Easy Apple Crisp Without Oats
Try this Easy Apple Crisp Without Oats recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Easy Apple Crisp Without Oats recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of kosher salt
- 4-5 apples (i use 2 granny smith and 2 sweeter apples whatever i have on hand)
- 1 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 1 stick unsalted butter diced
- **if you want to use chopped toasted pecans or walnuts in the topping, decrease the flour by 1/2 cup and use 1 cup of chopped nuts.
- Carbohydrate 102.336280956883 g
- Cholesterol 40.4916666666667 mg
- Fat 15.6187091670533 g
- Fiber 1.13125000848144 g
- Protein 3.39157833737177 g
- Saturated Fat 9.7479200000614 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (136g)
- Sodium 421.08366719911 mg
- Sugar 101.205030948401 g
- Trans Fat 1.17823366679408 g
- Calories 553 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Butter a medium-sized shallow casserole dish. Mine is a little smaller than a 9x13 dish.
- Peel and chop apples into ½-inch pieces right into the buttered dish.
- Add the lemon juice to the apples and gently toss to coat the apples.
- Add the vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, and cornstarch and gently mix until distributed throughout the apples.
- Stir together the flour, 1 cup of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, a little freshly grated nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.
- Add the butter and use your hands to mix until a pebbly, crumbly mixture.
- Sprinkle half the topping over the apples and move the apples around a bit so some of the topping is mixed in with the apples.
- Sprinkle remaining topping over the apples.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until topping is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest for fifteen minutes.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
Bakers frequently ruin fruit crumbles by pulling them from the oven the moment the surface shows color, ignoring what is happening underneath. Achieving the correct bake requires monitoring both the visual state of the topping and the bubbling behavior of the underlying juices. Set the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and use a shallow casserole dish rather than a deep vessel, ensuring the fruit layer stays thin enough for heat to penetrate evenly. Cornstarch requires a boil to activate its thickening properties, which means the juices surrounding the apples must actively bubble at the edges of the dish before extraction. Pull the pan only when the flour and butter mixture turns a deep golden brown and the fruit juices thicken noticeably, usually after 30 to 40 minutes of baking time.
Developing the proper texture in a topping devoid of oats relies entirely on how the cold unsalted butter interacts with the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and spices. Work the diced butter into the dry components using your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse, uneven pebbles rather than a uniform paste. Leaving small, pea-sized pockets of solid fat intact is crucial because those pockets melt during baking, creating pockets of steam that yield a crumbly, shortbread-like texture instead of a dense crust. Mixing half of this crumbly mass directly into the sliced fruit guarantees that the interior develops pockets of toasted texture rather than remaining entirely soft.
Selecting a blend of fruit directly dictates the final moisture level and structural integrity of the dessert. Combining tart, firm cultivars like Granny Smith with sweeter varieties balances acidity and prevents the filling from turning into mush during the baking process. Slicing the fruit uniformly into half-inch pieces ensures they soften at the exact same rate while absorbing the lemon juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Tossing the fruit immediately after cutting prevents enzymatic browning and helps distribute the cornstarch evenly across every surface.
Allowing the baked dessert to rest for precisely fifteen minutes off the heat permits the starches to set fully before serving. Slicing into a bubbling, piping-hot fruit bake results in a runny pool, whereas a brief resting window lets the cornstarch bind the juices into a cohesive sauce. Storing any leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to three days works well, though reheating individual portions in a 350-degree oven for ten minutes restores the crispness of the butter topping far better than a microwave.
