Simple Apple Crumble: An Easy Apple Crisp with a Buttery Oat Topping

Simple Apple Crumble (Apple Crisp)

If you are looking for a warm, comforting dessert that fills the kitchen with the smell of cinnamon and baked apples, this Simple Apple Crumble is exactly what you need. In the United States many home cooks call this same dessert an apple crisp, and both names describe the same golden, bubbling bake.

It is an easy recipe built on a handful of everyday ingredients, which is why it suits chilly evenings when you want something sweet without a long shopping list. Soft, gooey apples sit underneath a buttery oat topping, and every spoonful tastes like pure comfort.

Serve it warm and watch it disappear. The apples turn tender and syrupy, the topping crisps up in the oven, and the whole dish comes together with very little effort.

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Simple apple crumble recipe literally the best in the whole wide world

That heading sounds like a big promise, but apple crumble really is one of the easiest desserts you can put together. The only real work is coring and peeling the apples, and even the peeling is optional. If you are short on time, leave the skins on. They soften as they bake and add a little colour to the filling.

What you want at the end is a thick, chunky layer of crumble topping rather than a thin dusting. A generous topping gives you that crunchy, buttery contrast against the soft fruit, and it is usually the part everyone scrapes off first. The crunchy crumble with a scoop of ice cream is a dessert all on its own.

Cinnamon and nutmeg do a lot of the heavy lifting here, so be generous with them. If you are not a fan, simply leave them out. When the spice jar is empty, a mixed spice blend steps in nicely and still gives you that warm, cosy flavour.

The result you are aiming for is easy to describe:

• Apples that are perfectly cooked and gooey, with just the right amount of syrup around them
• A topping that stays crispy and golden, never dry
• No watery puddle at the bottom of the dish
• No soggy layer where the crumble meets the fruit

Once you have made it at home, a store bought version rarely feels worth buying. Homemade takes minutes to assemble, uses pantry staples, and it freezes well, so you can bake one now and keep another for a busy evening.

Freezing works beautifully too. Bake the crumble, let it cool completely, then portion it into freezer safe containers. Reheat gently in the oven whenever a craving strikes, and it comes back almost as good as the first day.

Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream or custard and let the ice cream melt into the hot apple syrup. That contrast is the whole point.

The method itself is friendly to beginners. Core and chop the apples, mix them with spices and brown or white sugar, then tip them into a baking dish. Sprinkle over a crumble topping made with flour, oats, or both. This version uses both flour and oats, which gives you crisp edges and a soft, oaty middle at the same time.

If you want the printable version, you can find my Simple Apple Crumble here. And if you enjoy this flavour in a creamier form, my Apple Crumble Cheesecake is a lovely next bake.

This recipe is adapted from the original Simple apple crumble recipe.

Ingredients to make this recipe

Before you start, it helps to know what each ingredient is doing. Nothing here is unusual, and most of it is probably already in your kitchen.

• Apples. Red apples are a favourite because they are sweeter, and Fuji or Gala bring a lovely honeyed note. Granny Smith is widely used for a sharper, more tangy filling, and truly any apple you have on hand will work.
• Cinnamon. About half a teaspoon, or a little more if you love warm spice.
• Nutmeg. A little grated nutmeg goes a long way, and it is what makes the filling smell like a proper autumn bake.
• All purpose flour. Used in both the filling and the topping. Self raising flour can stand in for the topping if that is what you keep in the cupboard.
• Butter. You can use melted butter or cold softened butter. Cold butter is the usual pick because it rubs into the dry ingredients and creates that rubbly, chunky crumble.
• Sugars. Light brown sugar for the topping, plus brown and white sugar in the filling.
• Lemon juice. Just a squeeze to lift the sweetness of the apples.
• Salt. A pinch in the topping balances all that sugar.

How to make simple apple crumble in easy steps

Here is the whole bake in a nutshell. Once the oven is on, you can have this in the dish before it finishes preheating.

