Today’s crisp is a combination of my absolute favorite autumn flavors – baked apples, pumpkin spice, and brown sugar, which meld together beautifully beneath a crisped crumb topping.
Why You’ll Love Today’s Apple Crisp
Couldn’t Be Easier. Despite its layered flavors and clashing crisp-soft texturing, today’s recipe features just eight super-basic ingredients, and a prep process that amounts to ‘cut, mix, and bake.’ As a result, this is a recipe that’s truly accessible to home chefs of all skill levels.
At Home in the Limelight. Paired with coffee and a dollop of whipped cream, today’s apple crisp is well able to form the centerpiece of a light dessert spread as the ending note to an autumn dinner party, or as the sweet bite to end off a Sunday dinner.
Comfortable Playing Support. Conversely, today’s recipe is easily light enough to play the ‘supporting role’ to a larger dessert spread, surrounded by pastries, ice cream, and pie.
The Art of The Crisp
It Starts With Apples. Some apples are made for eating fresh on their own, others for baking, and still others for ‘both.’ Red Delicious applies, for example, given their characteristic shape, shiny red exterior, ‘thick-yet-palatable’ skin, mild sweetness, and ‘light crisp’ interior make them ideal for eating fresh, but are almost universally considered ‘subpar’ for baking. Braeburn apples, by contrast, don’t truly release their full flavor potential until they’ve have had a quick go in the oven, this trait combined with their ‘crisp-hard’ texture, makes them ideal for streusel and pie. Then we come to the famed ‘Honeycrisp’ apple whose unyieldingly ‘crisp-but-not-hard’ texture, and ‘biting-but-not-overpowering’ sweetness makes them ideal for eating fresh, like Red Delicious, but also means they are excellent for baked desserts where their flavor and texture will be ‘framed’ or ‘enhanced’ rather than overpowered – which is precisely why we’ve chosen it for today’s crisp.
The Crumb Topping. The crumb topping is what really ‘makes’ today’s recipe, it’s the primary ‘frame’ for the baked apples, and is the biggest factor in the recipe’s visual aesthetic. With that said, it’s more or less a ‘basic’ crumb topping, consisting of flour, salt, brown sugar, and butter. That said, there’s no escaping having to mix this with your hands because if you mix it in a processor you’re going to get an ‘even’ consistency, which is the opposite of the ‘crumbly’ and ‘uneven’ consistency that you’re looking for. Also, while you might be tempted to add cinnamon or nutmeg to the crumbs, you’ll want to avoid doing so since you already have that in the apple mixture, which in turn means you’ll risk overpowering the crisp as a whole. However, feel free to experiment.
The Cream. While this is probably more of a serving suggestion than commentary on the recipe itself, I just had to say that today’s recipe isn’t truly complete without either an over-generous dollop of thick whipped cream, or a side of vanilla ice cream, which really helps bring out the ‘rustic’ qualities of the crisp and heighten the ice cream itself.
More Great Fall Favorites
1) Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Perhaps the ideal pairing for today’s recipe is a delicious cup of homemade pumpkin spice coffee. Grab the recipe here.
2) Pull Apart Cinnamon Bread. A quintessential autumn morning delight, you absolutely have to try this cinnamon bread.
3) White Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt. To complete your repertoire of autumn-themed baked delights, you’ll need this white chocolate and pumpkin bundt. Trust me, just try it.
4) No Churn Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. I mentioned vanilla ice cream a few times today, and so let me take this opportunity to say that making your own ice cream is way easier than you might think, and requires no special equipment. That said, my base recipe for vanilla ice cream is the perfect canvas for experiment with all your favorite flavors and mix ins.
PrintApple Crisp
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
For the apples:
- 6-7 honey crisp apples- peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the topping:
- 3/4 cup AP flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a tart or pie dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss together sliced apples, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, salt, brown sugar, and butter. Blend with a pastry blender until butter is incorporated and the mixture is crumbly.
- Fill the prepared tart dish with the apple slices and top with the crumb topping.
- Bake for 45 minutes until the crisp is golden and the apples are tender.
- Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
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Enjoy with Love!
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angiesrecipes says
Easy, delicious and Fall perfect!
DAVID J MYERS says
Catherine, Beautiful apple crisp with ice cream! One of my most favorite sweet offerings... Your version has style too! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Stacie says
Nothing is better than a good apple crisp recipe. Nothing! It tastes like fall, and the sweet and crunch work together so well.
Joanna says
This recipe screams "autumn" to me. I can almost feel how it tastes like! I want to make it asap!
Lisa says
I love apple crisp, especially in fall. This is a simple recipe to follow yet looks so delicious!
Ben says
This is what I love when the weather starts to cool down. Apple crisp always makes me think of fall no matter when I make it.
kumamonjeng says
The crumb topping will be the highlight! Love how the texture feels like when eating the apple together with the crumb topping.
Terri Steffes says
I love apple crisp. I try to make it every fall, especially after we go apple picking. I love the smell of fresh apples.
Marysa says
We go apple picking in the fall and end up with so many apples! It is nice to have some good recipes for ways to use them.
Eli says
Ooh this looks like a really awesome recipe. I haven't made apple crisp in a while so I'll have to try this out sooner rather than later!
Catherine Santiago Jose says
I have never tried to make an apple crisp for my family and this recipe looks really good, I will try to make this for their snack on this weekend.
Yeah Lifestyle says
We always make crumble but this apple crisp recipe looks good and I would love to try making this for a change and see how it will taste like with custard
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli says
What an amazing seasonal dessert to bring to the table! Quite fast and easy to make, apple crisp is absolutely delicious!
Arya Badia says
A piece of this would be perfect for my evening tea right now!
David Elliott says
I so want to try this out at home. I was hoping to do something with apples this last weekend with my daughter but too many other things got in the way. Hopefully this next week.
Katie says
This looks delicious! I need to make more apple treats, especially as the weather gets cooler. My kids love apples.
Danielle says
Oh wow - that is my favorite fall combination, too! The pumpkin spice flavor adds so much to the taste of baked apples! Top it up with crisped crumb, and you have the most amazing fall dessert ever! 🙂
Veronika says
I love making apple crisps! It's such a perfect treat for cold Fall and Winter nights! Also, it's a great idea to add a bit of pumpkin spice to play around with flavors!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen says
Hmm yum! Apple Crisp are really delicious. Your recipe looks really mouthwatering. I am sure ,y son and husband will love this.
Elaine says
I think we have similar tastes here because that combination of baked apples and pumpkin spice sounds like something I would really enjoy on one of the fall weekends. Delicious crisp that I am yet to try which makes the anticipation even sweeter 🙂
Sharon says
I love this simple and delicious fall dessert. I've always loved the crisp topping to a 2nd crust.
GUNJAN C Dudani says
Love your images and your instructions. Its so well explained and sounds so doable. I would love to try this this week as I have so much apples in my refrigerator right now.
Jo says
How delicious is that apple crisp looking. I love that crumble on top and the smell of baking apple crisp, oh so heavenly. love this
Jennifer Gladwin says
That looks absolutely delicious! The perfect Autumnal dish!