Quick & Easy Apple Crisp Recipe - Savory Nothings (2024)

If you want to make the best quick apple crisp – your search is over. This easy recipe is absolutely foolproof and so scrumptious! The simple topping is made with butter, sugar, flour and oatmeal. The apple filling is spiced up with cinnamon and bakes up a delicious and bubbly sauce for that old fashioned feel.

It is absolutely no secret that I love apple desserts during fall. One of my all-time favorite desserts / breakfasts / snacks are oatmeal crisps. They are just so easy to throw together!

Luckily, my kids are crazy about them, too – some other of our favorite crisp recipes include this Holiday Fruit Crisp, this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp and this Pear Crisp. And the Apple Crisp I’m sharing here, of course!

There’s really no better homemade dessert to enjoy during fall – serve warm with vanilla ice cream for an extra treat. For more apple desserts for autumn, see my Crockpot Apple Cobbler or my Cinnamon Sugar Apple Fritters.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

If you don’t have any brown sugar for the topping, replace it with the same amount of white sugar.

If you want to use quick cooking oats in place of old fashioned rolled ones, you may need to use a little less butter for the topping – start with half the amount the recipe calls for and increase as you go.

Adjust the amount of sugar in the filling according to how tart your apples are. Taste-test a slice first, then decide if your fruit needs a little more sweetening.

How to make an Apple Crisp

► 1 Make the apple crisp topping: I always start with the topping when I make a crisp, because then it can chill and firm up while I make the filling. Otherwise you risk a runaway topping!

Stir flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a small mixing bowl.

Cut in some cold butter until crumbs form. You can use a pastry blender, but I usually just crumble it together with clean fingers! Make sure to rub in the butter long enough so no more dry flour is visible – add another ½ to 1 tablespoon of butter if necessary.

Then chill the topping in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

► 2 Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 7×11 inch baking dish.

This is my favorite baking dish I got when it was on sale!It’s so pretty and works for all sorts of things – crisps, cobblers or even baked chicken.(This is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through.)

► 3 Make the apple crisp filling: Core and slice the apples. You can peel them first, but it’s not necessary and I’m usually too lazy!

Place them right in the prepared baking dish and toss them with sugar, flour and cinnamon – no need to dirty an extra bowl for this. It’s a good idea to taste-test one of your apple slices to adjust how much sugar you want to add to the filling.

Tip: For an extra-apple-y taste and a more bubbly, juicy filling, I like to add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a couple of tablespoons water to the apples!

► 4 Assemble the apple crisp: Scatter the prepared crisp topping all over the apple filling. You can also add some chopped walnuts or pecans.

► 5 Bake the apple crisp: Bake the crisp in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden-

I’ll say this now, but I can barely ever stick to it myself… Ahem. It’s best to let the crisp stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving. But I absolutely get how hard this is ?

Recipe tips

• make sure to chill the topping for at least 5-10 minutes, or it could all melt into the apples instead of staying crumbly and streusel-y
• I prefer tart apples that keep their shape for making apple crisp, something like Honeycrisp is great.
• You can switch up the fruit if you like – pears, a mix of apples and pears or even peaches are delicious!

How do you cut apples for apple crisp?

If you cut your apples into tiny chunks, you’ll end up with apple sauce at the bottom of your crisp.

Not that homemade apple sauce is a bad thing – it’s something I make in huge batches every fall. (Which is probably the main reason my husband thinks I might be slightly crazy.)

But in your apple crisp you want nice slices of soft, warm fruit.

You can peel them if you want, but I usually get organic apples and don’t bother with it.

How do you know how much sugar to add to the filling?

If you have very tart apples, you probably want to add a little more sugar to the filling.And if you have overly sweet apples, you might not need to add any at all.

The important thing is to not over-sweeten.

Food tastes sweeter when it’s hot than when it’s cold. So if you’re planning to eat your apple crisp warm and topped with ice cream (which I very strongly suggest), you need less sugar than you might think.

Make ahead tips

Making the crisp ahead is especially handy if you want to make an apple crisp for breakfast. (And yes, breakfast is an option. Serve it with plain Greek yogurt and prepare to be amazed.)

You can assemble the crisp up to 24 hours before baking it:

• Follow the recipe as-is, but don’t preheat your oven.
• Once your crisp is fully assembled and the topping is scattered on top of the fruit, cover it with cling film.
• Keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. Please note that baking time will be around 10-15 minutes longer if you bake it straight from the fridge.

More apple recipes you’ll love

PSIf you try this recipe, please leavea review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along onPinterest,FacebookorInstagram.

Printable recipe

Recipe first published in 2016. Updated with new photos and video on 01/27/2021.

More fall dessert recipes