This easy Apple Crisp without Oats is a classic fall dessert you can put together in about 20 minutes. The cinnamon brown sugar apple filling is soft and tender and the buttery crumble topping is perfectly crunchy. It's a simple, delicious, easy dessert you'll make again and again.
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When apple season rolls around we're all about apple desserts. Mini Puff Pastry Apple Pies, Cake Mix Apple Cobbler, Apple Cinnamon Bread, we love them all.
But our all-time favorite fall dessert is this delicious apple crisp recipe without oats recipe. It's a spin on a tried and true family-favorite apple crisp recipe, but instead of the traditional oat topping, it has a brown sugar streusel topping without oats. So you could call it apple crumble.
The combo of the buttery, crunchy topping with the tender, cinnamon-spiced apple filling is out of this world. It is the best apple crisp ever -- and a super quick and easy recipe with simple ingredients.
You're Going to Love This
- Fast and easy apple dessert you can put together in about 20 minutes
- Handy tips to quickly core and cut apples and make streusel without a pastry cutter (hint: you'll need a cheese grater!)
- Great way to use up leftover apples
- Perfect fall dessert for serving a crowd, you can easily double this recipe in a 9 x 13 pan.
Ingredients
This simple recipe comes together with basic ingredients. See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients.
Apples. I use 8 cups of Granny Smith and Fuji apples to add contrasting sweet and tart flavors. You’ll need about 7-8 apples, depending on how big the apples are.
Brown sugar. I prefer dark brown sugar in this apple crisp recipe without oats because it has a rich molasses flavor. Light brown sugar works, too.
Warm spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger add cozy fall flavor to the apples and the topping. You can also use apple pie spice or other warm spices you love like mace, cardamom, allspice.
Pecans. Nuts add more texture, crunch, and rich nutty flavor to the streusel. You can use any kind of nuts or skip them.
Butter. Keep the butter in the refrigerator until it’s time to use it so it's really cold when you grate it.
Best Type of Apple for Apple Crisp
When selecting apples for apple crisp, choose a combination of sweet and tart, firm apple varieties to give your fruit filling the best flavor and texture. Here are some ideas:
Sweet Apples
- Honeycrisp
- Jonathans and Jonagolds
- Golden Delicious
- Gala
- Fuji
Tart Apples
- Pink Lady
- Braeburn
- Granny Smith
- Melrose
- Winesap
- Cortland
How to Cut Apples for Apple Crisp
If you don't have a fancy apple peeling/coring/slicing gizmo (I don't, either), here’s a fast and easy way to cut and core apples for apple crisp or apple pie:
Step 1: Place the peeled apple stem-side up on a cutting board. Make a vertical slice about ½ inch to the right or left of the core, being careful not to cut through the core.
Step 2: Turn the apple ¼ turn and slice.
Step 3: Repeat this process all the way around the apple until you’re left with 4 sections of apple and the core.
Step 4: Place each section of the apple flat-side down on the cutting board. Slice it in half horizontally, then vertically into ¼ inch slices.
How to Make Apple Crisp without Oats
Before you get started: Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x9 or similar size baking dish (mine is 8x10) with cooking spray.
Step 1: In a very large mixing bowl, toss the sliced apples with all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
Place the apple slices in the prepared baking dish.
Step 2: Make the streusel topping. Combine flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt in the same large bowl you used for the apples. Grate the cold butter with a cheese grater and add it to the bowl.
Step 3: Use your fingers to toss the mixture together and pinch the butter and flour mixture until it clumps and resembles wet sand.
Instead of grating, you can cut cubed butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.
Step 4: Evenly sprinkle the apple crisp topping over the apple mixture.
Step 5: Bake for 60-80 minutes or until the top is deep golden brown, the apples are soft, and thick juices bubble up around the edges. Cover with foil during baking as necessary so the topping doesn't burn.
Step 6: Cool the apple crisp without oats on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before digging in. It may be quite soft while it’s still warm and will thicken up as it cools.
Serve warm apple crisp without oats topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.
Expert Tips
- Cut the apples into thin slices so they become soft and tender.
- Keep the butter in the refrigerator until you’re ready to grate it.
- This cheese grater is awesome because it stores flat in a drawer.
- Check for doneness at 50-60 minutes. Look for dark golden brown topping, thick, bubbling juices, and soft apples in the center.
- Cover with foil during the last 10-20 minutes if necessary to keep the topping from becoming too brown and the nuts from burning.
- Serving a crowd? Double the recipe in a 9 x 13 pan.
FAQs
You can warm up apple crisp in the microwave or the oven.
Microwave: To reheat apple crisp in the microwave, place 1-2 servings in a microwave-safe dish and heat in 15 to 30-second increments until warmed through. This is the fastest and easiest way, but the crumble topping won’t be as crispy.
Oven: Preheat the oven to 350. Place the apple crisp in an oven-safe dish and cover it with aluminum foil. Heat for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. If desired, remove foil toward the end to crisp up the topping.
The oven is my favorite way to reheat apple crisp without oatmeal and reclaim the crispiness in the crunchy topping.
Let the apple crisp cool completely before covering it, otherwise, the heat and trapped moisture can cause the topping to get soggy. Store cooled apple crisp covered in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Apple crisp can be stored at room temperature for up to two days, but if it’s hot and humid where you are, I’d recommend storing it in the refrigerator. You can store apple crisp in the refrigerator for about 5 days.
Yes. Freeze apple crisp in a freezer-safe container for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator and warm in the microwave or oven.
More Favorite Desserts
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📖 Recipe
Apple Crisp without Oatmeal
Ingredients
Apple Filling
- 8 cups sliced apples (7-8 apples) Fuji and Granny Smith or a combination of other sweet and tart apples
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Streusel Topping without Oatmeal
- 1 cup flour
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans. optional
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x9 or similar size baking dish (mine is 8x10) with cooking spray.
- Peel the apples and cut them into short, thin slices, about 2 inches long by ¼ inch thick.
- In a very large bowl, toss the sliced apples with flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Place the apple slices in the prepared baking dish.
- In the same large bowl you used for the apples, combine flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt for the streusel topping.
- Remove the butter from the refrigerator and grate it with a cheese grater. Toss the grated butter with the flour mixture and use your fingers to pinch the butter and flour mixture together until it clumps together and resembles wet sand.
- Alternatively, you can cut cubed cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.
- Evenly sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.
- Bake for 60-80 minutes or until the top is deep golden brown, the apples are soft, and thick juices are bubbling up around the edges (if the juice isn’t thick, it’s not done). An instant read thermometer should read 195.
- Check the apple pecan crisp after about 50-60 minutes to gauge how much longer you need to go. You may need to add a layer of foil at this point so the topping doesn’t get too brown or the nuts burn.
- Check the apples for doneness with a paring knife. Poke the paring knife into the center of the crisp. If you feel resistance, the apples aren’t soft yet.
- Let the crisp rest on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before digging in. It may be quite soft while it’s still warm and will thicken up a bit as it cools.
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