Simply Delicious Apple Crisp

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Thinly sliced apples topped with a buttery cinnamon-sugar-oat streusel topping and baked until golden brown and bubbly. This apple crisp turns out right every time and is the perfect way to use those apples you picked at the apple orchard!

Apple crisp is one of the very first recipes I got into making back when I was 9 or 10 years old. This recipe is not my own though– it’s from Lodge A Skillet Full Cookbook and is titled “Delightful Apple Crisp”. Honestly, it’s one of those recipes that I don’t feel the need to change at all because it’s simply delicious just the way it is 🙂

2 plates of apple crisp with the pan of apple crisp

Ingredients

Apple crisp filling

  • 4 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (approximately 4-5 large apples)
    • I prefer a crisp, sweet apple such as honeycrisp, pink lady, or braeburn. Apples straight from the apple orchard always yield the BEST apple crisp. Plus, going to the orchard is a fun fall outing!
  • 1/4 c. apple cider
    • a good quality apple juice also works if you can’t get your hands on cider

Apple Crisp Topping Ingredients

  • 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 c. granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/3 c. cold butter, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
    • not steel cut oats or instant oats
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
apples alongside a buttered pie dish

Why You’ll Love this Apple Crisp Recipe

  • No pre-cooking required
    • The apple filling in this recipe doesn’t require any pre-cooking. Just slice the apples very thinly and they’ll cook during the baking process
  • Uses apple cider in the filling instead of sugar
    • 1/4 c. of apple cider is added to the apple filling to intensify the apple flavor and assist in creating the juicy apple filling.
  • The streusal topping is your classic oat, cinnamon, brown sugar apple crisp topping. Delicious!
Pinterest Pin for Simply Delicious Apple Crisp

Tips for Making Apple Crisp

  • Slice your apples very thinly. Since the filling in this apple crisp recipe is not pre-cooked, you’ll want the apples to be thin so that they can cook through in the oven. You can also bake the crisp for longer if you want the apples to be softer.
  • Allow the apple crisp to cool before enjoying
    • If you slice into the apple crisp straight out of the oven, you may find that the filling is liquidy
  • Use a crisp, flavorful apple such as honeycrisp, pink lady, or braeburn for best flavor and texture.
  • You’ll need a 9″ deep dish pie dish to give enough room for the apples
thinly sliced apples in a pie dish

Ways to Enjoy Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is most popular as a cozy, homemade dessert in the fall during apple season. However, since apples are available year-round here in the US, apple crisp can be enjoyed any time of year!

Try it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Personally, I enjoy apple crisp most when it’s cold out of the refrigerator. You can even have it for breakfast if you want 😉

Simply Delicious Apple Crisp Pinterest Pin of a plate of apple crisp

How to Make Apple Crisp

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9″ deep dish pie dish with butter.

Peel and thinly slice your apples (the thinner the better). Place the thinly sliced apples in the greased pie dish, and cover with 1/4 of apple cider.

a pie dish of thinly sliced apples

In a mixing bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt until well-incorporated.

flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl

Add the cold, cubed butter, and work it into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or your hands until the butter-flour mixture resembles course crumbs.

butter cut into a flour mixture to resemble course crumbs

Add the packed brown sugar and oats to the flour mixture, and stir together.

a hand holding a handful of the topping mixture for an apple crisp

Evenly distribute this topping on top of the apples in the pie dish.

an unbaked apple crisp

Bake the apple crisp for 45-55 minutes until the top is golden brown, and the apple filling is bubbly.

apple crisp served on two plates beside the baking dish of apple crisp

Note*– you can always bake the crisp longer if you want the apples to be softer.

Enjoy warm OR cold! Delicious topped with ice cream, whipped cream, or just all by itself 🙂

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a plate of freshly baked apple crisp

Simply Delicious Apple Crisp

Thinly sliced apples topped with a buttery cinnamon-sugar-oat streusel topping and baked until golden brown and bubbly. This apple crisp turns out right every time and is the perfect way to use the apples you picked at the apple orchard!
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 6
Author: Caroline Willis

Equipment

  • pairing knife
  • vegetable peeler optional
  • 9" deep dish pie dish
  • pastry blender optional

Ingredients

  • 4 c peeled, thinly sliced apples honeycrisp is best
  • 1/4 c apple cider
  • 3/4 c all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 c granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/3 c cold butter
  • 1/2 c brown sugar packed
  • 1/2 c old fashioned rolled oats

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9" deep dish pie dish with butter.
  • Peel and thinly slice 4 cups of apples (approximately 4-5 large apples). Add them to the greased pie plate. Pour the apple cider over the apples.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt together until incorporated. Cut in the cold butter until the flour mixture resembles course crumbs.
  • Add the brown sugar and oats to the flour mixture, and stir to mix.
  • Top the apples with the crisp topping.
  • Bake the apple crisp for 45-55 minutes until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Let cool before serving to allow the filling to set.
  • Enjoy warm or cold with ice cream, whipped cream, or all by itself!

Notes

Note: You can bake the apple crisp longer if you want the apples to be softer.
Simply Delicious Apple Crisp Pinterest Pin

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