Apple Crisp

Jeff the Chef
"Apple Crisp," from Make It Like a Man!

This is a straight-up, well-made, classic, delicious apple crisp. It is the very embodiment of homemade goodness.

What you need to serve 7-8:

3 medium-sized Granny Smith apples
4 medium-sized Honeycrisp apples
2 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar, divided
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick cold butter
1 cup old-fashioned oats

How to do it:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Peel, core, and slice the apples, and place them in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Sprinkle lemon juice, cinnamon, and ½-cup granulated sugar over the apples. Use two large, rubber spatulas (or the like) to toss the apples. Any slices that seem to be sticking together: see if you can knock them apart as you toss. Pour the apples into a shallow, 8”x8” baking dish and compact them into the dish. It will seem like too many apples, but make it work.
  4. In the same mixing bowl you used for the apples, mix the flour, brown sugar, remaining 2 Tbs granulated sugar, and salt. Add butter, and cut until the mixture is mealy and shows signs of forming clumps. Mix in oats and toss by hand until the mixture begins to clump.
  5. Sprinkle the oats over the apples, taking great care to create an even layer rather than one that is domed in the middle. It will rise well above the baking dish.
  6. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until the topping is browned, and the apples are bubbling and offer no resistance to a fork, another 30-40 minutes. (Test the crisp in at least six locations. If the oats seems to be getting too dark, replace the foil.) Remove from oven and allow to come to a snuggly, under-the-covers kind of warm. The crisp will fall as it cools, and will beautifully fill the dish.

Notes:

This mixture of Grannies and Honeys produces a robust flavor that is perfectly tart and perfectly sweet, given the amount of sugar in the recipe. If you swap the Grannies for a sweeter apple, reduce the amount of sugar. These apples will also produce a lovely texture when baked: full and substantial, yet yielding. There’ll be no need to thicken them with flour or cornstarch. Not every apple can do all this, and some of the ones that can – I love Cortland, for instance – can be hard to find. Read up on baking apples before experimenting.

This recipe produces a luxurious wealth of topping, very nicely balanced by the amount of apple. If you like less topping, feel free to hold back 25% of it.

This crisp is at its absolute best when it is just warm – not hot, not cold. Room temperature is second best. It’s not bad right out of the fridge, though. However, it’s not good at all when it’s flat-out hot.

Apple sizes vary, so who knows what passes for “medium?” Go with your instincts, and if in doubt, err in the direction of “large.” Four pounds before peeling, minimum. When you put the apples into the baking dish, you should really pack them in. Use some muscle. They should be perfectly even with the top of the dish and perhaps slightly rise above the edge of the dish. You don’t want to mound them. Pat them down into as even a layer as you can. It seems like too much, but it’s not. They’ll bake down and beautifully fill the baking dish.

Peeling apples is a chore, yes. But if you’re efficient and use the right tools, it goes surprisingly quickly. I use a peeler, a paring knife, and a chef’s knife. There are peeling gizmos. I don’t use one, shout out to this guy, who uses a drill! The paring knife is for removing the stem and core. (Some people use a melon baller for the core. I use the paring knife as if it were a melon baller and wind up cutting a kind of inverted cone into the apple.) For slicing, I use the classic technique of guiding the chef’s knife with the knuckles on my opposing hand. It’s easy to do with apples, and it produces nice, thin slices.

The 8”x8” baking dish, aka a 2-quart baking dish: bonus if it’s made of glass. That way, you can see if the apples are bubbling, although the apples should bubble up through the crisp around the edges.

Baking is a dual task: cook the apples and brown the topping. If the apples have any crunch at all, they’re undercooked and will have an underdeveloped flavor. Overcooked, they’ll resemble applesauce – but they’ll taste great. The oats have to brown as dark as you dare, without burning. Best chance for balancing these two objectives: thin apple slices of perhaps 1/8-inch, and shield the oats from the oven with foil for part of the baking time. That way, you can pretty much know it’s done once the topping is browned.

You may want to place a cookie sheet or something like that on the rack underneath the crisp to catch any drips.

The backstory:

“Classic” is the right word to describe this crisp, not “old-fashioned.” Old-fashioned would imply that the world has left this crisp behind for some modern version, and now we’re looking back fondly on that former version. That is simply not the case. Sure, people create all kinds of variations on apple crisp, but no one has created a version that has ever supplanted the classic. I nonetheless need to use the word “old-fashioned” – a lot – to appease my Google overlords in this post.

This isn’t my first apple crisp post. My first one was a how-to, and presented as much flexibility as possible. In the fall, when apples are so amazing, I make apple crisp almost every weekend – no kidding. And this classic version is the one that I make. It’s perfect.

Apple Crisp

In addition to “old fashioned,” I also have to use the word “grandmother” in this post in order to get Google to take me seriously. My grandmother didn’t bake. So for me, “like grandma used to make,” in the context of baking, merely refers to the idyllic American folk legend of the pie-making family matriarch. But look how many times I said “grandmother, ” Google bot!

This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor.

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61 thoughts on “Apple Crisp”

  5. Oh my this does look amazing! I can only imagine how good this would taste with some vanilla ice cream. Thanks for the tip on the mixture of apples for the best flavor. It’s apple season here now and we have a great selection.

