Apple crisp is the best fall dessert recipe. Our secret is pre-cooking the apple pie filling along with a delicious oat crumb topping.
Old-fashioned apple crisp is a reader favorite. This delicious fall dessert uses simple ingredients – ready in 60-minutes.
Apple season requires homemade apple crisp filled with cinnamon coated apples and an oat crumb topping. This easy dessert takes half the time of making an apple pie from scratch, uses simple pantry ingredients and a crowd-pleaser.
For more great fall recipes, be sure and try our apple pie recipe, fried apple pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin crumb muffins, chocolate zucchini bread, and banana zucchini bread.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
- Uses simple ingredients – readily available at your local grocery store.
- Cook the apple filling – Cook ahead of time and refrigerate overnight. Assemble and bake the next day.
- Easy homemade dessert – This easy Thanksgiving dessert is easy to make.
- Prep ahead of time – Can be made ahead of time and served the next day.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Apples – Use whatever type of apples you prefer. Our favorites are Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, SugarBee, Macoun, or McIntosh.
- Lemon juice – Helps keep apples fresh and stop them from turning brown.
- All-purpose flour –
- Old-fashioned rolled oats –
- Brown sugar – Sweetens the crumb topping
- Granulated maple sugar – Maple sugar is the granular form of pure maple syrup.
- Salt – Always added to baking recipes to enhance flavors.
- Ground cinnamon & nutmeg
- Unsalted butter – Let’s you control the amount of salt in your baked goods.
Granulated maple sugar adds a unique flavor to apple crisp. It’s available locally throughout New England and New York or online.
Granulated maple sugar is the granulated maple form of pure maple syrup. It’s a little expensive, but will last for several years on pantry shelves. We love sprinkling maple sugar on bacon before baking in the oven.
The best baking apples
There are many varieties of apples to choose from for apple pie and apple crisp. Below are a few of our favorites.
- Granny Smith – Granny Smith apples have a tart and tangy flavor, along with firmness. They are also readily available in most grocery stores.
- Macoun – A variety native to New England and perfect for pie. It’s a cross between the ‘McIntosh’ and ‘Jersey Black’ cultivars. Sweet, slightly tart and perfect for pie.
- McIntosh – This apple is sweet and tart. It also tends to break down when it cooks.
- Honeycrisp – This apple is sweet, firm, and great apple flavor. This combination of flavor and texture makes it a great choice for pie.
How to make Apple Crisp
- Make crumb topping – Combine the flour, brown sugar, maple sugar, rolled oats, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Combine all of the ingredients well. Set aside.
- Prepare apples – Peel the apples, core, cut into slices, and toss in lemon juice.
- Prep baking pan – Spray a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet with cooking spray. Or, if you prefer you can use a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Assemble crisp – Spread the apple slices in the bottom of the skillet. Cover with apple crisp topping.
- Place on half sheet pan – Place the cast iron skillet or baking dish on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. This will help catch any juices that overflow.
- Cover & bake – Cover the skillet or baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 60 minutes.
I love apples and simple to make desserts. This one is one of our family’s favorites! Perfect for Thanksgiving, potlucks or any occasion.
Use whatever apple variety you prefer. I used McIntosh and Gala apples for this apple crisp recipe. This dessert is as simple as it gets. But, who doesn’t love warm apples dusted with cinnamon, nutmeg, and topped with an oatmeal crumble topping?!
Recipe FAQs
I think it’s a personal choice. My family prefer the apples to be peeled. But, you’re welcome to leave the apple skins on.
A crisp is a baked fruit dessert topped with a crisp layer of cinnamon topping. Apple crumble is similar to apple crisp, however does not generally contain oatmeal or nuts in the topping.
We love using Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Macoun and McIntosh apple varieties for apple crisp or apple crumble. They are crisp and tart and hold up nicely with this apple recipe.
I wish you could smell this warm apple crisp! It’s so delicious and the perfect fall dessert. It’s probably one of the easiest fall desserts to make!
More Fall Recipes
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Apple Hand Pies
- Apple Fritters
- Caramel Apple Pie
- Caramel Apples
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Pumpkin Waffles
Did you make one of my recipes? Please take a moment to leave a star rating. Also, if you are on Pinterest, please feel free to leave a comment there! Follow A Farmgirl’s Kitchen on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and YouTube and subscribe my mailing list for ALL the latest recipes!
Apple Crisp
Ingredients
Apple crisp topping
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated maple sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Apple pie filling
- 8-10 large apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
- ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
Instructions
Crisp topping
- In a large bowl, use your hands or a spoon to combine the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, maple sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter. Combine well. Set aside
Apple pie filling
- Peel, core and slice the apples.
