We’re singing all the praises of apple crisp because it’s THE dessert of the season. Featuring warm gooey cinnamon apples and a brown sugar oat topping, this comfort food classic takes half the time and effort that traditional apple pie requires. You just need a handful of basic ingredients to get started including baking apples such as Granny Smith and Honeycrisp.
How many ways can we bake with apples? Hopefully you’ve been enjoying sweet and simple baked apples or even dove headfirst into apple cinnamon bread, apple cake, and caramel apple upside down cake. There’s apple cinnamon babka and so many more apple recipes. But today, let’s get down to the basics. This is pure and simple apple crisp, a timeless dessert highlighting the natural flavor of apples. This apple dessert is an end-of-the-meal treat that delivers BIG flavor for very little work. Let’s be honest—if you can chop apples, you can make apple crisp.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Apple Crisp Recipe
- Easier Than Pie: It’s easy to adore apple pie, but there’s no doubt that homemade pie is a labor of love. In this fruit crisp, we’re swapping pie crust for oat streusel topping. Skip all the pie dough chilling and leave your rolling pin in the cabinet.
- Basic Ingredients: Crisps are pretty unfussy and there’s no strange ingredients required. Most of the ingredients you need are repeated in both layers, too.
- No Eggs: Many bakers have been asking for egg-free baking recipes like this.
- Short Cooling Time: As much as we all love homemade apple pie, it requires a long cooling time to properly set up. Sometimes we need a crowd-pleasing dessert that’s a little quicker, but just as seasonal and impressive.
- And It’s Delicious: What’s better than warm cinnamon apples and chewy-crisp oat topping? This is a cold weather must.
And above all else—if you have little ones, this dessert is convenient and manageable. You don’t have to wait for anything to come to room temperature, chill, or cool down. Kids have a ball spreading the apples into the dish and sprinkling the oat crumble on top. (And in the summer, have the young bakers help make a peach crisp!)
Overview of Apple Crisp Recipe Ingredients
There are 2 components in apple crisp: the apple layer and the oat topping. The topping is the same recipe we use for blueberry crumble pie and bourbon cherry crisp, only slightly increased for a larger 9×13 inch dish.
- Apples: See below for the best apples to use. You need about 8 medium apples, peeled and chopped into chunks.
- Brown Sugar: We use brown sugar to sweeten and bring flavor to the entire dish. You need it for both the apple layer and topping.
- Flour: All-purpose flour thickens the apple filling and is the base of the topping. Do you need a gluten-free version? Here’s my super flavorful gluten-free apple crisp.
- Vanilla & Salt: I’ve made a lot of apple crisp recipes and nothing compares to the way I make it now (recipe below). Vanilla complements these warm flavors and salt balances out all the sweetness. Trust me, you don’t want to skip either—the dessert tastes flat otherwise.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: Use cinnamon and nutmeg in the apple layer and cinnamon again in the topping.
- Butter: To prevent it from melting too soon and losing texture, use very cold butter. Take it right from the refrigerator and cut it into cubes. Then use a pastry cutter or fork to mix it into the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Don’t overcomplicate this step, let the mixture be messy, crumbly, and coarse. Less is more. (Music to our ears!)
- Oats: Some oats get a little crispy, some stay soft and chewy. Use whole oats for the best texture. Stir the oats into the topping mixture *after* you cut in the butter. We do this with strawberry crisp as well—you just don’t want the oats to break down too much.
What Are the Best Apples to Use for Baking?
Firmer apples are ideal for baking. Avoid soft, mealy, and mushy apples. For depth of flavor, it’s best to bake with a mix of tart and sweet apples. For apple crisp, I usually use 4 tart and 4 sweet.
- Tart apples I love to bake with: Granny Smith (in my opinion, this is the best overall apple for baking), Braeburn, Jonathan, and Pacific Rose
- Sweet apples I love to bake with: Jazz, Pazazz (sometimes harder to find but delicious!), Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Fuji
For a detailed list of my favorite apple varieties and when to use each, you can visit my post The Best Apples for Baking.
Peel & Slice Apples into Chunks
You can skip peeling the apples if you’d like, but many prefer peeled apples in desserts. I use and love (affiliate link) this OXO peeler. A lot of apple crisp recipes use apple slices, but I prefer chunks because chunks easily fit onto a spoon or fork. It’s also difficult to get perfectly uniform slices, so some pieces can be much thinner than others—and that means mushy apples. 1-inch chunks that are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick are ideal for this apple crisp.