    Reply

  6. I love a good apple crisp, but none of the passed-down family recipes do it for me. I’m going to give this one a try; there are several things about it that suggest it might be the best yet.

    Reply

  7. I love the term old-fashioned. Maybe cause I can relate! Love this. I don’t make many sweets, but I do have grand kids… and they would love this. Aren’t honey crisps just the best apple/!!

    Reply

  8. Take that, Google bot! Haha. Well done, my friend. I do love an apple crisp, and this Honey Granny Crisp sounds like it’s right up my alley. We have tons of apples over here – and Cortlands are available at the local orchard. Come on over (ok, maybe next year) and we’ll pick a bunch. Then we can eat apple crisp until the cows come home. Grandmother.
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Bacon Cheddar Pull Apart Bread

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    • Ooh, thank you for that extra grandmother. I’ll bet she’s old-fashioned! Tell me your local Cortland orchard also sells unpasteurized cider, and I’ll book the earliest flight!

      Reply

  9. We love this time of year and apple crisps/crumbles/pies are the best.
    Happy Baking and Happy Halloween.

    Reply

  10. Jeff — I love that you combine apple varieties for this. I often find Granny Smith apples too much by themselves. And your note to “use some muscle” and pack in the apples is spot on. I have three “medium” Granny Smiths now, and am getting several pounds of Ambrosias (new to me) this Sunday at the market. Apple crisp here we come!

    Reply

    • Yeah, there’s a lot of space in between the apples, even if it doesn’t quite look like it. I guess as an alternative, you could layer the slices into the pan, to ensure that they’re all laying flat and are tightly spaced. In any case, once they bake, they eventually collapse, and the crisp deflates to something too thin to be considered spectacular. So, I try to overpack the pan, and then it settles into being perfectly filled. Happy crisping!

      Reply

  11. Nice, simple, straightforward recipe. That’s totally correct — tastes just as it should, I’ll bet. I’m with you on warm, not hot, crisp. Although ice-cold from the refrigerator for breakfast is pretty tasty too. 🙂
    John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…The Modern Cocktail

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    • That is exactly what I’ve been doing for breakfast, John, with a hot cup of coffee. I mean, whatever else it is, it’s apples. And whatever calories it has, I have the entire day to burn them off. That’s how I justify it.

      Reply

  12. My grandmother (mother’s side) was also terrible at baking, but my other grandmother made wonderfully deserts. You know the ones like grandma used to make. The old fashion ones like grandma used to make that is.

    We love apple crisp as they’re hugely popular over here. We just picked a bag of apples from our neighbor’s house, so I’ll make up one of your apple crisps and see if it is indeed like the one grandma used to make. I think it’ll be better than the one grandma used to make…
    Ron recently posted…Funen Rygeost a Danish smoked cheese…

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    • You gotta love an old-fashion grandmother who can bake a good apple crisp. And next-door apples? It doesn’t get any better than that! Do you think one day, that phrase will turn into, “…just like my uncle the food blogger used to make?”

      Reply

  15. I’ve yet to make an apple crisp this season – I KNOW! Ill be on it this weekend – this recipe looks perfect, and I love that you used Honeycrisps. I used to use Granny Smith + Braeburn. But Honeycrisp is definitely a step-up! Cant wait to try this recipe!
    laura recently posted…Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars

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    • Thanks, Laura. I don’t come across Braeburns where I shop, but I’ve often read that they’re great for baking.

      Reply

    • Me too! As much as I love apple pie, crisp is equally delicious and so much easier.

      Reply

    • Oh, you’ll be delerious, Rahul. It’s so delicious. Interesting that you keep Granny Smiths around! I typically have them only if I’m planning some baking. Do you eat them out of hand?

      Reply

  21. You cannot beat a good apple crisp (or as we call it here in Scotland, and apple crumble!) at this time of year! The smell as it’s baking is amazing! Hope you are well Jeff. Thanks for posting this recipe.
    Neil recently posted…Cauliflower Cheese Mushroom Bake

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  23. Apple Crisp is my favorite fall dessert. I like that you combined my two favorite apple varieties for a tart and sweet mix. I remember back in grade school how excited I’d get for lunch when they’d have apple crisp on the menu. Mom wasn’t much of a baker since she worked 2 jobs, so it was the only time I was ever able to indulge in that scrumptious dessert. I’ve made it every fall since living on my own and it’s still my all time favorite autumn dish!
    Theresa recently posted…Apple Topping For All Of Your Fall Favorites

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  26. I just made this dish and its amazing. Its so easy to make and ready in 40 minutes. Loved adding icecream to the hot apple crisp. Surely a keeper

    Reply

  27. When we lived in New Hampshire and had our apple orchard, I would tell everyone that came for apples to let me know what they were going to do with them. When making pies and crisps, I would always suggest that they made them with a variety of apples like you have done here. That way you will have a sweet tart taste with both soft and firmer apples in every bite. Nice job!
    Karen (Back Road Journal) recently posted…Chicken, Shiitake Mushroom and Bok Choy Soup

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    • Hahaha! I can understand that, but I also have to confess that I make this to serve two. We eat it for days and days. It lasts quite a long time in the fridge.

      Reply
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