Grandma’s Apple Crisp Recipe – A Classic Fall Dessert

Whenever the weather begins to turn cooler and the apple harvest is at its peak, I pull out all of my favorite apple recipes, including my Grandma’s Apple Crisp recipe. Warm, sweet apples topped with a buttery, crunchy topping makes for a dessert that screams Fall.

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you have what I would describe as the perfect, homestyle dessert. Best of all, it is super easy to make.

This recipe also works great for family gatherings, holidays, or just when you’re craving something sweet but don’t want the fuss of making a pie. You get all the warm, spiced apple flavor of an apple pie, but without the need to make and roll out pie dough.

In fact, all you need are 5 simple ingredients. Nothing fancy or hard to find ingredients in this recipe. All you need are apples, cinnamon, butter, flour and sugar.

What’s the Best Type of Apple to Use?

The key to any good apple crisp starts with picking the right kind of apples. Apples vary in sweetness, texture, and how well they hold up to baking. In my Grandma’s apple crisp recipe (and her Apple Pie recipe), Granny Smith apples were always the preferred variety of apple to use.

Granny Smith apples are tart, which balances out the sweetness from the sugar and cinnamon in the recipe. They also hold their shape well when baked, so instead of turning into mush, they keep a bit of texture.

Other apples that work well for apple crisp include Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or even a mix of Granny Smith and a sweeter variety like Golden Delicious if you want to balance tart and sweet flavors.

Preparing the Apples

Once you’ve got your apples, the next step is prepping them. Start by peeling, coring, and slicing the apples. You can cut them into bite-sized chunks or slices, whichever you prefer. Some people like thicker slices for more texture, while others like the smaller chunks for easier eating.

However, you decide to prepare your apples, place them in your greased 8 x 11 inch baking dish, making sure they’re spread out evenly. Sprinkle the tops of the apples with cinnamon and dot with slices of butter. The butter helps to create a rich, slightly creamy layer as the apples bake down and release their juices.

The Topping: What Makes It a “Crisp”?

For Grandma’s apple crisp, the topping includes flour, sugar, and butter. When put in the oven the butter melts and combines with the flour and sugar to form a golden, slightly crunchy topping.

However, in order to get that classic crisp topping you must be sure to mix the ingredients in a certain way. And that all starts with mixing the flour and sugar together and then cutting in the butter.

Cutting in the butter just means mixing it into the flour mixture until it resembles small pea-sized crumbs. You can do this with a pastry cutter, a fork, or even your hands. The goal is to get those small pieces of butter mixed in well, as they’ll melt and help create that crispy topping once baked.

Baking the Apple Crisp

Once your topping is ready, sprinkle it evenly over the apples in the baking dish. You don’t need to press it down, just make sure the apples are mostly covered.

Place the dish in the oven, preheated to 350°F, and bake for 55-60 minutes. You’re looking for a golden brown top and apples that are soft and tender. You’ll know it’s done when the top is crispy, and the edges start to bubble with the juices from the apples.

After baking, let the apple crisp sit for about 10 minutes before serving. This rest time lets the juices settle a bit, and the crisp topping will firm up even more as it cools. Plus, no one wants to burn their tongue on when taking the first bite of this delicious dessert.

Serving Suggestions

Apple crisp is best served warm, and it’s the perfect dessert to serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The coolness of the ice cream against the warm apples and crisp topping is a combination that you just can’t beat.

Some people also drizzle a bit of caramel sauce over the top for an extra indulgent touch, but it’s completely optional.

Storing Leftovers

If you happen to have leftovers (which, let’s be honest, is rare because this dessert is so delicious), storing them is easy. Just cover the baking dish with plastic wrap or foil and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

When you’re ready to reheat, you can warm it up in the oven at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes to re-crisp the topping. However, I most often use the microwave to reheat, but you won’t get that crispy texture back.

Grandma’s Apple Crisp Recipe

*Specific measurements and complete recipe instructions are located in a printable recipe card at the bottom of this article. However, be sure to continue to read the tips and tricks to making this recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Granny Smith apples
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into slices

Topping Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature cut into slices

INSTRUCTIONS

The first step in making this delicious dessert is to pick out the apples. As you probably already know, not all apples are great to make into desserts.

For this recipe, we always use Granny Smith apples. Because there are just a few ingredients, you want an apple that is tart and can hold up to the baking process.

Pick out 6 medium-large apples that are nice and firm. Next, peel and cut the apples into bite size chunks.

You can make quick work of this process by using a standard vegetable peeler and then cut the apples using an apple corer and slicer. Next, cut each apple slice into 4 pieces.

Place the apples in an 8 x 11 baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Then sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon on top.

Next, slice 3 tablespoons of butter into small slices and randomly place the butter pieces on top of the apples. This will help soften and add additional flavor to the apples as they cook.

The Topping

Now it is time to make Grandma’s Apple Crisp topping. In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Then cut in the soft butter using a fork, pastry cutter or even your hands!

Keep mixing until the topping resembles pea size crumbles. Then sprinkle evenly over top of the apples.

Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour or until the topping is nice and golden brown.

Let Grandma’s Apple Crisp sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate, Fall dessert!

Enjoy! Mary

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