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the apple slices and lemon juice. Stir with a wooden spoon occasionally, making sure they do not burn.
- Dissolve the cornstarch in about ¼ cup of cold water. Stir to combine.
- Cook the apples over medium heat until they are slightly softened, 12-15 minutes. You do not want to fully cook them, as they will continue to cook as the crisp bakes.
- Pour in the cornstarch mixture once they are almost done and let cook to thicken the apples and juice. Cornstarch needs brought to a brief simmer in order to properly thicken.
- Remove from the heat. Cool and refrigerate overnight if desired.
Assemble apple crisp
- Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish or 10-12 inch cast iron skillet. (or 9×13-inch cast iron baking pan)
- Spread the apple filling in the bottom of the skillet or baking dish. Cover with apple crisp topping.
- Cover baking dish or skillet with aluminum foil.
- Place the baking dish or skillet on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. This will help catch any juices that overflow.
- Bake in a preheated 375-degrees F oven for 50-60 minutes.
- Towards the very end of the baking process, maybe the last 10 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and let crisp up the top. The apple filling should be bubbling up around the edges.
- Remove from the oven when apple juices are bubbling up around the edges. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: As an Affiliate Marketer, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click a product affiliate link on A Farmgirl’s Kitchen and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you! I own every cooking product I recommend and love how they perform.
Stacey says
This was the best crisp I’ve ever made!
Jessica Robinson says
Thrilled to hear that!
Noreen says
Just came across your recipe and it sounds delicious. Will it be okay to omit the granulated maple sugar?
I’m making it for a birthday this weekend and I haven’t been able to find it local.
Thanks
Noreen
Jessica Robinson says
Hello Noreen,
You can substitute the granulated maple sugar for regular white sugar. There should be a link for you to order it on Amazon in the post. It’s something we use in our kitchen all the time! Depending on what state you are located in, I can try to help you find it locally too.
Noreen says
Thanks for getting back to me. I am in Ohio and will search a little more for the granulated maple sugar but time crunch to make it this weekend for my sister in-laws birthday. I can’t wait to try this tonight.
Jessica Robinson says
Hello Noreen,
Granulated maple sugar is available at a bunch of sugar houses or apple orchards. Or it can be ordered online from large sugar houses. Let me know if you need resources.
Karen Swan says
I’d love to try your apple crisp, but I’ve read the recipe twice and don’t see oatmeal in the list of ingredients. How much oatmeal is required and is it quick or old fashioned oatmeal? Thank you!
Jessica Robinson says
Karen,
Thanks for noticing this! I’ve adjusted the recipe ingredients and instructions to include the oatmeal. You want to use old-fashioned rolled oats in this recipe.
Laura says
Apple Crisp is one of my all-time favorite desserts. I can’t wait to try this in my cast iron pan.
Jessica Robinson says
So glad you enjoyed this one!
Marilyn says
Do you have a recipe for the caramel sauce somewhere that you could link to in this recipe?
Jessica Robinson says
Yes! Just search for caramel apples on my site and you’ll find the caramel. Or look at the caramel apple pie recipe.
Jamie says
Made this for dessert and my whole family loved it! It was gone within minutes. The top was perfectly crispy and the apples were tender and soft!
Jessica Robinson says
Thank you so much Jamie! Glad you loved it!~
Ashley says
Just wonderful!! This was the perfect way to use all the apples we’ve been picking!
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks Ashley!
Erin says
This looks amazing!
Is there something else I could use in place of butter?
Jessica Robinson says
Hello Erin,
I’m not sure what you would normally substitute butter with in recipes you make. It’s possible you can use margarine. We definitely prefer real butter in our recipes. But, if you have a food allergy, you can use something else.
Candice says
One of my favorite desserts of all time, and this is the perfect recipe! Thanks for all the step by step photos… made it so easy to make. Yum!
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks so much Candice!
Lisa Hatfield says
I love apple crisp!!! 🍎🍎🍎 This looks amazing Jessica!!!
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks so much Lisa!
Lizet Bowen says
This is my favorite American dessert. 15 years ago some friends made it for us. Delicious! super excited to use your recipe!
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks so much Lizet! Glad it brought back good memories!
Anita says
This is a timely recipe since it’s apple season now. I love that you are using a cast iron skillet to bake this, and the nutmeg is something I must try.
Jessica Robinson says
Thank you so much Anita! Hope you love this apple crisp!