Our easy Apple Crisp Recipe is a classic dessert loaded with freshly sliced apples and topped with a crunchy, crispy, buttery cinnamon oat topping.
It’s just as irresistible as our Apple Pie, but it’s so simple and quick to make. Top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to see why it’s the best apple crisp recipe.
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Easy Apple Crisp Recipe
We love all things Autumn, which also means we love apple recipes. From Apple Fritter Rings, to Apple Turnovers, and Apple Cake, sweetened with crisp apple slices, we can’t get enough! If you love apple season as much as we do, this recipe is a must-try.
Every year we go apple picking in my parent’s yard. They have 4 apple trees that really produce so we like to get creative with those apples to capture the season. This recipe is on our regular rotation in Fall because it calls for a generous amount of apples. Here’s why it’s our go-to dessert:
- Quick and easy to make, especially if you use an apple peeler
- Family-approved – watch their eyes light up when you add vanilla ice cream.
- Make-ahead – keeps well and reheats beautifully
- Scales up or down to fit your gathering and perfect for the holidays
Apple Crisp Video Tutorial
Watch Natasha make this easy apple crisp recipe, and see her secret for peeling and slicing apples. It’s the perfect recipe for apple season, which is any time of the year in our home!
Apple Crisp Ingredients
Apple Crisp is all about the experience—the smell of Fall spices, the crunchy topping, and the warm, gooey filling. Here are the simple ingredients that make this incredible dessert:
- Apples – we used golden delicious apples, but any crisp apple would work well (see list of options below)
- Lemon juice – keeps the apples from browning and adds flavor and acid to balance out the sweetness
- Sugar – adjust to taste depending on how tart your apples are
- Flour – helps to thicken the filling. You can substitute with cornstarch for a gluten-free apple crisp.
- Cinnamon – our favorite complimentary spice for apple recipes
Apple Crisp Topping Ingredients
- Flour – bonds the crumb together, feel free to use your favorite gluten-free flour
- Oats – use old-fashioned oats to make the crisp topping, make sure to buy gluten-free, if needed
- Sugar – we combine brown sugar and granulated sugar for a sweet caramel-like filling
- Cinnamon – compliments the apple filling
- Salt – balances the sweetness
- Butter – use unsalted, softened butter.
Substitutions
This will become your go-to recipe, so try these variations.
- Nuts – add chopped nuts to your streusel topping
- Caramel Sauce drizzled over the top just before serving
- Cranberries – substitute 1 1/2 cups of apples for fresh or dried cranberries and add more sugar if using fresh cranberries
- Spices – add a pinch of cloves, nutmeg, or even candied ginger
Which Apples are Best for Apple Crisp?
Select firm and crisp apples so they won’t get mushy in the oven. Apples vary a ton in sweetness so adjust sugar accordingly. We used Golden Delicious here with 3/4 cup of sugar, but if you use Granny Smith Apples, increase the sugar to 1 cup or add it to taste.
You can use an assortment of apples. For instance, combine sweet and tart apples for a different flavor. Here are our favorite apples for baking:
- Golden Delicious
- Granny Smith
- Fuji
- Honeycrisp
- Jonagold
- Braeburn
- Pink Lady
How to Make Apple Crisp
Slice, mix, dump, bake—see how easy it is to make this classic recipe:
- Prep – Butter a 9×13 casserole dish, preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Cut Apples – peel, core, and slice apples into 1/4″- thick pieces (an apple peeler makes it easy), then transfer to a bowl, and toss with 2 Tbsp lemon juice.
- Coat Apples – in a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon then sprinkle over apples and stir to coat. Transfer to buttered casserole dish.
- Topping – In a mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, both sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Add diced softened butter and use your hands to stir in the butter until pea-sized crumbs form throughout. Then, spread the topping evenly over your apples.
- Bake – place on the center rack in the oven and bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes until bubbling at the edges. If the top is browning too quickly, loosely cover the dish with aluminum foil until the apples are bubbling.
Pro Tip
If you want to keep your hands clean, you can mix the topping in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until pea-sized crumbs form. Be sure not to overmix, because you want the topping to be crumbly, not dough-like.
Common Questions
We often use the terms interchangeably, and the ingredients are very similar, but technically speaking, an apple crisp has a crunchy oat-based topping, while an apple crumble has a sandier texture since it is flour-based. Apple Cobbler has a biscuit or cake-like topping.
Yes, you can replace the flour in the apple filling with cornstarch and then replace the flour in the topping with 1 to 1 gluten-free flour or flour substitute.
Using an apple peeler is a major time saver. It will peel, core, and slice your apples in seconds.
Sure! Put the apple crisp filling in the slow cooker, and top with the streusel. Before closing the lid, place a paper towel on the slow cooker bowl first to catch any condensation. Cook until bubbly, on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-7 hours.
We use old-fashioned oats because they crisp up perfectly as the apples bake. Quick oats are cut into small pieces, so the topping will have a finer texture and not be as crunchy. Avoid steel-cut oats since they won’t cook in time.
How to Serve Apple Crisp
The best way to serve apple crisp is warm, topped with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. You can try topping it with caramel sauce, greek yogurt, or whipped cream as well.
There’s nothing like pulling an apple dessert out of the oven to draw everyone into the kitchen. Who can resist the sweet aroma of a baked Apple Crisp?
Make-Ahead
- Room Temperature – store apple crisp covered on the counter for a day but refrigerate leftovers beyond that.
- To Refrigerate – once apple crisp is at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-5 days.
