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.
- 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 round baking dish. Reduce bake time to about 30-35 minutes.
Keywords: apple crisp
I just made an apple crisp with the vanilla as you suggested- sliced the apples without peeling and tossed with 1/2 cup flour, cinnamon, ginger, & nutmeg & 1/2 cup white wine. The topping was a combination of wheat, almond, and white flour with the oats,etc. Delicious.
Looks divine. Will make this weekend. Wondering why there is no lemon juice? I believe that the gluten-free version has it.
You can certainly add lemon juice if desired!
I was thinking of adding berries to this……blackberries and/or maybe raspberries ….with the apples. Does that sound okay? What proportions would I use?
Hi Wendy, you could swap some of the apples for another favorite berry. Keep in mind that raspberries in particular can be very wet, so we’d use a smaller proportion of those (keeping the bulk of the recipe apples) and that bake time may vary. Let us know what you decide to try!
Can I use honey crisp apples in this recipe? Would I cut this recipe in half if using a 7×11 pan?
Hi Bob! Yes, Honeycrisp apples work here. You would need about 2/3 of this recipe for that pan.
The apple crisp is delicious. However my topping always sinks into the filling. How can I prevent this? Anita
Hi Anita, be careful not to overwork the topping mixture, which can make the butter too warm and cause it to melt/sink into the filling. You’ll want the topping to be super crumbly. We’re glad you enjoyed it!
Can I make this recipe Vegan?
Hi Urvashi, we haven’t tested a vegan version, but let us know if you do any experimenting.
Hi Lexi – there was a question about making this recipe vegan. We use Earth Balance Vegan Sticks in place of butter and it is delicious! (My husband has a severe dairy allergy).
Fantastic recipe! This will be my go to for apple crisp in the future. I didn’t change a thing and it came out perfectly!
★★★★★
I’m not sure why but the topping didn’t turn out crispy at all. I’m not sure where I went wrong. I love all of Sally’s recipes so I’m sure it was probably something I did but I can’t figure out what. Any ideas?
Hi Chandler, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like your topping may have been a bit overworked, causing it to melt and lose its crispness. Less is more when it comes to combining the topping–let the mixture be messy, crumbly, and coarse. Hope this helps for next time!
I love this recipe. I’ve made both peach and apple pies with your topping! Thank you for sharing.
I did not have brown sugar and didn’t realize it until I was already mixing it, so I used honey. That made my crumble not exactly crumbly. I also have the quick oats, so it’s a somewhat “powdery” consistency. Finally, the apples aren’t bubbling and not exactly much juice. I don’t know how to make it better…? 🙁
★★★★
Hi Cj, the results will differ if there are substitutions. I don’t recommend subbing liquid sweetener for the brown sugar. For the filling, it may not have been cooked long enough. Though I’m not sure of the bake time with a different topping and sugar. If you try the recipe again, I recommend brown sugar and whole oats.
Good but really, really sweet. Less sugar in either the filling or the topping, or both!
★★★
Very yummy and well flavored! I only had two apples on hand so made a smaller version of this. Worked well!
★★★★★
As I love having nuts in my desserts to give them a bit of complexity, I followed your tip and added a cup of chopped walnuts to the topping. I was also encouraged to add more cinnamon to the body, and I’ve marked that addition on my copy for the next time. However, your prep time of 15 minutes does not include the time to peel and chop 8 apples (15 minutes alone for this task), which seems somewhat disingenuous, as who has chopped and peeled apples at the ready. I will just have to increase the prep time to include this added step. Still a great tasting recipe which will be a go-to dessert.
I loved this recipe. I used my canned apples that I canned last fall sprinkled some cinnamon on top of the apples and made the topping as written. Delicious! Definitely will make this again!
Outstanding recipe. I have made this many times and it’s always perfectly spiced and delicious. Great dessert to bring for a gathering with small children.
★★★★★
You could easily cut the sugar I. Half. Way too sweet.
Can I increase the recipe by half and still fit it in the 8 x 13 pan?
