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: Sometimes we need a crowd-pleasing dessert that’s a little quicker, but just as seasonal and impressive as pie. Today’s crisp joins 30+ others in my collection of Quick Dessert Recipes—ready in 1 hour or less!
- 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.
If you’re not into an oat topping, but still want an easy, quick, and gooey apple treat, try this apple cobbler instead.
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 try apple cobbler instead.
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!
Print
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: Here are the best apples for baking. 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.
Easy to make and delicious
Everybody LOVED this recipe. I used Honeycrisp since I’m from Minnesota. Wouldn’t change a thing. Keeping the apple chunks that size was key.
I like your unique recipes eg if desired, adding chopped pecans to the apple crisp topping. And vanilla to the apple portion of the recipe. I like old fashioned recipes because they usually use common ingredients I may already have.
do i have to peel the apples?
Hi Lily, it’s a texture preference thing—if you don’t mind the peels on, feel free to leave them!
I just made this recipe for the third time. It is without question the best, most delicious apple crisp out there! Thank you Sally. Fantastic!!
Do you have nutrition info?
Hi Emily, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Can I substitute the brown sugar in the filling for white sugar? Thank you!
Hi Mary, that will work in a pinch.
Thank you Sally and crew.
I am on 5th time through the Apple Crisp recipe this fall, with the neighbors apples
Thank you again I have mad so many of your recipes and look forward to that many more
I must have done something wrong. Followed the directions exactly, though I cut everything in half. Mine came out mushy, almost like applesauce. I did like that it was overly sugary. I like to think it was almost healthy!
Hi Candace, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Was your topping overworked a bit? That can often cause the crisp to melt too much and bake into the apples rather than staying as a layer on top. Did your apples seem especially soft or mushy when cutting? Or were they cut into smaller chunks? That could also be why the apple layer seemed mushy. Let us know if we can help troubleshoot further!
If I half it can I put it in 8×8 inch pan?
Hi Jade, yes, you can.
This recipe was absolutely fantastic!! We used Ginger Gold apples and they were delicious. Not too sweet and a perfect texture. The crumble had me worried, I wasn’t convinced there would be enough but it was just the right amount!
Sally is my go-to for ANY baked deliciousness. This apple crisp was no exception. In fact, I made it for over 100 people and it was a hit! It worked much better for me if I melted the butter and added it to the topping ingredients that way instead of cutting it in. I didn’t end up with plain flour/sugar anywhere on the top of the crisp. It was easier, too!
I am planning on halving the recipe and using a 9 inch pie dish (deep dish). Making ahead and freezing. To reheat after thawing, do I follow same temp and baking time as written for full recipe?
Hi Susan, you can use the same temperature when reheating, but you won’t need to keep it in the oven quite as long. Keep a close eye on it and heat until warmed to your liking.
Can I make this recipe in ahead for someone else to bake at home? Like fix it all up on a Monday and she picks it up Tuesday and bakes it herself? My aunt has someone who takes care of her but would like to have her make this, but she doesn’t want to prep it so she asked me, but the nurse will have to pick it up early in the morning so I’ll have to make it up the night before.
Hi Mari, see recipe notes for our recommended make-ahead instructions. Hope your aunt enjoys it!
This is the second thing me I made this Apple crisp. So yummy. I get asked for the recipe now. Thanks so much.
Another superb recipe- great mingle of flavors & texture’s. Easy to make. Topped with vanilla ice cream. Thank you Sally. Delicious
Hi Sally I have used several of your different crisp recipes and they are all very good Have you ever made them in half pint jars and baked them in it and then freeze them.
Hi Jeff, glad you enjoy this recipe. No I haven’t tried that, but I’m sure it would work. I’m unsure of the best bake time.
Have you used this with frozen apples? I have a lot of apples I froze last summer and need to use them.
Hi Laura, We haven’t tested this with frozen apples. Fresh fruit is best, but for best results with frozen, thaw the fruit first. Blot dry as much as you can before using in the filling. Let us know if you give it a try!
Delicious apple crisp! Added walnuts on top. Another keeper.
I like to leave the peel on because that’s where the nutrients are — will this recipe still turn out alright with the peel on? I find in pies it seems to be an optional texture choice….
Yes, you can leave the peels on; it’s just a texture/preference thing!
I made this recipe today. It is delicious. I halved the recipe and made it with granny smith and honey crisp apples.. Perfect blend of tart and sweet. I did have to cook it longer than recommended but as I said it was delicious. I served it warm with vanilla ice cream.
Thank you Sally for another great recipe.
The topping came out pretty powdery. Even bought rolled outs to avoid that. Still tastes good but not sure why it didn’t get crisp
Danica, did you cut in the butter? It uses a full stick and needs to be cut into the oat topping. It sounds like that may have been the issue. This recipe comes out great as followed so I would suggest trying it again.
I have a question! Would this recipe work if I substituted oat flour (just homemade by running oats through my food processor) where the recipe calls for flour? It would end up being a cup of oat flour between the filling and topping, not sure if it would come out too… Oat-y?
Hi Tiffany, we haven’t tested it ourselves, but we fear it may be a bit too dry. Oat flour has very different baking properties than all purpose flour and isn’t necessarily a 1:1 swap, so it would take some testing to get just right. If you’re interested, we do have this gluten free apple crisp, which uses almond flour/meal instead of all-purpose flour. Let us know if you give it a try!
Great recipe, served to friends last evening.
What to do to recipe to have more juice after baking? Different apples? Maybe cook on stove top with a little water & cinnamon?
Hi Dave, we’re so glad it was a hit! The filling should be quite juicy—was yours overbaked by chance? You could definitely try reducing your bake time a bit, a different type of apple, or cooking over the stovetop as mentioned.
You can reduce the flour in the filling to 1-2 tbsp and add up to 3 tbsp water
What can you substitute the sugar with? Honey?
Hi Janet, we don’t recommend using a liquid sweetener in place of the brown sugar here. Best to stick with brown sugar for best results!
Hi Sally. I have to make mine dairy-free for our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner in October. What’s your opinion on either using Becel margarine or the dairy-free “butter” products out there now. And, should I melt it in this case? I did a peach crumble the other day (not yours) and the crumb was not great. It didn’t cut in well. Would appreciate your advice. Love your site. Especially the weighing options. Thank you.
Hi Kelly, we don’t recommend margarine, but you could certainly try plant-based butter. We recommend keeping it cold—do not melt. Hope you enjoy it!
Very good. Thought the nutmeg would be too much, but it cooked down. Overall, though, it was way too sweet. We even doubled the apple part and 1 1/3rded the topping and still too sweet. (Used two pans.) Will definitely make again, but will taper down the sugar.
Hi Sally, I want to make this for a getaway weekend with friends. I am wondering if I can prepare the apples and freeze them. I will then finish prep and baking 3 days later. Do you think this will work?
Hi Denise, that should be fine! You can also freeze the whole unbaked crisp. 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.
Tried this last night and it was great! I didn’t adjust any of the ingredients but since I’m at high altitude I added 1/3 cup apple juice to the base and increased temperature to 375. I started checking at 1 hour and it was done at 90 minutes.
I have tried several of your recipes. I have also tried several apple crisp recipes. This one might be the new favorite in my family. We have never had it with the cubed apples and we really liked it this way. Thank you for giving me my new favorite apple crisp just in time for the season.