Apple Crisp

The quintessential apple crisp recipe for crispy fall weather.

Southern Living Apple Crisp on a plate to serve with ice cream on top
Photo:

Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

Active Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Servings:
8

If you love fall desserts, this apple crisp is cozy, aromatic, and easy to make. Sweet and tart apples are coated in rich dark brown sugar and cinnamon, and the oat streusel is buttery, toasty, and crisp.

The best part about this apple dessert recipe is it only takes about 20 minutes to build in a baking dish—then it's off your hands, in the oven, and smellin' good. As it bakes in the oven, the apples, a combination of tart Granny Smiths and sweet apples like Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Gala, become perfectly tender, building an ooey-gooey sweet sauce.

Our Test Kitchen has a hot take: This apple crisp might just be better than apple pie. Streusel is much easier to throw together than pie crust; just stir together butter, flour, spices, sugar, and oats, and crumble it overtop!

Ingredients for Apple Crisp

For the apple crisp filling, you'll need fresh apples and some sweeteners and spices:

  • Apples: This recipe calls for Granny Smith, which are particularly tart apples, as well as a combination of sweeter (yet still slightly tart) like Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Gala apples that also hold up nicely when cooked.
  • Dark brown sugar: Dark brown sugar contains slightly more molasses than light brown sugar, bringing forward even more caramel and molasses notes.
  • Cornstarch: Helps to thicken the sauce that builds as the apples bake.
  • Ground cinnamon: A warming spice with a sweet and spicy aroma.
  • Fresh lemon juice: Brightens and enhances the warm, sweet flavors.
  • Kosher salt: Enhances the overall flavors and balances the sweetness of the crisp.

For the classic streusel topping, oats, sugar, and spices are easy and perfect:

  • All-purpose flour: Thickens the base of the streusel.
  • Old-fashioned rolled oats: Thickens the base of the streusel and provides the "crisp" part of the streusel filling.
  • Dark brown sugar: More dark brown sugar is used to sweeten the topping, bringing forward even more caramel and molasses notes .
  • Ground cinnamon: A warming spice with a sweet and spicy aroma.
  • Kosher salt: Enhances the overall flavors and balances the sweetness of the crisp.
  • Unsalted butter: Combined with the oats and flour to create a tender, buttery, crispy topping.
Southern Living Apple Crisp ingredients

Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

What Is the Difference Between Apple Crisp and Apple Crumble?

The difference between an apple crisp and an apple crumble lies in the ingredients of its streusel topping. Apple crisp is topped with a crumbly mixture of flour, sugar, butter, and spices that also contains oats. These oats "crisp" up noticeably in the oven when baked, which is why it's called an "apple crisp." Sometimes a crisp contains nuts, though this one does not.

An apple crumble is topped with streusel that does not contain oats—sometimes a crumble incorporates the topping within the bake as well. It's softer and more tender than crisp.

Both incorporate apples, often either baked or fried, with butter, sugar, and warming spices, but apple crisp is typically noticeably crispier.

Can I Make Apple Crisp Ahead?

The streusel mixture can be made up to three days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

If apples are immediately seasoned and tossed with the sugar, lemon juice, and spices, they can be topped with the streusel mixture and stored in the refrigerator up to one day ahead—just note that they may discolor slightly due to oxidation. (We'd recommend allowing the crisp to come to room temperature before baking so that the recipe bake time remains accurate.)

Leftovers of apple crisp can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

Our Tips for Making a Great Apple Crisp

  • The streusel can be quite rustic—when mixing together, allow for different sizes of streusel clumps. That way, when topping the crisp, you'll have extra textural dimension which is not only tasty but looks pretty, too!
  • Serve with vanilla ice cream—the creamy vanilla custard will seep into the crisp and bake for a delicious, unforgettable bite.

More Apple Desserts To Try

Fall is the best time to get creative with apple desserts. Here are a few of our favorite apple cakes, crumbles, muffins, and more for cozy baking:

Editorial contributions by Catherine Jessee.

Ingredients

Filling:

  • 2 medium Granny Smith apples (about 1 lb.), peeled and sliced 1/4-in.-thick (about 4 cups)

  • 2 medium Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Gala apples (about 1 lb.), peeled and sliced 1/4-in.-thick (about 4 cups)

  • 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch

  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

  • 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Streusel Topping:

  • 1/2 cup (about 2 1/8 oz.) all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

  • 6 Tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-in. pieces

Directions

  1. Prepare the apples:

    Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice, and salt in a medium bowl; toss to coat evenly.

    Southern Living Apple Crisp preparing the apple mixture

    Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

    Transfer to a greased (9-inch) round or square baking dish.

    Southern Living Apple Crisp adding the apple mixture to the dish

    Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

  2. Combine dry ingredients for the Streusel Topping:

    Stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.

    Southern Living Apple Crisp mixing together the dry ingredients for the topping

    Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

  3. Add butter to Topping:

    Add butter and toss gently to coat with flour mixture; cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly (there might be some larger butter pieces).

    Southern Living Apple Crisp adding the butter to the topping mixture

    Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

  4. Sprinkle Topping over apples:

    Sprinkle Streusel Topping evenly over Filling in baking dish.

    Southern Living Apple Crisp sprinkling the topping over the apple mixture

    Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

  5. Bake:

    Bake in preheated oven until apples are tender and Streusel Topping is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

    Southern Living Apple Crisp after baking ready to serve

    Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling; Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser 

Additional reporting by
Catherine Jessee
Catherine Jessee
Catherine Jessee is an Assistant Digital Food Editor at Southern Living. She is a writer, editor, and recipe developer with a passion for Appalachian foodways, culture, and history. Prior to joining the Southern Living, Catherine tested and developed recipes for print and digital publications like EatingWell, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Serious Eats, Southern Living, and more.

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