Toss them with the rest of the apple layer ingredients and then top with the oat topping.
Apple Crisp Toppings!
Of course you can serve apple crisp plain, but this warm dessert truly shines with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s just an apple crisp non-negotiable! Add a drizzle of salted caramel for good measure. Or even a dollop of fresh homemade whipped cream. This is the best fall dessert around.
Can I Make Apple Crisp Without Oats?
Yes, absolutely. To make apple crisp without oats, use the topping from apple crumble pie, only slightly increased. Use 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour, and 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Using a fork, stir in the cooled melted butter until the mixture is thick and crumbly. Don’t over-mix—it will become a paste if you over-mix. Use the same oven temperature and bake time as below. I prefer melted butter to keep the crumble topping on the softer side. If you want a crispy crumble topping, use cold butter and cut it into the mixture just as you do in the recipe below.
Or you can turn this into an apple cobbler. Cobblers are usually topped with a biscuit or cake-like topping instead of an oat topping. Use the same apple filling and oven temperature in the recipe below, but use the topping and bake time from my berry cobbler instead.
We’ve even made a scaled-down version to top this caramel apple cheesecake pie. However you choose to make your crisp, it will be a welcome (and easy!) addition to your lineup of Thanksgiving pies—or a “just because” dessert on a cool fall evening. Enjoy!
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Classic Apple Crisp Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This classic apple crisp combines warm gooey cinnamon apples with a buttery brown sugar oat topping. See recipe notes for make ahead & freezing instructions.
Ingredients
Filling
- 8 medium peeled apples, cut into 1-inch chunks that are 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick (about 10 cups, or 1200g, chunks)
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping
- 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 cup (85g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- optional: salted caramel and vanilla ice cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. Any 3.5-4-quart baking dish works.
- Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl, then spread into the baking pan.
- Make the topping: Whisk the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture becomes super crumbly. Stir in the oats. Sprinkle over filling.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling around the edges. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold; plain or with salted caramel and/or vanilla ice cream.
- Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled crisp freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake (covered) in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 30 minutes or until heated through. You can prepare the crisp through step 3, then cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day before baking. You can also freeze the unbaked crisp for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 4. Bake time will be a little longer since the crisp will be cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan | Vegetable Peeler | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pastry Cutter | Cooling Rack
- Apples: See blog post above for the best apples to use. An equal mix of Granny Smith and Jazz or Pink Lady is my favorite for apple crisp.
- Oats: Whole oats are best, but you can use quick oats if needed. The crumble topping will just be a little more powdery. (Don’t be tempted to reduce the flour, though– the topping may turn out greasy.) Use a 1:1 swap from whole oats to quick oats. For an oat-less topping, see blog post above.
- Nuts: Feel free to add 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts to the crisp topping. Stir into the mixture when you add the oats.
- Half Recipe: You can easily halve this recipe by halving all of the ingredients and baking in a 9-inch square or 9-inch round baking dish/pie dish. Reduce bake time to about 30-35 minutes.
Question: I’m wondering why you would put flour into this recipe when it doesn’t really need it. I think we do it because that’s how it has always been done but it doesn’t mean it is the best way. Old fashioned oats with butter and some pumpkin pie spice and demerara sugar worked together and spread on top of the apples gives a nicer flavor. Flour leaves an aftertaste that apple crisp doesn’t need.
Made this with a friend and we both loved it! We served it with whipped cream and it was delicious. I would add a bit less sugar though. Other than that great! Will make it again!
Forgot to add the stars to my comment Still love it and my husband does too
I’ve made this recipe so many times. I just use as many apples as I have and we do add nuts! I use a smaller dish but still make all the topping. Thanks so much for recipe. Love; love, love it
When you have apples and are not sure how to use them, you go to Sally’s Baking Addiction to find the perfect recipe! Oh my, it was so delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi Sally, my daughter is asking for an Apple crisp/ cobbler filling with snickerdoodle cookie crust for top. Can I use Apple crisp filing and top with snickerdoodle cookie dough?
Hi GayLynn, sounds fun! Let us know how it turns out.
How would I make this gluten free?
Hi Courtney, we haven’t tried gluten free flour here, but you can certainly try it. We also have a naturally gluten free apple crisp recipe published if you want to check that out instead.
This was absolutely delicious and easy, i made it last night for company and got rave reviews.!
