EASY Apple Crisp Recipe

Overhead bowl of apple crisp with scoop of vanilla ice cream

5 from 5 votes

This easy Apple Crisp recipe is the ideal fall dessert! Fresh apples coated in sugar, piled high with a cinnamon oat crumble topping, and baked to golden brown perfection. Finish it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a classic dessert in only 15 minutes of hands-on time.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 465kcal

Author: Borrowed Bites

Ingredients

5 Granny Smith apples
2-4 tablespoon sugar depending on desired sweetness
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup walnuts optional
½ cup (1 stick) butter cold

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x9 or 8x8 baking pan with baking spray.
Peel the apples with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Cut them in half, remove the core with a "V" cut, then cut each quarter into 3 slices. Toss apple slices with sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.
Put oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and walnuts (is using) in a food processor. Cut cold butter into ½ inch chunks and scatter on top. Combine ingredients with 6-8 1 second pulses, or until mixture is crumbly and forms large crumbs when pinched with fingers. Don't overpulse.
Pour apples into prepared pan. Sprinkle crumble topping evenly over the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crisp is golden brown and bubbling on the edges.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Notes

Cut the apples the correct size. Too big = crunchy apples. Too small = disintegrated apples. I peel my apples, cut them in half, remove the core with a “V” cut, then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. As a side note, I find that the apple peeler/corer/slicer machines slice the apples too thin for a crisp, so I recommend slicing them by hand.
Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not instant oats. Instant oats will cook too fast and turn mushy instead of crispy.
Don’t overprocess the crumb topping. You want it to form big crumbs. If you pulse it too many times, it will become more like sand texture than crumb texture.
Serve fresh. Apple crisp is at its finest when it first comes out of the oven. For the very best experience, I recommend serving it fresh.

Freezing Options:

Prepare the crisp and freeze it in the pan ready to go. Bake it straight from frozen, adding an additional 8-10 minutes of baking time.
Prepare the sugared apples and freeze in a zipper bag. Then prepare the crumb topping and freeze in a separate zipper bag. Assemble and bake when ready. (You may need to slightly thaw the apples to spread them evenly in the pan, but no need to thaw thoroughly.
If you are already making a crisp, why not double the topping and freeze the second batch? Next time you want a crisp, all you have to do is cut the apples and assemble.

Storing Instructions:

Store your apple crisp in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Apple crisp should definitely be refrigerated to ensure it doesn’t go bad.

Nutrition