This Cinnamon Apple Crisp recipe is a delicious fall dessert! Fresh sliced apples are topped with a crumbly cinnamon oat topping. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
It is currently mid-September and we have hundreds of apples growing at our farm. I have been picking them daily, trying to keep up with the volume that we have. After countless hours of apple picking I am left with two things — very sore arms and a desperate need to use up my apples!
I don’t know if we sing the praises of apple crisp enough. It is such an easy, delicious fall dessert, without all the fuss of pie! The smell of the warm cinnamon apples fills your kitchen with the scent of Fall. While the apples bake and soften, the brown sugar oat topping gets toasty, for a delicious contrast of texture.
This classic Fall recipe has no complicated or fussy steps and takes less than half the time and effort of a traditional apple pie. So gather your ingredients and lets get baking!
What You’ll Need:
You can find exact amounts in the recipe card below, but here is an overview of the ingredients you’ll need!
There are 2 components in apple crisp: the apple layer and the crumbly oat topping.
FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:
All-purpose flour
Sea salt
Brown sugar
Cubed, unsalted butter (keep this cold!)
Old Fashioned oats (Not quick-cooking)
Ground Cinnamon (I prefer Ceylon Cinnamon)
FOR THE APPLE PIE FILLING
Apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
All-purpose flour
Ground Cinnamon
Granulated Sugar
Vanilla Extract
Lemon juice (or substitute white vinegar)
Choosing the Best Apples for Baking:
When making apple recipes, such as Apple Pie, Apple Crisp, Apple Galette or others, a recipe may call for ‘baking apples’. What this means is that the apple bakes well, maintaining its texture. A recipe such as Apple Butter or Applesauce may call for a softer apple, one that will break down easily for the desired texture.
In some recipes, such as my Best Ever Apple Pie, I specifically state Granny Smith apples as my preferred apple of choice. But if you’re in the dark on what apple is best for your recipe, you will likely get the best results from the apples below:
- Honeycrisp
- Jazz
- Braeburn
- Jonagold
- Pink Lady
- Fuji
- Granny Smith
That being said, I made this recipe with whatever apples we had growing at the farm and it has been delicious every time!
How to Make Cinnamon Apple Crisp:
As always, high quality ingredients will yield the best results. Look for products such as organic apples, grass-fed butter and high-quality vanilla extract when possible.
- Prep your baking dish. This recipe works with a variety of different sized baking pans. I used a 3qt oval baking dish. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, grease your baking dish with about 1 tbsp of butter, set aside.
- Prepare the apple layer. Peel, core and cube your apples. Place them in a large bowl and add the flour, cinnamon and sugar. Toss to combine and then add the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Give the mixture a stir until all of the apples are coated. Set aside. *Don’t worry about your apples browning, the lemon juice will prevent browning while you prepare your crumble topping.
- Make the crumble topping. Combine your dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Then, add the cubed butter and press it together with your fingers until pea-sized bits of butter form and crumbly consistency form. Cold butter is the key to a chunky, crumbly topping. If you feel like the butter got too warm while you were making your topping, set it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes before assembling and baking.
- Assemble your apple crisp. Pour your apple filling into the baking dish in an even layer. Top it with an even layer of oat crumble.
- Bake and serve! And that’s it! Pop your apple crisp into a preheated oven for about 45 minutes, then let it cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Top it with some vanilla ice cream before serving if desired, which I highly recommend! I hope you love this apple pie crisp as much as I do!
Click here for a peek inside my personal cookbook and even more delicious recipes. Plus, check out my YouTube channel for complete recipe tutorials!
Until next time, Buon appetito!
Cinnamon Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- 3 LBS APPLES ABOUT 8 CUPS
- 1/3 C SUGAR
- ¼ C FLOUR
- 1 TBSP LEMON JUICE
- 1 TSP GROUND CEYLON CINNAMON
- 2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
- TOPPING:
- ½ C BROWN SUGAR
- 3/4 C OATS
- ½ C FLOUR
- ½ C 1 STICK UNSALTED BUTTER COLD, CUBED
- ½ TSP SALT
- ½ TSP CINNAMON
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a deep dish pie plate or large baking dish with butter or cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine the apples with the sugar, cinnamon, flour, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a large bowl and mix until all of the apples are evenly coated. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
- In a separate medium size bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add in the cold, cubed butter and press between your fingers until pea-sized bits of butter and a crumbly topping is formed. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the top of the apples.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes until apples are soft and the topping is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Leave a comment below & tag @jessicarosetti on social!