Can’t wait to make this, just what I was looking for! The oven will chase off the cold (30*)
Well…YUM! Loved it. Perfectly the right amount of sweetness and spices. I pulse oatmeal in my food processor and only use 3/4 cup in the recipe since it is finer than whole oats. Still gives the good oatmeal flavor topping without the large pieces of oats crumbling off. It’s a winner.
This is definitely the most disappointing recipe I’ve used from Sally yet! I followed the recipe exactly, with the exception of adding less nutmeg since I was using fresh grated and adding some lemon zest and 1 Tbs juice to brighten flavor. The crumble topping is very dry. I feel like it has too many oats and not enough butter. It ends up being like a dry flour layer with tons of chewy oats in it instead of a crispy crumble topping I would expect. The recipe calls for way too much nutmeg and the filling has too much flour and ends up very dry and floury tasting. The flavor is overall just too sweet and spices are unbalanced. I had to cook it for over 20 mins longer than the recipe calls for to get the apples soft enough and cook the flour on the topping. I use Sally’s recipes regularly and have never been this let down by the results. I’m and avid baker so I am certain this is not a case of a novice error on my part. I cannot recommend this recipe as written!
I made this recipe with golden delicious and 3 pears, it was perfect! Turned out great cooked in a large cast iron skillet.
This is the worst apple crisp I have ever tried to eat. I followed the recipe to a tee – even tried baking it a bit longer to get the topping to crisp up – at least a little. The topping was not crispy in the least, just floury and simply inedible. A waste of time, effort and money.
I agree! Wish I would’ve read reviews first.
In all due respect, considering all the MANY 5-star reviews with glowing comments, you made a mistake with the topping…The measurements have been perfect for me every time I’ve made this recipe…My bet is that your “butter” wasn’t cold enough &/or, instead you mixed it past the very crumbly stage as the recipe instructions state…Try it again since so many of the folks who left such great reviews couldn’t all have been “wrong”…I hope you’ll try this delicious recipe again…The end result is nothing short of perfect in m/o! : )
The recipe was easy to make and tasted good, but I agree with other comments that it was too sweet. I would use less sugar next time. The nutmeg was also too strong for my taste. I would cut the amount of nutmeg in half for next time.
The recipe was easy to pull together but it required additional baking time (30 minutes more in 10 min increments) to get the apples to the right tenderness. The topping was just okay…it seemed to miss that little extra something and I just can’t put my finger on it.
So good. I prepped it a day ahead of time (everything until the bake) refrigerated/covered. I put it in the oven the next day for 50 min and it was still perfect. I was concerned with browning of the apples but that was unwarranted as they were great. Only changes were omitting nutmeg and adding a splash of sprite to the apples. I used a food scale to get everything measured.
Too sweet for my taste. I will try again with half or 3/4 the sugar. Also I will add a little lemon juice to the apples. Method was good (although I needed to bake an addition 10 minutes with my convection over at 325)
Great recipe. Tasted yummy. Used apples from my own tree. I will reduce the sugar content next time.
If I freeze the unbaked crisp, allow to thaw overnight as per directions then bake as in step 4, will the apples still be juicy? I’m concerned they will have leaked a lot of juice before they are fully frozen.
Hi Sandra, they should still be juicy, yes. Hope it turns out great!
Insanely good!!! per usual!
I looked over the reviews to see if anyone had made these substitutions, but didn’t see any. SO, I have a question: Would it be possible to use pears+cranberries (maybe some crystalized ginger) as the filling, and then just use the crisp topping? I saw your pear cranberry crumble pie, but I don’t want to mess with pie crust. I also plan to use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour. Thank you!!! I was hoping to try to make a trial version before Thanksgiving.
Hi Kelly, yes, that should be fine! Please let us know how it turns out.
I made this recipe today and it is awesome! I made it gluten-free & sugar-free. I will definitely make this again!
I often bake dessert for my Bible study group and we have an unreal number of allergies to accommodate. I made this recipe with gluten-free flour and gluten-free oats and subbed in Earth’s balance vegan putter in place of the butter. The entire group raved about it and no one could believe that it was allergy friendly. It was absolutely demolished and a week later, I am still hearing about how wonderful it was. This is a definite make again.
Very delicious! I did a vegan version, so I froze some canola oil till it was solid and used that instead of butter. Worked very well. Had to work fast because it melts quickly.
I made it and it was so delicious! Can’t wait to make it again and again!
I followed recipe and it turned out Terrible! The topping was not done oatmeal to chewy didn’t brown and the inside apples were like mush. Worst apple crisp I’ve ever made. So disappointed.