Julie Clark
Updated:
Easy Apple Crisp (The Best Apples Plus a Crunchy Oat Top)
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Easy apple crisp is a baked dessert of tender, cinnamon spiced apples under a crunchy oat streusel topping. For the best texture, use firm baking apples like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp. Peel and slice them thin, then bake at 350ºF for about 35 minutes.
This is the apple crisp recipe I’ve made since I was married over 28 years ago. It was called Amish Apple Goodie in an Amish cookbook I got at my wedding shower. It is still my go to because it takes just one bowl and and makes your home smell like fall.
See our other green apple desserts, cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling and tomato soup cake.
What are the best apples to use for apple crisp?
The best apples for apple crisp are firm, tart baking apples that hold their shape in the oven. Granny Smith is my top pick because they never cook down to mush and have the perfect blend of sweet and tart flavor.
Can you use Honeycrisp for apple crisp? Yes, and they hold their shape well. They have a honey-sweet flavor so are great when paired with a tart apple.
Good baking apples for crisp: Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Jonagold, Braeburn
Apples to avoid: Red Delicious and McIntosh. They can become mushy during baking.
Is apple crisp the same as apple crumble?
Apple crisp and apple crumble are nearly the same because they are spiced apples baked under streusel. A crisp has oat in the topping for extra crunch, while a crumble is often simply flour, butter and sugar.
I use this same crumb topping on our peach crisp, strawberry crisp and pumpkin crisp recipe.
How to Make Easy Apple Crisp
The first step to making apple crisp is to peel the apples. Do you have to peel the apples? Not necessarily, but the skins may loosen during baking and give your crisp a weird texture. We recommend peeling the apples.
How to Peel Apples Quickly
If you don’t have an apple peeler hand-crank machine, you’re going to want to get one. It makes apple desserts so much less of a hassle to make. It took us literally about 1-2 minutes to peel, core and slice our 4 Granny Smith apples with our handy peeler.
Another time saver? You can mix the streusel in the same bowl that you mix the apples in, leaving only one dirty dish for you to wash.
How do you make apple crisp topping?
It’s important to start with cold butter when you are making apple crumble topping. Make sure the butter is refrigerated…or you can even pop it into the freezer for a few minutes to ensure it is really cold.
Whisk together the sugar, flour, oats, baking soda and powder. Then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients to get coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle over the top of the apples and bake! Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. I’m pretty sure it will be one of your new fall favorites!
Can you make apple crisp ahead of time?
Yes, you can make apple crisp ahead of time. For the best crunch, store the apple filling and oat streusel separately, then assemble and bake fresh.
Keep the topping in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
My apple filling does not call for lemon juice so if making ahead, squeeze a small amount of lemon juice with the apples to prevent them from browning.
Can you freeze apple crisp?
Yes. Freeze it baked and fully cooled in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat single servings in the microwave. Or you can reheat the whole pan from frozen. Bake in a 350ºF oven until warmed through and bubbling. This will help get the crunch back!
You’ll also love our slow cooker apple crisp and caramel apple dump cake!
Easy Apple Crisp with Crunchy Oat Topping
The apple crisp my family has made for 16 years. Learn which apples hold their shape, how to keep it from getting soggy, and get a crunchy oat top.
Servings 9
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 4 cups Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and sliced
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup cold butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray.
- Place the peeled and sliced apples in a medium-size bowl. Sprinkle the sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon over the apples and mix. 4 cups Granny Smith apples, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour the apple filling into the prepared pan.
- Using the same bowl that you mixed the apples in, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, soda and baking powder. ½ cup old-fashioned oats, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder,
- Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. ¼ cup cold butter
- Sprinkle the oat streusel on top of the apple mixture and pat it down firmly.
- Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until it is golden brown. Serve with milk or ice cream.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 9, with 1 serving being 1/9 of the crisp. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 144mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 190IU | Vitamin C: 2.6mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Splenda instead of sugar?
You can use Splenda or monk fruit to sweetened the apples which will cut down on calories. For the topping, we recommend the Splenda brown sugar blend.
Can I use instant oatmeal instead of old fashioned oats?
Yes, the streusel topping will just have a different texture.
Can I use pears instead of apples?
Yes! We’ve used pears and peaches for this recipe.
Can I add nuts?
Yes. You can add pecans or walnuts.
Can I make this in a pie plate with a pie crust to be an Apple Crumble Pie?
Yes! That would be a great idea.
Do you have to refrigerate apple crisp?
We’ve let this sit out overnight, but if you are going to keep it longer than that, I recommend refrigerating.
Made this today, it is amazing! Easy to prepare, ingredients that are already in your kitchen and tastes fantastic.
I just tried this recipe today! I love it so much! My first time baking with fresh fruit. This was so tasty! Will make it again
Can you use regular flour instead of plain and just leave out the baking soda and baking powder?
Incredible! Such a simple recipe and an absolute crowd pleaser, everyone that has tried it is obsessed with it and wants me to make it again!!
food turned out great but separating the ingredient list by apple filling and streusel topping would have been extremely more clear than what’s currently written. Alternatively, notating which flour amount in the instructions would suffice.
fyi 1/2 cup of flour in the apple filling still works it’s just gonna be thicker.
The absolute best apple crisp.
I bake for 55 min, never seemed done at 35. I also add 1 can Hatch Diced Green Chilis mild. My grandmothers were Amish, chilis were not in their Apple Goodie!