Apple pie is one of my all time favorite desserts. Especially in the fall when fresh apples are everywhere! Since I’m not that big of a fan of pumpkin pie, I often serve the apply variety when I’m hosting fall dinner parties or Thanksgiving.
My only problem? I really hate making pie crust!
The solution? This apple crisp recipe. It tastes just as good as pie and there’s no crust (a big win if you ask me).
Plus, if you’re cooking for a crowd, you can double or triple the recipe and bake it in a bigger dish. So much easier than having to make 2 or 3 pies!
Ingredients
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Here is your shopping list for this apple crisp recipe:
- Apples – I like to use granny smith apples. I think their tart flavor combines well with the sugar. However, you can use whatever type of apples are your favorite for baking.
- Lemons – You can also use pre-bottled lemon juice
- Sugar – Brown sugar melts well in the oven and makes a thick delicious filling
- Flour – If you want to make a gluten-free version of this recipe, King Arthur Measure For Measure Gluten Free Flour* works very well.
- Rolled Oats
- Spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, allspice. Or substitute Apple Pie spice*.
- Butter – The butter should be cold.
Utensils and Supplies
To make this recipe, you’ll need the following supplies:
- mixing bowl
- apple peeler – I like to use one of these gadgets* since it makes the peeling so much faster!
- apple corer – Since I’m lazy, I have another gadget* that I use to core and slice the apples.
- pastry knife* – This makes cutting the butter into the flour mixture easier. But you can use 2 knives if you don’t have a pastry knife.
- 8 or 9 inch casserole dish or cake pan
How To Make Apple Crisp
Most of the work for this recipe comes when you are preparing the apples.
I really hate peeling and coring apples. Which is why I go for the gadgets.
An apple peeler* makes the first step, peeling the apples, so much easier.
The one I use isn’t very expensive and it works!
For coring and slicing the apples, I use one of these gadgets*.
Bonus: If you buy the apple peeler above, it usually comes with an apple corer and slicer!
To have the apples cook evenly, you’ll want them to be thinly sliced. If you’re using a slicer like mine that cuts them into 8 pieces, you’ll want to cut each of those slices in half, so you get 16 slices per apple.
Put the apples in your casserole dish or cake pan.
Toss with the lemon juice. This helps to keep the apples from turning brown.
Next, mix the flour, oats and all of the spices in a bowl.
Cut the butter into slices and add it to the mixture.
Use your pastry knife to cut the butter into the flour. If you don’t have a pastry knife, use two knives in a cross pattern to cut across the butter.
Unlike most recipes, cold butter is much easier to use for this process.
Keep cutting until the butter is chopped into pea-sized pieces.
Sprinkle the flour mixture over top of the apples.
Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.
Serve warm or cold. Just like apple pie, it tastes great with vanilla ice cream!
Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- 6 apples
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- pinch allspice
- ½ cup butter
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F.
- Peel the apples.
- Slice the apples into thin slices. I usually do 16 slices per apple.
- Put the apple slices in a large bowl and sprinkle lemon juice over them.
- Add the brown sugar, flour, rolled oats and all of the spices to another mixing bowl.
- Mix in the butter by using a pastry knife to cut the butter into the flour and spice mixture. Keep cutting until the butter has been chopped into pea sized pieces.
- Sprinkle the flour mixture over the apples.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Serve warm (or cold) with vanilla ice cream and it's sure to disappear quickly!