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Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: All the flavors of a delicious apple pie, but with a quick and easy oat streusel topping on top.
Texture: Perfectly gooey apples. Crispy oat crumble topping. Melty vanilla ice cream on top. This recipe is texture heaven!
Ease: Super easy and beginner-friendly.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Great for serving a crowd (or to enjoy a few days of leftovers!). And your house will smell AMAZING while this bakes.
The smell in the air while this Apple Crisp recipe bakes in the oven is intoxicating.
You really can’t beat gooey, warm, delicious apples loaded with spices and a crispy oat crumb topping.
This old-fashioned recipe is such a comforting treat in the Autumn season or the summertime!
Plus, this recipe is way easier to make than a full Apple Pie, since you don’t have to bother with preparing a pie crust.
Pair this warm with a scoop of my Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream recipe for absolute dessert perfection.
Made this to share with the family and it was absolutely wonderful! All the kids and their kids just loved it. It was not a difficult recipe, but yet it was totally made from scratch and I love the larger pan size to share with bigger family!!!!
What is Apple Crisp? How is a Crisp Different From a Cobbler?
Apple Crisp is made of apples, spices, and a crisp oat-y topping, essentially! There’s no crust or base to a crisp – just a simple streusel topping. This makes it simpler and faster to make than a pie, but you still achieve all the same wonderful fall flavors, along with a deliciously chewy, crisp topping.
Cobblers, while similar, are topped with more of a biscuit-like or cake-like topping (and sometimes the same base, too) instead of an oat-y streusel topping.
What Type of Apple is Best for Apple Crisp?
Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp have the perfect balance of sweetness to tartness and bake up beautifully. Granny Smith or Gala apples are other great options. Feel free to use a mixture of apples!
Tips for the Perfect Apple Crisp
- Slice apples evenly so they cook evenly.
- Test apple doneness with a fork, toothpick, or cake tester. Sure, you don’t want to burn or undercook your streusel topping, but you can’t just go on how the top looks for this one! Take a moment to pierce a few apples before calling the baking time – no one wants to eat a super crunchy apple in a crisp (or a super soggy one, either!).
- Adjust the spice level to your preference, and based on how FRESH your spices are. We all have a jar of allspice or cloves sitting in the back of our pantry, pulled out for just a handful of recipes every fall …. But how long has it been sitting there? Older spices carry less flavor; fresh spices will carry a LOT more flavor. So, just be aware of that, and adjust the spice level down a little if you prefer a less-spiced crisp, or if your spices are brand new, as this recipe is written to be spice-forward and based on the assumption that most spices aren’t brand new and fresh!
What Pan Should I Use for the Best Apple Crisp?
Use a 9×13-inch pan. Either a light-colored metal or glass baking dish is fine for this recipe. Ceramic works just fine for this apple crisp, too.
How to Serve Apple Crisp
- The best way to serve this Apple Crisp, in my opinion, is warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
- You can get creative with other toppings, like a drizzle of caramel sauce for an even more deliciously decadent dessert.
- Whipped cream also works well here.
Storage & Make ahead
Prep Ahead:
- Add a little extra fresh lemon juice to your sliced apples to help prevent them from turning super brown.
- Prepare the entire crisp, cover well, and refrigerate overnight.
- Bake as directed, adding 1-3 minutes to the baking time.
Fridge: Store covered for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven at 325°F for 10 minutes, or until warmed through. Also delicious cold! Note the topping will begin to soften after the first day.
Freeze: Bake it, let it cool completely, cover well with layers of plastic wrap, and freeze for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating and serving. To reheat, bake covered at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
More Apple Recipes You’ll Love:
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Ingredients
For the streusel topping:
- ¾ cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (99 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
For the filling:
- 7 to 8 fresh apples, such as Golden Delicious or Honeycrisp
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 medium lemon)
- ¼ cup (32 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (79 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Make the streusel topping:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13-inch metal or glass pan with cooking spray or butter and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together until combined. With a pastry cutter or a fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the apple filling.
Make the filling:
- Core, peel, and slice the apples into ¼ -inch to ½ -inch slices until you reach 6 cups of sliced apples, weighing 650 grams. Place in a medium-sized bowl and immediately drizzle with the lemon juice, tossing until evenly coated.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, salt, and spices (adjust to your preference*). Pour dry mixture over the apples and toss to coat, mixing until evenly distributed amongst the apples.
- Pour the apple mixture directly into the greased pan. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the apples.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the apples feel tender when pierced with a fork, and the topping is golden brown. Let the apple crisp cool for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on top.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
This is really a matter of personal preference, but I always opt to peel my apples to avoid the texture of cooked apple skins. If that texture doesn’t bother you, feel free to skip peeling the apples to save time.
Sure! Simply halve all the ingredients and bake in an 8×8-inch square pan. Reduce the baking time by a few minutes.
Yes! Feel free to add a cup of lightly toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans to the streusel topping, if desired.
I have not tested other fruits in place of apples for this recipe, so just be aware that other fruits may have different bake times, may not work with the listed spices, and may be too sweet or too liquidy for this recipe to be successful. However, I always encourage experimentation, so if you do give this recipe a try with other fruits, please let me know how it goes!
Photos by Joanie Simon.
This apple crisp was amazing! It smelled heavenly while it was baking and tasted even better!
Very tasty! Would make again.
This was sooo good!! Also literally everything I’ve made from handletheheat has been 5 stars and loved by my husband
This is the perfect Fall treat!
This was pretty good!! Next time I would do more topping, but that’s just a personal preference. My home smells amazing!
I loved this recipe. This will be my go to from now on. Easily customizable based on your apple preference. Right balance of spice and apple!
I make delicious apple crisp every fall. I wasn’t sure I needed a new go to recipe for it but Tessa and Handle the Heat did not disappoint. So much complex yet delicately balanced flavour and perfect ratio of apple filling to oatmeal crunch topping. I will definitely make this recipe again. Thank you!
One of my favorite parts about this recipe is how flippin easy it is! Peeling, coring and slicing the apples is tedious but everything else is so easy, simple and delicious. A perfect fall treat!
This recipe couldn’t be easier, and it is very tasty. The spice amounts are definitely heavier than most apple crisps I’ve had (or perhaps my spices are just extra fresh?), but that just made it even better. It also has a perfect ratio of filling to topping. I almost forgot to take a picture for the challenge because my household ate it so quickly!
The apple crisp was easy to make and was delicious. The whole family loved it!
This is the best quick and easy apple crisp. Made it for the first time on Friday and made it again on Sunday-THAT GOOD!
This apple crisp was extremely popular with those I shared it with–the flavor is amazing, and it’s actually very easy to make…the peeling and cutting of the apples was the only time consuming part.
I used Cosmic Crisp and Golden crisp apples for one half batch, and another half batch I added Elderberries to which made for an excellent and refreshing variant!