This is the one and only apple crisp recipe you’ll ever need—one you can have in the oven in less than 10 minutes with ingredients you might already have on hand this time of year and make pretty much make with your eyes closed. It’s not far off from a recipe for the “Fruit Crisp or Crumb Pie” by James Beard in his American’s Cookery but with the amount of fruit increased, and the ingredients solidified. Its topping is crisp but with a sticky chew and the the flavor of the dessert is like a caramel apple in crisp form. Served warm with vanilla ice cream, there is no better (or easier) fall dessert.
I made this LIVE on Instagram with my two toddlers. If we can do it, you can too. If you need a good laugh, check out the recording.
Ingredients
- 7-10 Cortland apples (more if you want it to be more about the fruit, always a good thing; other great baking apples like Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Granny Smith, etc.)
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (Diamond Crystal brand, use half if Morton’s)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 big pinch Maldon salt
- Vanilla ice cream
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Melt the butter over medium low heat in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat and let sit until cool enough to touch.
- Meanwhile, if you have time, peel the apples. If not, simply slice them with the skin on into 1-2 inch chunks and place them in a 3-4 qt casserole, gratin or baking dish.
- Now that the butter is cool enough to handle, add 1 cup light brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp salt. Use your fingers to massage the ingredients into the butter. Next, add the flour and rub it into the butter/brown sugar/cinnamon/salt mix. Spread the crumble topping over the sliced apples. Sprinkle the whole thing with a pinch of Maldon salt.
- Bake in the 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes until the top is deeply golden and the apples are soft and bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Serves 6ish
Want more desserts? Try out some of my other favorites: