Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp With Oat Topping
A simple homemade apple crisp with tender cinnamon apples and a buttery brown sugar oat topping. An easy fall dessert recipe, best served warm with vanilla ice cream.
In this article
Apple crisp is one of the easiest homemade desserts you can make: no pie crust, no rolling pin, just tender cinnamon apples under a crunchy, buttery oat topping. It's the perfect fall dessert.
The best apples for apple crisp
Use firm apples that hold their shape when baked. A mix gives the best flavor:
- Tart: Granny Smith
- Sweet and firm: Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady
Softer apples like McIntosh break down more, which some people love for a saucier crisp.
Tips for a crunchy topping
- Use cold butter so the topping bakes up crisp and crumbly.
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts (about 1/2 cup) for extra crunch.
- Double the topping if you love it. No one will complain.
Variations
- Apple-cranberry: add 1 cup fresh cranberries.
- Pear crisp: swap in firm, ripe pears.
- Summer berry crisp: use 6 cups mixed berries plus an extra tablespoon of flour.
Make ahead and storage
Make the topping up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate. Leftover crisp keeps at room temperature for a day or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven to re-crisp the topping.
More fall baking: try our moist pumpkin bread.
Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp With Oat Topping
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x9-inch or 2-quart baking dish.
- Toss the apples with the lemon juice, sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and cinnamon. Spread in the baking dish.
- In a bowl, mix the topping flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture forms coarse crumbs.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling at the edges.
- Cool 15 minutes and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
