This is literally one of the best fall desserts that you will eat. It's a true comfort food filled with perfectly baked apples, cinnamon, ginger, crispy, sweet oats and a nutty brown butter. This recipe is so easy to make, a great way to use those gorgeous fall apples and just divine with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream. You're going to love this easy to make apple crisp recipe.
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❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easier Than Making Apple Pie! - Making an apple crisp is not nearly as labor intensive as making an apple pie but in my opinion, it's just as yummy!! You can easily get this crisp into the oven in under 20 minutes and have your house smelling like your favorite fall candle in no time at all!
It's Delicious! - cinnamon and sugar fall apples covered with a nutty, browned butter crisp topping served with vanilla ice cream, yum!
Can Be Made Gluten Free - Use certified gluten free oats and swap your favorite gluten free mix for the all purpose flour.
🍫 Ingredients
- apples - you want firm, tart apples for this recipe - I recommend something like Honey Crisp, Cortland or Macintosh. My favorite is a Honey Crisp apple crisp!
- mace - mace is the secret ingredient in this recipe - mace is related to nutmeg but made from the outside layer of the seed and adds a warmth and depth to this crisp that is absolutely delicious.
🥣 Instructions
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
Peel and slice the apples. Combine the apples with the lemon juice, vanilla, spices and flour. Mix until well coated and arrange in your baking pan.
Combine all of the dry, crisp topping ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Add the brown butter and mix until well combined.
Cover the apple slices with the crisp topping. Bake apple crisp at 350° for 40-45 minutes.
Serve apple crisp warm with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
Hint: Apple crisp is best served warm. To reheat chilled leftovers, move a portion of the crisp to an oven safe bowl. Cover with aluminum foil and warm at 350° for 7-8 minutes. Remove the foil and warm for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the topping is crisp again.
🤓 Expert Tips
How To Make Brown Butter:
- Place butter in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the butter becomes bubbly, fragrant and nutty smelling - swirl and stir as needed.
- Watch closely for small brown bits to begin forming on the bottom of the pan - this will happen around 5 minutes.
- As soon as you begin to see brown bits in the butter, remove the butter from the heat.
- Transfer butter to a glass measuring cup or small glass bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes before proceeding with your recipe.
- If you leave the butter in the pan it will continue to brown and could even become burnt.
⭐️ Recipe FAQs About
I find that the best apples for an apple crisp are firm, crisp apples like Honey Crisp or Macintosh. Cortlands also made a delicious crisp.
Apple crisp topping is traditionally made of spices, sugar, flour, butter and some sort of oat or nut. We made this one with browned butter which adds a nutty flavor to the topping and elevates the overall taste and structure of the apple crisp.
It's not necessary to cover apple crisp while it is baking. If you notice that your crisp topping is getting too brown, you can add aluminum foil for a few minutes until the apples are cooked through. You want to be sure to remove the foil for the last few minutes of baking so that your crisp topping is nice and crisp!
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Brown Butter Apple Crisp
Equipment
- 8 inch square baking pan
- glass mixing bowls
Ingredients
For the Apples
- 5 cups apples, sliced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Topping
- ½ cup butter, browned see instruction in recipe
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon mace
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
For the Browned Butter
- Place butter in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the butter becomes bubbly, fragrant and nutty smelling - swirl and stir as needed.
- Watch closely for small brown bits to begin forming on the bottom of the pan - this will happen around 5 minutes.
- As soon as you begin to see brown bits in the butter, remove the butter from the heat. Transfer butter to your mixing bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
For the Apple Crisp
- Preheat oven to 350° Combine the sliced apples in a large mixing bowl with the flour, brown sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger. Mix until the apples are well coated with the flour, sugar and spices. Evenly arrange the apples in your favorite 8 inch baking pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, mace and salt. Mix gently with a fork. Slowly pour in the cooled brown butter and use a fork to combine the dry ingredients with the butter. Sprinkle evenly over the apple filling.
- Bake the apple crisp for 40-45 minutes at 350°. Once the apples are bubbly and the top is golden brown, remove the crisp from the oven. Allow the crisp to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve apple crisp in your favorite dessert bowls with a big scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream! Enjoy!
Laura says
Can this be made ahead or frozen then baked?
Amanda Smallwood says
Hi Laura,
I think you can definitely make the apples and then the crisp topping ahead of time. Just store them separately in the refrigerator. I wouldn’t put the topping on the apples until you are about to bake the crisp. I haven’t tried baking and freezing. Let me know how it goes if you try freezing the crisp.
Steven says
There are two typos: there is surely NOT a quarter Cup of mace, and you should let it cool, not cook, for 15 minutes before serving. Otherwise, I like it a lot.
Amanda Smallwood says
Thanks so much for pointing that out! I just fixed them both! Going to have to speak to the editor 🤣🍎