Our easy Apple Crisp Recipe is a classic dessert loaded with freshly sliced apples that bubble up through a crunchy, crisp, and buttery cinnamon oat topping.
Apple Crisp is just as irresistible as our Apple Pie, but it’s so simple and quick to make, so it’s perfect for feeding a crowd. Don’t forget a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream when serving.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Easy Apple Crisp Recipe
We love all things Autumn, which also means we love apple recipes. From Apple Fritter Rings to Apple Turnovers and Sharlotka 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. It’s especially quick and easy to make if you use an apple peeler.
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!
Ingredients for Apple Crisp Filling
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
We like to make apple crisp recipes with oats as the topping since they are both soft and chewy. Here’s the winning apple crisp topping mixture.
- Flour – bonds the crumb together, feel free to use your favorite gluten-free flour
- Oats – use old-fashioned oats for the best texture, making sure to buy gluten-free, if needed. 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.
- 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 for apple crisp, so if you’re feeling adventurous, try these variations.
- Nuts – add chopped nuts or sliced almonds to your streusel topping
- Caramel Sauce drizzled over the top just before serving
- Cranberries – add 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried cranberries and add more sugar if using fresh cranberries. You’ll love the Cranberry Apple Almond Crisp in Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook!
- Spices – add a pinch of cloves, nutmeg, or even candied ginger
Which Apples are Best for Apple Crisp?
Select firm 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 this easy apple crisp recipe. 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.
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 homemade whipped cream as well.
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.
What is the difference between apple crisp, crumble, and cobbler?
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 (see our Blueberry Crumble). Apple Cobbler has a biscuit or cake-like topping.
Can I make this gluten-free apple crisp?
Yes, you can replace the flour in the filling with cornstarch and then replace the flour in the topping with 1-to-1 gluten-free flour or flour substitute for a gluten-free apple crisp recipe.
Can I make Apple Crisp in a Slow Cooker?
It’s easy to convert this recipe to use a slow cooker. 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.
Make-Ahead
This recipe for apple crisp keeps well on the counter for a day, but then requires refrigeration.
- Prep Ahead: You can assemble the apple crisp for 1 day ahead of time, just cover and refrigerate then bake when ready to enjoy.
- Refrigerate leftovers: once apple crisp is at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: Once cooled to room temperature, you can cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- To Reheat: We prefer to serve this warm. You can reheat the chilled crisp in the microwave just until heated through or reheat uncovered in the oven at 350˚F for about 15-20 minutes or until heated through.
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? You’ll love how easy it is to create this recipe and how satisfying it is to eat!
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
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
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 to 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 the 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. Make-Ahead: Store covered on the counter for 1 day or in the fridge for 3-5 days. You can freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat at 350°F for 15-20 min, or until warmed through. Variations:
- Nuts – add chopped nuts or sliced almonds to your topping
- Caramel Sauce drizzled over the top to serve
- Cranberries – add 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried cranberries and add 1/4 cup more sugar if using fresh cranberries.
- Spices – add a pinch of cloves, nutmeg, or even candied ginger
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Had a malfunction with my oven when I was popping in my Apple crisp. It’s always a hit so needless to say I was very upset. Out of the mouths of babes, my daughter-in-law said to try the microwave. I put the Apple crisp in the microwave for two 10 minute (total 20 minutes) on high. Minus the sweet aroma an oven bake permeates, the apple crisp was delicious.
Nice to know that, Carole. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Hi. If i were to just use 4 apples, do I, 1/3 all the other ingredients? I wanna try the receipe for the weekend camping trip with my dutch oven. Thanks
Hi! I think that would work. Let us know how you enjoy the recipe.
Sorry for the late reply.
Tested the recipe on a dutch oven cast iron pot cooked with hot coals during my camping trip. My friend was so enthusiastic, she knead the crumble into a dough…lol.
My mates love it. Says its better then some deli’s.
Thanks again for the simple & delicious recipe
Yay lovely to hear that you all loved this!
Hello. Can I use a flavored oats? Apple cinnamon flavor. Thanks.
Hi! The best type of oats to use is old-fashioned/rolled oats. If those come flavored, then absolutely! 🙂
Hello, Natasha! Can I use the flavored variety oatmeal? The one with cinnamon and apple flavor? Thank you!
