The best apple crisp with tender juicy apples and buttery oatmeal and walnut topping. This crisp is simple to make and always gets rave reviews!
When it’s apple season, you can often find me in the kitchen baking up a treat such as apple cinnamon cake, apple pie or this classic apple crisp recipe.
Apple crisp is a popular dessert for good reason – it’s simple, easy to make, and totally delicious! My version features tart Granny Smith apples and a generous amount of crumble topping that’s flavored with brown sugar, oatmeal and walnuts. Serve your crisp as-is, or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to really take it over the top.
How do you make apple crisp?
To make apple crisp, first make the filling by mixing together diced apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice and water. Once the filling is in a baking dish, it is ready for the topping. Make the topping by combining brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, walnuts and flour in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter into the bowl and stir it with a fork to turn the flour mixture into a topping. Just sprinkle the topping over the filling and bake it for a delicious dessert.
Tips for the perfect crisp
- For this recipe, I use Granny Smith apples. However, any tart and firm apple will work like Cripps Pink (Pink Lady), Braeburn or Cameo apples. For a sweeter filling, you can use Golden Delicious apples.
- Make sure that you cut your apples into similar size pieces so that they cook evenly.
- Your topping will be best with rolled oats (old fashioned oats) instead of quick oats. Quick oats are cut into pieces to cook more quickly and tend to get mushy when baked.
- You can substitute almonds or pecans for the walnuts if you prefer. If you need your crisp to be nut-free, simply omit the nuts altogether, or use an equal amount of toasted coconut.
Crisp variations
This crisp can be customized to include your favorite fruit flavors.
- Berries: Mix together 4 cups of berries such as raspberries, blueberries or blackberries and 6 cups of diced apples in the filling.
- Pear: Stir together 3 cups of diced and peeled pears and 7 cups of diced apples for the filling.
- Peach: For the filling, stir together 5 cups of diced peaches and 5 cups of diced apples.
Should apple crisp be refrigerated?
Since the topping has melted butter mixed with sugar, I recommend that you refrigerate apple crisp if you want to eat it at a later date. It stays good in the refrigerator 3-4 days. You can reheat your apple crisp by microwaving individual servings for about 30 seconds.
What is the difference between a crisp and a crumble?
The difference between a crisp and a crumble lies in the topping. Both a crisp and a crumble have the same fruit filling with a loose sugary topping sprinkled on top. However, a crisp topping contains oats and often nuts. The oats tend to crisp up during baking and the nuts provide a little crunch. A crumble topping bakes up soft and usually contains only brown sugar, flour and butter.
This apple crisp is an easy and delicious dessert that is great for any occasion. I love the combination of tender apples and crisp topping!
More delicious apple recipes
Apple Crisp
Ingredients
For the filling
- 10 cups apples peeled, cored and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons water
For the topping
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9" x 13" baking pan with cooking spray.
- For the filling: Place the apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice and water in a large bowl. Toss to coat.
- Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan in an even layer.
- For the topping: Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, walnuts and salt into a medium bowl, stir to combine. Pour in the melted butter. Using a fork, stir the ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apple mixture. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until topping is deep golden brown and fruit is bubbling. Cool for at least 10 minutes, then serve.
Deb says
We have an apple tree in our family so we make this all the time! So yummy and the house smells so good !
Mimi says
this might be a stupid question…. how many apple/lbs of apple should I buy to have 1o cups for the recipe?
Sara says
Should be about 8 large apples!
Catalina says
I love Fall for this! This is my favorite fall dessert!
Beth Pierce says
What a delicious treat! This is exactly what I needed to cure my sweet tooth! Looking forward to enjoying this again and again this season!
Jade Manning says
What better way is there to have one of your 5 a day!
Catherine says
Apple crisps are one of my favorite fall desserts. I’m always up for fruit crumbles and this one looks superb!
Lisa Bryan says
This apple crisp looks amazing! Perfect for a fresh apple & cinnamon flavored dessert.
rebecca says
this looks so good! I absolutely love apple crisp. Gotta make this when local apples come in
Neha says
Such an easy and delicious crisp for fall! Loving the big chunks of warm apples here!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Nothing beats a good apple crisp, this looks delicious!
Melanie Bauer says
Looks fantastic! So easy to make yet super yummy, looking forward to trying this!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
This apple crisp looks incredibly delicious!
Dorothy Reinhold says
I am a total sucker for that crumb topping! I can’t wait to dig into this.