The only Apple Crisp Recipe you’ll ever need – Tender apples topped with an easy brown sugar topping.
If you asked me to pick my favorite fall dessert, I would say this Apple Crisp recipe. Because it’s classic. Because it’s cozy. And because the combo of warm fruit crisp and cold vanilla ice cream gets me every single time.
If you’ve made my Apple Cranberry Crisp, Strawberry Crisp, Peach Crisp, Blueberry Crisp or my Apple-Pear Crisp, you will notice that this recipe is very similar.
Prefer a topping with NO OATS? Try this Apple Crumble.
Recipe overview: Apple Crisp
Apples: Thinly sliced apples are tossed with apple cider, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. A couple tablespoons of flour thicken the apple mixture, and then they get placed in a greased baking dish.
Crisp Topping: Oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter. This here is my favorite fruit crisp topping. Stir it up and crumble it over the top of the apples. The oats add heartiness, the brown sugar adds a depth of sweetness, and the melted butter ensures that every bite has a crisp buttery texture.
Baking: I like to start baking this Apple Crisp covered with foil. This allows the apples to begin to soften without any risk of the topping over-browning. After about 20 minutes, remove the foil and let the crisp finish cooking uncovered. Uncovering the apple crisp is what is going to make our topping crisp up. Once the juices are bubbling, the topping is golden brown, and the apples are tender, it is done!
What type of apples to use?
Use your favorite baking apples. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Fuji are my favorite for this recipe. If you prefer a less sweet apple crisp, you can use Granny Smith apples.
Make sure you slice the apples really thin (¼ inch or thinner). This way they bake evenly and tender every time.
How to serve:
In my opinion, an Apple Crisp should be served warm, but not hot. It should be warm enough to slowly melt that big scoop of vanilla ice cream that I am undoubtedly placing on top.
Optional: A drizzle of caramel sauce over the top. Or you can even just spoon some of those sweet apple-cinnamon juices from the bottom of the baking dish over the top of your crisp.
Have leftovers? Place them in the refrigerator. You can eat the leftovers cold, straight from the fridge (breakfast of champions), or you can reheat it in the microwave to warm it up again.
Prefer a healthier version? Try my Healthy Apple Crisp!
MORE APPLE RECIPES: APPLE CAKE – BAKED APPLE RECIPE – APPLE DUMPLINGS – CINNAMON APPLES – APPLE BREAD – APPLE COBBLER – HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
Apple Crisp
Ingredients
Apples:
- 6 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples, see note
- 3 tablespoons orange juice, apple juice, or water
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ⅔ cup old fashioned oats
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 ½ inch deep dish pie plate or 9x9 square baking dish. Set aside.
- For the topping: combine flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add melted butter and stir until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine apples, juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir gently until completely combined. Dump the mixture (and any accumulated juices) into the prepared baking dish. Using your fingers, crumble the mixture over the fruit, occasionally pressing some of it together to form clumps.
- Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray and loosely cover the baking dish. Bake 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown, the apples are tender, and the juices are bubbling around the edges. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Nancy
Made this with Cortlands and a couple green apples along with adding in chopped pecans! Amazing! Will make this throughout the winter! Ty!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Melissa
Omg, I love this recipe! Delicious! Thank you!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by!
Terri
This is amazingly good!!! And so easy! Thank you for sharing!! I did not peel the apples because I missed that on the recipe, but we couldn’t even tell the peelings were there. I’m making for my second time today!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to leave a a comment. 🙂
Sylvia
I love apple crisp and this is such a simple but delicious recipe.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by.
Gracie
Best apple crisp recipe!!! So easy and simple to make!! Can’t wait to make this recipe again!!
Allison
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Marshall Bjorge
Hi. I fail to find the size of the baking dish for this recipe.
Allison
Hi! It’s in step one: 9 ½ inch deep dish pie plate or 9×9 square baking dish. Enjoy!
Betsy
We love this recipe. I want to make it for Thanksgiving and curious if I can prep it in advance and freeze it. Thaw and bake?
Allison
Hi, Betsy. I have not tried freezing it so I can’t say for sure. If I had to guess I would recommend freezing the topping and filling separately. Thaw in the fridge then add the topping and bake as instructed (maybe adding a few extra minutes). The topping might need to be microwaved for several seconds before you add it to the fruit because if the topping is cold it will be hard (from the chilled butter). Hopefully that makes sense. Best of luck. Happy holidays!
Melinda
This is our favorite apple crisp recipe! My only adjustments are to skip peeling the apples, use thinned apple butter instead of apple juice, and add pumpkin pie spice along with the cinnamon. Delicious!
Allison
That sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
Evelyn
Made this again and again. Always a hit. Thank you
Allison
You’re welcome. So glad you enjoyed it!