I haven’t tried that to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
I will give it a try. Because that’s the only oats I have at home. Lol! I will surely update you. 🙂
Let us know how it turns out! 🙂
Made 2 large aluminum pans of this for a church event and it was a big hit! I doubled the apples but just did the crumb topping x 1-1/2 and it was perfect. I absolutely love this exactly as you recommended. And I made a batch with shortening instead of butter to cut dairy and it was still great.
Yay, that’s awesome! Thanks so much for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha,
I’d like to try making this with my grandson. Would quick cooking oats work?
Hi Rebecca, yes that will work just fine. I hope you love the apple crisp recipe.
The absolute best apple crisp ever! My company all loved it! Thankyou fo another great recipe!
You are very welcome, Dana! Thank you for your great comments and feedback. We’re happy that this recipe was a huge hit!
I made this today and LOVED it! I’m trying out a few recipes for the holidays that aren’t pumpkin based and this apple crisp is a keeper. Granny Smith apples certainly are the best for apple pie & crisp ❤️
Thank you for the awesome feedback, Angela!
I just made it and suggest not to use Granny Smith as they aren’t juicy at all and don’t add flavour at all to the topping to make it taste a little like caramel as with the juices of other apples. I use them for apple pie though.
Also I will put them in a shorter pan so they are deeper. More apple and less crumb.
Hey Natasha! Love your channel. You’re a “go to” to see if I can find the recipe that I’m looking for. This is my first attempt at Apple crisp. We’re a “nutty” family. I’d like to add nuts…would you suggest pecans or walnuts? How much should I add? Wish me luck! Thanks in advance for the advice.
Hi Reba! You can add nuts. Pecans or walnuts would be great (I love pecans). 🙂
You’d have to experiment with the quantity. I would add it to your preference.
Any of your recipes I make my husband loves. When I say I’m trying something new he just looks at me but when I say it’s one of Natasha’s, he’s all smiles. These are truly recipes that work, thank you.
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Edna! That’s a huge compliment and I’m smiling big reading it!
Will it alter taste if I half all the ingredients? There are only my husband and I.
Hi Evelyn, I have not tried that but one of my readers shared this “since there are just two of us here at home, I cut the recipe in half. It turned out *wonderfully*!” I hope that helps!
My husband can’t stand oats so what can I use instead of the oats
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.
Our new favorite fall dessert. Only adjustment I made was adding 1 cup of apple cider . I poured it around the apples before adding the topping. Baked for 1 hour at 375. Excellent!
Sounds great, Nancy and thanks a lot for sharing that with us!
in your video on Apple Crisp you mentioned a tutorial on how to soften butter quickly….i could not find it on your site. Also, what fruits can you substitute when you dont have enough apples?
Hi Carol, here is the link for softening butter. I have not mixed apples with any other fruits but you could reference my peach crisp recipe HERE. They are very similar.
Hi Natasha!
Since there are just two of us here at home, I cut the recipe in half. It turned out *wonderfully*!
Great to hear that!
Hi – question. I want to make this for Canadian Thanksgiving but want to ensure I understand the ‘make ahead’ comments. I should cook it per the recipe, let it cool and then refrigerate vs. waiting to cook it on the day I want to serve it, correct? Thanks!
Hi Tanya! That is correct. 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 hope you love this recipe.
Made your apple crisp for a church dinner. It was delicious. Got lots of compliments!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Deborah!
My pear tree is full of pears can I Substitute pears for apples?
Hi LaRain, while I haven’t tested that, here’s what one of my readers wrote: “! I did make this with both pears and apples. I sliced the apples as directed in the recipe. I used very firm pears, sliced them twice as thick and tossed them in Wondra flour. I let them stand a few minutes so the flour would coat them before assembling the filling. And I juiced a tangerine as well as added some tangerine zest. It was freaking awesome! Texture was as I would expect for an apple crisp! Fabulous topping. Went over well for a Christmas party dessert” I hope it helps!
Crisps always seem too sweet. What amounts would be a good reduction in the sugars so not to be super sweet ?
Hi Isla, I don’t like overly sweet recipes either. We believe we found the perfect balance of sweetness here. If you try making adjustments, I’d love to know how they work out!
This recipe is divine! Warm comforting, sweet and spice and then the scoop of Vanilla ice cream….heaven. And so easy to make! Don’t hesitate to make
Thank you, Renee! We love this in our household. I’m glad you found the same warmth it brings to us.