- To Reheat – apple crisp is best served warm. You can reheat the chilled crisp in the microwave just until heated through or reheat in the oven at 350˚F for about 15 minutes.
More Autumn Desserts
These autumn dessert recipes always hit the spot when we’re craving those sweet, spicy, and comforting flavors of fall.
- Pumpkin Pie Recipe
- Banana Bread
- Stuffed Baked Pears
- Pumpkin Bread
- Baked Apples
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Apple Crisp Recipe
Ingredients
For the Apple Crisp Filling:
- 4 lbs firm-crisp apples, 11-12 medium apples*
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, or to taste**
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the Crumb Topping:
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, or 16 Tbsp or 2 sticks (room temperature), plus more to butter pan
- 1 cup rolled oats, or old fashioned oats
Instructions
- Prep: Generously Butter a 9×13 casserole dish with 1/2 Tbsp butter. Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Peel core and thinly slice apples to 1/4’ thickness. You should have 12 cups of sliced apples. Squeeze 2 Tbsp lemon juice over the apples and toss to coat.
- In a separate bowl, stir together 3/4 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp flour, and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon then sprinkle mixture over apples and toss to combine. Transfer apples into the buttered casserole dish.
- Make the topping – in a large bowl, use your hands to stir together flour, oats, brown and granulated sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Add the diced butter and work it into the mixture with your hands until pea-sized crumbs form throughout. Spread topping over apples.
- Bake at 375˚F for 45-50 minutes or until the topping is golden and crisp and apples are bubbling at the edges. The center should register above 175˚F.
Notes
**Use 1 cup sugar or add to taste for tart apples such as Granny Smith.
I am 75 years old and until today had never made an Apple, peach, or cherry crumble that had the right amount of crunch while being flavorful and tender. I followed your topping recipe, using two cans of good grade cherry pie filling, but no other changes. It turned out WONDERFUL, thank you!
Hi Bruce! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the feedback.
I hope i’m in the right place. I have made many of your baking recipes. I love the videos to follow a long with. I made the apple crust this morning. And I bought the apple peeler slicer corner. It is absolutely fabulous I would recommend it to everybody. When I made the apple Christ, it didn’t fall out of the Pan. Like yours like you could shake it out. It was almost like cookie dough. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I fled it out like pancakes and laid in across the top and cooked it. Anyway, and I’m sure it will taste delicious. I just took it out of the oven.. But i’m looking at the video in it looks like there are two little things a butter, the half sizes that they have come out with. But 16 tbsp and one cup are 2 of the large ones. I did used to of the regular larger buttersticks, so I’m wondering. Is it the large butter sticks or is it the 2 small ones that look sly you’re using in the video? I am sure many have done it. And it came out just fine. But I showed it to my husband and he thought it looked like a little ones too. But 16 tbsp and one cup is 2 of the big ones. So if you know what I may have done wrong it would be great to know so I could do it right the next time. Thanks for all of your Recipes. I did not know that you had a book that came out in 2023 I will definitely be looking into that and getting that.
Thank you again for all the great recipes and your spunk in the videos..
Always a follower
Hi Jeanette! I’m sorry to hear it didn’t turn out great. 1 cup of butter is correct (16 tbsp). Each stick is about 113g. I would verify your sticks were the same size. It shouldn’t be thick like cookie dough unless the ratios or off. Did you possibly use too much flour? Please watch my tutorial on How to measure ingredients , you’ll want to measure your flour on a food scale or follow the instructions I provide in the tutorial for the most accurate measurements.
I hope that helps for next time. Thank you for being a loyal follower. I appreciate the love and support.
Can I assemble the dish early and then cook it in about 3 hours? It is now 2:30 and I want put it in the above around 5:30 to have it ready after we eat our supper. Will the time sitting affect the topping by making it turn soggy sitting on the apple mixture? Thanks!
Hi Lorie! I have not tested that, but I worry the topping may get soggy. See my note above for reheating instructions under the “make-ahead” section. Also- in the common questions notes above, I have instructions for a slow-cooker option which may work best for you if you have one.
This recipe was perfect, I wouldn’t modify anything. I forgot to set the oven timer (oops!) and especially appreciated you including the indicators of doneness at the end. This was a huge hit!
You’re very welcome, Lena! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Hi Natasha, I just made this recipe for the first time. Absolutely delish! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Donna! That’s wonderful to hear. Thank you!
Hello Natasha! I was wondering if I use half honey crisp and half Granny Smith apples, should I just do 3/4 cup of sugar still? Thank you in advance!
Hi Anne! That should be fine. You can add more or less sugar to your preference.
I followed you recipe step by step. My topping on my apple crisp is like a clump. What happened.
HI Barbara, I haven’ thad that happen, but I suspect it’s either due to using too much butter (double check the measurement) or overmixing where the butter can get too soft.
Can I leave out the oats in the topping? I’m not a big fan of them.
Hi Mary! I always make this with rolled oats, but I suppose you could use a little more flour and maybe even add some chopped pecans to the mixture to add a little more texture.
You are amazing! I have been looking for the perfect topping for 30 plus years and finally found it. It was the best ever! This is my go to apple crisp from here on out and I’ve shared your website with others. Thanks once again
That’s wonderful, Janet! I’m so glad to hear that.
The apple crisp sounds amazing. Can it be baked ahead and frozen? Or made and frozen and then baked? What type of apple peeler do you recommend?
Hi Janel, yes you can make the recipe ahead. After you bake it, once the apple crisp is at room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-5 days then reheat according to the directions before serving. I haven’t tried freezing the filling or the entire recipe, so I’m not sure how that would work out. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.