The Best Apple Crisp
Ingredients
Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup quick oats (see note for old-fashioned rolled oats)
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- 10 tablespoons butter, softened but still cool, cut into pieces
Apples:
- 8 cups peeled, chopped apples (see note)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan.
- For the topping, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon.
- Add the butter and use a pastry blender or two butter knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.
- For the apples, in a large bowl, toss the chopped apples with the lemon juice and vanilla.
- Add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Toss until the apples are evenly coated with the dry ingredients.
- Spread the apples evenly in the prepared pan. Top the apples evenly with the topping.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the apples are tender.
- Let the apple crisp rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or dollop of whipped cream.
Notes
Oats: I prefer using quick oats in this recipe because the texture of the topping is soft and buttery, rather than piecemeal, but you can definitely sub old-fashioned rolled oats for the quick oats, if that's your preference for a more oat-y texture.
Apples: You'll need 7 to 8 medium apples (or 6 large apples) for this recipe. Use a sweet-tart, crisp apple, like Cosmic Crisp, Honey Crisp, etc. Granny Smith apples can also be used for a more tart-tasting crisp.