Hi Laurie! Are you looking for a thicker apple crisp? We can’t see why not, though, the bake time will be longer. Let us know what you try!
I need to make enough for 10-12 people. This seemed easier than making 2 of them. Thanks!
Great recipe! Made this in a 12″ skillet as I wanted leftovers–and didn’t have a baking pan. Used 1600grams of apples to use them all up and it ended up as 80% Granny Smith and 20% Fuji. I did have about 3T of lemon juice in the apples to prevent browning, and it added some tartness, which I liked a lot. The sweeter Fujis broke down and the Granny Smith stayed chunky, which I thought added a great contrast to the dish.It was not too sweet with all these apples either. Didn’t have nutmeg as I wasn’t in my own kitchen and frankly I don’t think I missed it. No pastry blender here to cut in the butter for the topping so I just melted it. I was able to see the apples under the crisp, so fewer apples in a smaller pan would give a more solid top. All that being said, this recipe is a definite keeper and I’ll be making it again.
★★★★★
I’m trying to make this a vegan recipe which really just means using plant-based butter. Have you tried this before? Anything else you think would need to be adjusted? If I can only find salted plant-based butter, should I omit the salt in the filling? THANKS!
Hi Jeannette, we haven’t tested it with plant-based butter but imagine that should work just fine. If using salted butter, you can leave out the added salt in the topping. Enjoy!
I just made it using coconut oil in place of the butter and it was exquisite!!
Delicious! I used 10 cups of unpeeled, diced apples, plus one peeled quince. For the topping, I placed the dry ingredients in a food processor, pulsing a few times. Then I added the cold butter cubes one at a time, pulsing after each addition. A few more pulses, and it was nice and crumbly. Next I poured it all in the same bowl I had used for the apples, and mixed in the oats. I’m getting too old to peel and not use a food processor when I can. Next time I want to cut sugar amounts by half. I think it will be just as good.
★★★★★
This was delicious! Perfect texture, very flavorful. My family rated it 10/10 and my son said it could be served in a restaurant! Thank you.
★★★★★
I’m not sure what happened, but this was tasteless. I used a mix of Granny Smith with a few Honeycrisp. I bake a a lot and have made many types of crisps and pies, this just didn’t cut it.
★
8 apples was way too many and I didn’t realize it until I already had everything mixed up. This meant that I had to spread it between 2 baking dishes and the other ingredients topping were thin. If the apples are large- I would only use 4 total. I remember this happening when I made your apple pie last year. I didn’t use all of the apples. A frustrating mistake to make on Thanksgiving day.
Hi Alison, it sounds like your apples may have been on the larger side. If you decide to try this recipe again in the future, you’ll want about 10 cups, or 1200g, of apple chunks. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
I made this for the first time..and it came out super dry. Not sure why. How do I fix this?
Hi Amanda, how did you measure your flour in the crisp topping? Be sure to spoon and level (or use weight measurements), otherwise too much flour could try out the topping. Over baking can also make the crisp a bit dry. Thank you for giving this one a try!
Can you make the apple filling a day or two ahead and refrigerate?
Hi Kathy! See recipe notes for our recommended make ahead instructions – you can assemble the crisp ahead of time. Enjoy!
This was a wonderful recipe! I had never seen a recipe that added vanilla extract before but it made a big difference. This is my new standard, just as is…
★★★★★
Best apple crisp recipe ive made yet! love the apple texture
★★★★★
Hi, I only have quick 1 minute oats…will these be okay?
Hi Lynette, whole oats are best, but you can use quick oats if needed. The crumble topping will just be a little more powdery.
Can you make this recipe in a healthy version? Thanks Sandy
Hi Sandy, you may enjoy our gluten-free apple crisp recipe. It uses a bit less sugar than this classic version.
I loved this! I added coconut sugar, almond flour and gluten free oatmeal. It was delicious.
I’m testing some new recipes for the holidays. This was easy and delicious. We are only a family of 5 so I cut the recipe in half. I also made the salted caramel to serve over vanilla ice cream. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing.