All it takes is 5 minutes and 6 ingredients, seven if you count ice cream, to throw this gorgeous caramel apple crisp together. There is nothing better than a fresh, homemade apple crisp. And this recipe for Caramel Apple Crisp is not only easy to make but provides a delicious dessert for the holidays.
So I've had a craving for apple crisp for almost 6 weeks now. You'd think I would have gotten round to making it. But life has been BUSY!!! Well in between the madness, it really was yesterday ( I worked 7am-3pm and 4:30pm-10:30pm) and made this in between that short little break.
Now, I do realize apple baking isn't really in "season" but for me apple baking is all year long! Cooked apples are one of my all time favorite desserts, whether they are baked in a cake, topped with a crumble, inside a pie, on their own, inside a cookie.. you name it I like it! All kinds of baked fruit are the best, especially this Peach Raspberry Galette Recipe.
While my nan has been here she laughs at me, a normal person would take that hour and a half break and relax. But me? No I bake. And create a mess to clean up, and stress myself out most of the time cuz I really don't have the time to bake, clean, photograph OH and write the recipe down.
Luckily this recipe is DEAD easy! I had salted caramel in the fridge so I used salted but feel free to use good ol' caramel. Melt some of the wrapped caramels with a little cream or use store bought ice cream caramel topping. Anyway you play it this will be amazing.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Cooking Apples. I like Granny Smith Apples for their tartness against the sweet caramel but you can also use Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, Jonagold, Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, Cortland apples.
- Caramel. You can use salted caramel sauce or normal caramel sauce. And you can use homemade caramel sauce or store bought caramel sauce.
- Old-Fashioned Oats. Also known as Rolled Oats these oats give the nice, chewy crunch to the topping.
- All-purpose Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly.
- Brown Sugar. You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
- Salted Butter. The butter gets rubbed into the dry mixture, keep the butter cold and cut into small chunks. If you have only unsalted butter on hand just add a pinch of salt to the dry ingredients.
You can use any of your favorites spices like ground cinnamon or ground nutmeg.
Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!
For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Spray a 9X9 square baking dish with non-stick spray.
Peel your apples and slice thin-medium sized slices. Place apples directly inside the pan.
Drizzle ¾ cup caramel on top of the apple slices and mix together so all apples are coated.
In a medium bowl mix together oats, flour, and brown sugar.
Then use your clean hands to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you get smaller clumps of crumble.
Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top of apple filling. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown top. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Store leftovers in an air tight container for up to three days.
FAQ & Tips for Success
You can use a variety of apples for an apple crisp, just make sure they are cooking apples that don't break down into mush. You can use Granny Smith Apples, Honey Crisp Apples, Fuji Apples, Gala Apples, Braeburn Apples, or Cortland Apples.
Yes! You can prepare the crisp topping weeks ahead of time and just store it in a freezer safe airtight container in the freezer. No need to thaw before using. Or you can prepare the whole apple crisp ahead of time, cover it and store it in the refrigerator for up to one day before baking.
This apple crisp can be reheated in the microwave but for the best results warm it in the oven. Place the crisp in an oven-safe dish and cover with aluminum foil and bake for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through.
Yes, make sure your oats are gluten free and swap out the all purpose flour for a one to one gluten free all purpose flour.
Once the apple crisp is baked and cooled transfer to a freezer safe airtight container and freeze for up to three months. Thaw the apple cranberry crisp in the refrigerator overnight then reheat in the oven.
More delicious apple recipes
- Salted Caramel Upside Down Apple Pie
- Apple Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Maple Apple Muffins
- Caramel Apple Cake
- Apple Cider Cake
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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PrintCaramel Apple Crisp
All it takes is 5 minutes and 6 ingredients, seven if you count ice cream, to throw this gorgeous caramel apple crisp together.
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 Portions 1x
Ingredients
- 4 Small-Medium Sized Cooking Apples* I like Granny Smith Apples
- 6oz (¾ Cup) Caramel, homemade or storebought
- 100 gram ( 1 Cup) Old-Fashioned Oats/ Rolled Oats
- 157 grams ( 1 ¼ Cup) All-purpose Flour/ Plain Flour
- 150 grams (¾ cup) Brown Sugar
- 6oz (¾ Cup) Salted Butter, cold cut into small chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Spray a 9X9 square baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Peel your apples and slice thin-medium sized slices. Place apples directly inside the pan. Drizzle ¾ cup caramel on top and mix together so all apples are coated.
- In a medium bowl mix together oats, flour, and brown sugar then use your clean hands to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you get smaller clumps of crumble. Sprinkle evenly on top of apples. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown top. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Store leftovers in an air tight container for up to three days.
Notes
*Cooking Apples: Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, Cortland
If you don't want to make Salted Caramel store bought caramel will work fine. Or melt wrapped caramels with some heavy cream.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Gloria says
Just saw this on IG and had to jump over to grab your recipe right away. I agree, apples are an all year round treat. I am always impressed by how hard you work at the restaurant... and still have time to do what you love. It really makes me realize that I need to use my time more wisely. (I feel my day gets away from me sometimes.)
I love how easy this creation is to whip up. ... you're just amazing! Have a fabulous weekend, my friend!
Elizabeth says
Stop you are the best!!! Always such kind words from you. Working at the restaurant and doing this blog makes me a little crazy!!! My day ALWAYS gets away from me. This was super easy, I actually just ate the last of it right now. Hope you have a great weekend too 🙂
Heather @ Sugar Dish Me says
um... this is amazing. The photos had me hooked but then you said 15 minutes and... well I could hug you for that. I bake with apples (and eat apples) all year round too! Love this like crazy and now I need it. Thanks for giving me a goal this Sunday evening!!!
Tamara Coleman says
Hello! Im a sucker for warm desserts with a nice scoop of ice cream. 🙂 Your apple crisp has all the right flavors and love that you included caramel.
http://www.prettybitchescancooktoo.com
Elizabeth says
You and me both!! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Jenny says
I have a question. I do love apple crisp, but I was wondering if it would still work if you didn't add the oats. I have never tried to make one without the oats. I love the idea of apple crisp with like a strudel topping. I guess that wouldn't be technically a crisp. I get confused between crisp, cobbler, buckle...execedra. I think a strudel topping, like on a pie or coffee cake, would be delicious. I am not a fan of pie crust, however I do love the rest of the ingredients. So I guess it would be like a dutch apple pie without crust? Would your ingredients work without the oats? Thank you so much for taking the time to share your amazing recipes. The experienced and less experienced bakers/cooks appreciate you sharing your delicious recipes and having clear and instructions that are easy to follow.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi, Jenny thanks for reaching out, sorry for my delayed response. So I would try my rhubarb crumble topping recipe and omit the oats and add the same amount of grams in flour. I personally have never done it but you should be just fine! I know it's super confusing between all of the fruit with topping bakes, I feel ya on that!! I appreciate your kind words as I do spend so much time trying to be very thorough so it's great to hear it is appreciated! 🙂 Let me know if you try any of the crumble/crisp recipes without the oats and how you get on, would love to hear. Hope you have a lovely weekend. XX Liz
Dena Holmes says
Delicious Christmas Dessert! We loved it!
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you so much for the 5-star review, Dena! So pleased you enjoyed it!! Happy New Year! XX Liz