This easy apple crisp has big fall flavors throughout. Lovely warm notes like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom are laced in every bite. A buttery, crunchy, oat-filled topping is the blanket that tops sweet + warm spiced apple slices. Serving this cozy dessert with a scoop of ice cream is an absolute must for extra yum!

apple crisp in large white casserole dish with apples on the side

Friends, I’m so excited for all the fall tings. Have you done any shopping for this season? The other day I was in Home Goods (one of my truest retail loves 🤣) and there was no shortage of pumpkin decor in the dang store, ha! I mean, it seems like all of the stores this year have understood the assignment. I’m living for all of it. Also, the candles they have this season…take all my money!

However, I’ve been living vicariously through everyone’s apple-picking outings. Whenever I scroll through social, I see so many of y’all with your fresh apples, cider, and donuts. We don’t have apple orchards in Florida (at least none that I’m aware of, ugh). Nevertheless, I’m very much on the apple season train and making all of the apple-y goodness. This easy apple crisp, whew.

apple crisp with ice cream on top on small white plate with gold spoon

The Best Easy Apple Crisp

If you love apples and spices and anything scrumptious- this apple crisp is giving you one helluva dessert! I love how easy + straightforward it is to make and also how lightweight this crisp is. Unlike its cousins, the apple cobblers and pies.

What Is An Apple Crisp?

Great question! An apple crisp is kinda like what its name says. It’s basically an apple-filled dessert with a crispy topping piled on which is usually made up of oats and nuts (elements that give it a good crispy/chewy bite). As opposed to cobblers and pies which feature a more dense cake-like/biscuit consistency (cobbler) or pie/pastry dough (pie). Apple crisps are sooo delicious.

What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe

(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)

  • honeycrisp apples (see below for more notes on apples)
  • brown sugar (brown sugar is best! but you can sub for coconut/maple sugar)
  • almond flour (or all-purpose flour)
  • lemon juice (helps apples from browning and adds tartness/balance)
  • bourbon (adds depth in flavor- totally optional!)
  • almond + vanilla extract (beautiful flavoring combos)
  • spices: cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom (yum!)
  • almond flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, butter (for the crisp topping)
honey crisp apples in a large casserole dish
sliced spiced apples in large white casserole dish
oats, pecans, and cubed butter in large glass bowl
oat topping spread on top of apple filling in casserole dish

What We Love About This Easy Apple Crisp

⇢ EASY + SIMPLE. This apple crisp is so easy to bring together, y’all. Matter of fact, the only labor intensive thing here is peeling/coring/slicing all of the apples, dassit lol. After that, it’s mix, dump, top, and bake! 🙌🏾

⇢ SO FLAVORFUL! All of the warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom combined with the brown sugar, bourbon, extracts (and more); meld together and create a lovely “syrup-y” harmony that gets sopped up with the apple filling. Then the buttery, crispy topping rounds out this bomb apple crisp.

⇢ GLUTEN-FREE. This easy apple crisp recipe, as it is written, is inherently gluten-free if that means something to you. I keep it that way by using almond flour and gluten-free oats which you can stick to or use other substitutions like…

⇢ CUSTOMIZATION-FRIENDLY. Feel free to use whatever sugar you like; coconut/maple sugar, use all-purpose flour/whole wheat flour, and if you don’t like/don’t have pecans you can use walnuts or hazelnuts.

More Cozy Desserts To Enjoy

easy apple crisp in casserole dish with small white plate and orange linen on the side

How To Make This Easy Apple Crisp

(Note: please see the recipe card directly below for the complete written instructions.)

  1. Preheat the oven and prep your baking dish.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the apple filling ingredients and mix to combine.
  3. Dump the apple filling into the prepared baking dish.
  4. In another bowl, combine the apple crisp topping ingredients together.
  5. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the apple filling.
  6. Bake the apple crisp until bubbly and golden brown.
  7. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

>> This is the best easy apple crisp recipe that you’ll ever make, peeps. For sure a recipe everyone will rave about! Quin’s hot take ⇢ Soft and extra tender sweet apples are spiced to perfection, enveloped by brown sugar goodness; and blanketed with a crispy, nutty, oat-filled topping. Listen, the only thing left to finish this one off is a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream and you’re good to go!

Best Apples For Making An Apple Crisp 🍎

I recommend using honeycrisp apples for this apple crisp recipe. They’re the best apples to bake with and ones that I consider to be top tier. That is, in terms of their honey-sweet taste and their crisp, tart, and juicy nature. A good second best would be gala apples. Other honorable mentions include granny smith, pink lady, and golden delicious apples. All in all, use what you have!

easy apple crisp in white casserole dish with white spoon

Friends, I know that y’all are going to love this easy apple crisp recipe so very much. If you love cobbler recipes as well- you’ve just gotta peep my skillet peach cobbler and my blueberry cobbler, yuh! Happy baking! Xo.

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apple crisp with ice cream on top on small white plate with gold spoon

Easy Apple Crisp

★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Quin Liburd
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Desserts & Sweets
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

This easy apple crisp has big fall flavors throughout. Lovely warm notes like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom are laced in every bite. A buttery, crunchy, oat-filled topping is the blanket that tops sweet + warm spiced apple slices. Serving this cozy dessert with a scoop of ice cream is an absolute must for extra yum!

Ingredients

Scale

For the apple filling:

  • 6 medium Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons superfine almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon- optional
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

For the crisp topping:

  • 1/2 cup superfine almond flour
  • 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free)
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • vanilla ice cream, for serving- optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8×8 inch baking pan or a similar sized baking dish with butter or cooking spray and set aside.
  2. For the apple filling: In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples, brown sugar, almond flour, lemon juice, bourbon, almond/vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom together. Toss this mixture together very well to thoroughly combine. I like to use my hands for this to really massage everything into each other nicely. 
  3. Empty the apple filling into the baking dish and then set aside.
  4. For the crisp topping: In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, and cold butter together. Use your hands to mix everything together; pinching the butter between your fingers as you go until the the mixture is crumbly and sand-like. Then evenly sprinkle the crisp topping over the apple filling.
  5. Place the baking dish onto a large enough baking sheet just in case the crisp bubbles over.
  6. Bake the apple crisp for 40-45 minutes or until the crisp is bubbly throughout and golden brown on the top. Let the crisp cool down for at least 10 minutes.
  7. Serve the apple crisp warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

  1. Please read the blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.
  2. Feel free to use Gala apples in place of Honeycrisp apples.
  3. All-purpose flour can be used in place of almond flour.

Keywords: easy apple crisp, fall baking, healthy desserts, apple desserts