1. Heat the oven to 180C/375F and get your baking dish ready.
2. Peel, core and chop the apples, then tip them into the baking pan.
3. Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix everything together. Stir in half the juice of half a lemon.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cold butter and a pinch of salt. Rub with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, leaving a few bigger chunks for texture.
5. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is golden and crisp and the filling bubbles up around the edges.
7. Take it out, let it stand for a few minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

That is it. No chilling, no waiting around, and no complicated stages to keep track of.

Tips

Keep an eye on the crumble after about 20 minutes of baking. If the top is browning faster than you would like, or it looks like it is starting to burn, cover it loosely with aluminium foil. The foil slows the browning on top while the apples inside finish cooking through.

The topping is classic as written, but it is also very forgiving. A few easy swaps:

• Use white sugar instead of brown sugar, or a mixture of both, if that is what you have.
• Add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg to the topping itself for extra warmth.
• Swap cinnamon or nutmeg for mixed spice or a pumpkin pie spice blend if you are out of either one.

Fruit choice matters less than you think. Sweeter apples need less sugar, and sharper apples welcome a little more. Taste a piece of apple before it goes in the dish and adjust from there.

Leftovers, if you have any, reheat gently in the oven rather than the microwave so the topping keeps some of its crunch.

If you enjoy oat toppings, this homemade apple crumble with oats is a helpful reference for texture.

Ingredients

Here are the exact amounts used in this bake. It serves six, and the only equipment you need is a baking dish.

For the apple filling

• 6 apples
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, or as needed
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, or as needed
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• Juice of half a lemon

For the crumble topping

• 1 cup all purpose flour, or self raising flour as a substitute
• 1 cup porridge oat
• 125 g butter, melted or cold and softened, cold butter is used here
• 1 cup light brown sugar, or as needed
• 1/4 tsp salt, a pinch to balance the sweetness

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/375F and prepare the baking dish.
2. Peel, core and chop the apples and transfer them into the baking pan. Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix to combine, then add half the juice of half a lemon and stir again.
3. In another bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cold butter and a pinch of salt. Rub with your fingers until you get a consistency like breadcrumbs. Some chunks are allowed too.
4. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the prepared apple filling.
5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is crispy and golden and the apple filling is bubbly.
6. Remove from the oven, let it stand for a few minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Leftovers keep well covered in the fridge, and this crumble freezes well if you want a second bake ready for later.

Recipe details

As a rough guide, the source lists about 483 calories per serving, with 83 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein and 17 g fat. Those figures come from an online nutrition calculator, so your own numbers will vary depending on the apples, sugars and butter you use.

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Simple Apple Crumble (Apple Crisp)

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Simple Apple Crumble (Apple Crisp) If you are looking for a warm, comforting dessert that fills the kitchen with the smell of cinnamon and baked apples, this Simple Apple Crumble is exactly what you need. In the United States many home cooks call this same dessert an apple crisp, and both names describe the same golden, bubbling bake.

• Total Time: 55 min
• Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Apple filling
6 apples
½ tsp grated nutmeg, grated
½ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp white sugar
½ lemon juice, juice of half a lemon

Crumble topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup porridge oat
125 g butter, cold
1 cup light brown sugar
¼ tsp salt

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Instructions

Instructions
1-Preheat the oven to 180C/375F and prepare: Preheat the oven to 180C/375F and prepare the baking dish
2-Peel, core and chop the apples and: Peel, core and chop the apples and transfer into the baking pan. Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, mix to combine then add half the juice of half a lemon and stir to combine
3-In another bowl, combine, oat, flour, brown: In another bowl, combine, oat, flour, brown sugar, cold butter and a pinch of salt, rub with your fingers until you get a breadcrumbs-like consistency. Some chunks are allowed too.
4-Sprinkle the crumble toppings on the prepared: Sprinkle the crumble toppings on the prepared apple fillings
5-Bake in the oven for 35 to: Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the topping is crispy, golden and apple filling bubbly
6-Remove from the oven, stand for a: Remove from the oven, stand for a few minutes and Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard

Last Step:

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• Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 40 min
• Method: bake

Nutrition

• Calories: 483 kcal
• Sugar: 60 g
• Sodium: 259 mg
• Fat: 17 g
• Saturated Fat: 11 g
• Carbohydrates: 83 g
• Fiber: 5 g
• Protein: 3 g
• Cholesterol: 45 mg