of Honeycrisps.
- Other apples that work: you can opt of Braeburn apples or even Pink Lady apples if that’s what you’ve recently picked or found at the store. These hold their structure well when baked and pair beautifully with cinnamon, nutmeg, and other warming spices.
- Apples I suggest avoiding: steer clear of red delicious apples, these tend to be mealy and soft and yield results that just aren’t the best. Gala apples are another variety I don’t typically suggest. They release a lot of moisture when baked and break down.
While we’re on the subject, I’ll mention that I like to slice the apples by hand to help create some textural variance. Some slightly thicker and some slightly thinner slices help create a a bit of variation in each bite which we really enjoy. An easy apple crisp should be rustic!
Other Apple Desserts to Try:
Easy Apple Crisp
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Crisp Filling:
- 8-9 small Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples (~6-7 cups) peel them or don't, your call!
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Crumb Topping
- ⅔ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup 1 stick salted butter cubed (NOT room temperature)
For Serving
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Salted Caramel Sauce homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×13 baking dish or a 10-12 inch cast iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Set this aside for now.
- FILLING: in a large bowl, combine the apples slices with lemon juice, brown sugar, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, kosher alt, and cornstarch. Toss to coat the apple slices. Add the apple filling to the prepared dish or skillet, set aside for now.
- CRUMB TOPPING: in a medium bowl, toss together the ingredients for the oat topping. Add the rolled oats, light brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix using a whisk or with your hands.Add the cubed butter and break it down using pastry blender or with your fingertips. Some kidney bean-sized pieces are okay. Sprinkle the oat crumble mixture over the apple slices.
- BAKE: place the apple crisp in the oven and let bake for 35-45minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the oat topping is golden brown. If at any point the filling starts to brown too much, loosely tent with a piece of foil.
- LET COOL: once done, allow the apple crisp to cool for 10 minutes before serving topped with vanilla ice cream scoops and salted caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- For the apples: use a variety of tart and sweet apples. I like to use at least 4 (but usually 6) Granny Smiths, but typically even more if I’m planning on serving this with salted caramel. It just balances the flavors better. But Fuji and Braeburns are other good options to use. Cut the apple in varying wedges to add some textural differences within the crisp.
- Feel free to add a handful of chopped pecans to the crumb topping if you want to give this a bit of nuttiness!
- Leftover apple crisp: should be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
We are vanilla paste addicts in our house too! I love this rendition of apple crisp with its over-the-top vanilla flavour, and oh my that salted caramel sauce takes it to heavenly heights.
I think I’d like ice cream and whipped cream with mine please 🙂
This sounds so warm and comforting, like a cozy blanket!