There’s something magical about the way each season has a way of transforming simple ingredients into comfort food. In my family, the first crisp breeze of early September has always signaled the start of apple season. One of my favorite apple dishes is an old fashioned apple crisp. It doesn’t require any fancy technique or hard to find ingredients—just simple, quality ingredients that most people have in their pantry. Even the most novice cook can whip up an irresistible apple crisp that will leave friends and family begging for seconds.

About This Apple Crisp Recipe

In this recipe, I’ll walk you through a fool proof method of making a classic apple crisp. The topping, with its irresistible blend of butter, oats, flour, and cinnamon, bakes into crispy clusters that give this humble dessert its name. Beneath, apples melt into tender submission, while a hint of lemon juice brightens every bite. And while this crisp is perfectly wonderful on its own, still warm from the oven, a scoop of vanilla ice cream transforms it into something decadent. There’s nothing better than watching that ice cream slowly melt into the warm, cinnamony apples, creating a creamy river of caramel-colored goodness.

Easy Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

Recipe by Kristie BookerCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Total time

1

hour 

Like any fruit crisp, the ingredients for Apple Crisp Recipe are very simple and revolve around the fruit. In this case, the main ingredient is apples. Choose a variety or combination of varieties that are firm and tart such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious. Once the apples cook, we want to make sure they hold their shape while softening and blending their tartness with the sweetness of the sugar and warmth of the cinnamon.

Ingredients

• Topping

• 1 cup light brown sugar

• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter diced

• Filling

• 3 lbs apples—firm, tart, and crisp (6 to 8) peeled, cored, peeled, and sliced

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter an 8×8 baking dish.
• Mix brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter.
• Use a pastry cutter or pinch butter together with fingers until mixture forms pea sized clumps. Refrigerate while preparing apples.
• Mix apples, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then transfer to prepared baking dish.
• Distribute topping evenly over apples.
• Bake until bubbling and the topping is golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.