Apple Crisp Recipe

This apple crisp recipe gives you cinnamon apples under a buttery brown sugar topping with whole rolled oats for chewy, crisp texture. Bake it in a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) pan for 45 minutes and serve 8–10 people. You can think of the dessert in three parts: the fruit, the flour-thickened filling, and the oat topping. This American crisp has an oat topping, while a crumble typically has a softer topping; try our homemade apple crumble for that style.

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The apples: which ones and how thick

Start with apples that hold their shape in the oven. The best apples for apple crisp give you tender fruit with some definition beneath the crumbs. For a practical shopping choice, pair tart Granny Smith with sweet-tart Golden Delicious or Braeburn. Betty Crocker's kitchen-tested recipe names these varieties as apples that retain their shape during baking. Use the table to choose by texture, then follow the cut specified in the card below.

For this card, peel and core the apples, then cut them into 1-inch pieces, 1/4–1/2 inch thick. These are short, chunky slices rather than long wedges. Sally McKenney, whose recipe supplies the card, prefers that cut because pieces fit easily on a spoon and uneven thin slices can turn mushy. Her notes also allow the skins to stay on if you enjoy their texture.

Measure the prepared fruit, rather than relying only on apple count: the card calls for about 10 cups (1200 g). Put your measuring cup or scale beside the cutting board so you can finish the fruit before moving to the filling. If you are choosing a different apple dessert for another occasion, our apple cinnamon crumble cake gives you a cake-style option.

The filling: sugar, spice and thickener

The flour is the thickener in this easy apple crisp. Allrecipes explains that flour thickens the fruit layer and also gives the topping structure. Keep those jobs separate when measuring: the filling flour belongs with the apples; the larger topping measure belongs in the crumb bowl. Brown sugar sweetens the filling, while cinnamon and nutmeg supply the warm spice flavor.

Sugar needs vary between recipes and apples. King Arthur's classic crisp gives a sugar range based on apple sweetness, while Inspired Taste adjusts its sugar according to tartness. Here, keep the card's fixed quantities so you are following the selected base recipe. For the same reason, follow its flour measure rather than importing a thickener amount from another crisp.

For juicy fruit, judge the filling as well as the topping. Inspired Taste describes finished crisp juices as thickened, with tender apples beneath a golden surface. That is a useful reminder to look below the crumbs; the base recipe's specific signal is bubbling fruit juices at the edges. Coat the apples thoroughly before spreading them in the pan, so the flour and seasonings travel with the fruit.

The oat topping: cold butter, clumps, crunch

Keep the butter cold for this topping. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon first, work in the cubed butter with a pastry cutter or fork, then fold in the rolled oats. Sally's method adds oats last to preserve their texture. The mixture should look coarse and crumbly, with irregular bits that you can scatter over the fruit.

Resist the tempting flour shortcut: Sally warns that reducing the topping flour can make it greasy. Keep the full amount even if you choose her quick-oat variation. Inspired Taste also cautions against steel-cut oats, which will not soften properly in its crisp. For the apple crisp with oats below, reach for the old-fashioned rolled oats listed in the card.

Think scattered crumbs rather than a smooth lid. The fruit and the topping each have their own bowl and their own role, which makes this homemade apple crisp easy to organize. Once the oat mixture is ready, you can move directly to covering the apples. Save the vanilla ice cream for serving so you can enjoy it against the warm fruit and browned crumbs.

Apple Crisp Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Bake time: 45 minutes
• Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes, including cooling
• Servings: 8–10
• Pan: 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) baking pan

Ingredients

For the filling

• 8 medium apples, peeled and cored, cut into 1-inch pieces 1/4–1/2 inch thick, about 10 cups (1200 g)
• 1/2 cup (100 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (31 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 teaspoon (4.7 g) pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) table salt

For the topping

• 3/4 cup (94 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 3/4 cup (150 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons; 113 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1 cup (85 g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
• Optional for serving: salted caramel and vanilla ice cream

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
2. Lightly grease a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) baking pan.
3. Cut the 8 peeled, cored apples into 1-inch pieces that are 1/4–1/2 inch thick.
4. Toss about 10 cups (1200 g) prepared apples with all the remaining filling ingredients in a large bowl until evenly coated.
5. Spread the filling evenly in the 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) pan.
6. Whisk the topping's 3/4 cup (94 g) flour, 3/4 cup (150 g) brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
7. Work the 1/2 cup (113 g) cold butter into that mixture with a pastry cutter or fork until coarse and crumbly.
8. Stir in the 1 cup (85 g) rolled oats.
9. Scatter the topping evenly over the fruit in the 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) pan.

10. Bake for 45 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and fruit juices bubble around the edges.
11. Cool the crisp on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Sally McKenney, Sally's Baking. Quantities, pan size, oven temperature, and timing are unchanged; instructions are rewritten and divided into shorter steps. Metric equivalents are added for pan size, vanilla, and table salt.

Serving, storing and making ahead

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or choose whipped cream as suggested by Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes. Let everyone scoop fruit and topping together. For a fall dessert table, you can also offer our maple pumpkin cheesecake bars alongside the crisp.

The base recipe's storage notes allow serving at room temperature or cold and keeping covered leftovers refrigerated for up to 5 days. For make-ahead assembly, cover the unbaked crisp and refrigerate for up to 1 day; it will need longer baking from cold. Baked, cooled crisp or unbaked crisp can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat the baked crisp covered at 350°F (177°C) for 30 minutes, or until hot throughout.

Swaps that still work

• Light or dark brown sugar: Either is already allowed in the base recipe. Keep the card's quantities and choose the bag you have.
• Quick oats: Sally allows an equal-volume swap for rolled oats, with a more powdery topping. Retain the flour amount so the butter stays in balance.
• Walnuts: Sally allows 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans in the topping. For walnuts, that is about 113 g using King Arthur's weight chart; fold them in with the oats.
• A smaller batch: Sally says to halve every ingredient and use a 9-inch (23 cm) square or round dish. Her baking time for that version is about 30–35 minutes.