Crisp, buttery oats on top of warm, tender apples in a gooey brown sugar and cinnamon sauce make this the perfect apple crumble recipe. If you’re looking for a dessert that delivers big fall flavor and makes your kitchen smell pretty darn incredible, you can stop looking. You’ve found it!
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You’ll Love This Apple Crumble Recipe
There are a lot of apple crumble recipes out there, but this one sticks with what has always made apple crumble so good: simple ingredients, loads of tender (but not mushy!) apples, a rich, bubbly filling, and a golden topping with plenty of crunch. It’s easy enough for a beginner to make yet good enough to serve to guests.
Why You’ll Love It:
- This is an ideal way to end a cozy fall meal.
- No experience necessary – it’s a beginner friendly recipe.
- Made with simple ingredients, you likely already have most of them on hand.
- While it’s easy enough for a weeknight dessert, it’s delicious enough to impress guests.
- Served warm with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream, it might just become your new favorite apple recipe!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This is a discussion about the ingredients. For the actual recipe with amounts, please see the recipe below.
- Apples: I like using a combination of apples in my dessert recipes. While I always use Granny Smith apples for apple crumble, I also like to mix in other tart yet sweet apples such as Pink Lady or Honeycrisp. The one apple I do not recommend is red delicious – they tend to get grainy and mealy when baked.
- To Peel Or Not To Peel: I prefer to peel my apples, but you leave the peels on if you desire.
- Butter: You’ll need both cold, cubed butter and melted butter for this recipe. Be sure to separate your portions so you don’t accidentally melt all of it.
- Flour: The flour will also be separated and used in two different ways.
- Oats: I recommend old-fashioned oats for the best texture, but quick oats will work as well. Quick oats just get a bit softer, so they don’t have quite the same texture.
- Brown Sugar: You can use dark or light brown sugar. As with the butter and flour, the sugar will be divided between the topping and filling.
- Granulated Sugar: Standard white, granulated sugar.
- Cinnamon: If you want a stronger cinnamon flavor, you can bump up this amount. You can also try adding in nutmeg or even a touch of ginger if you like.
How to Make Apple Crumble
This is just a visual overview of how this recipe is made to help you visualize the process. For the actual recipe directions with full details, please see the recipe card below.
Step 1: Combine apples, sugars, flour, cinnamon, and water.
Step 2: Add butter to the mixture and transfer to a greased baking dish.
Step 3: Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and melted butter.
Step 4: Sprinkle topping over the apples and bake until golden. Enjoy!
Christi’s Tips For Success!
Apple Picking: In addition to selecting sweet and tart apples such as Granny Smith, make sure you are also picking firm apples. Mushy apples will make for a mushy filling.
Go Nuts: If you like you can add chopped pecans or walnuts to the topping for additional flavor and crunchy texture.
Make Ahead Option: While this is delicious the next day, for the best texture, it’s best assembled and baked prior to serving. If you want to do some prep ahead of time you can chop up your apples and toss them in lemon juice, then store in an airtight container. I don’t recommend making the entire filling in advance as the apples can let off quite a bit of liquid, watering it down. You can prep your topping in advance and place in the fridge, but it will soften the oats some. Aside from peeling and chopping the apples, this is a really fast dish to assemble.
Storage Tips
Storage: Store your leftover apple crumble in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheating: You can reheat just a serving in the microwave or bake it again at 350°F until it’s warmed through evenly. Baking it will help maintain the texture of the topping better than the microwave will. This can also be served cold!
Serves Well With
Serve this recipe for apple crumble using oats with a big scoop of ice cream! You can make it a full fall thing with homemade pumpkin pie ice cream and cinnamon whipped cream. I also love to drizzle some homemade caramel over the top!
Creative Ways To Serve
For some more creative ways to serve your apple crumble, you can stir a spoonful into a bowl of oatmeal, mix it into a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream, or add it to your yogurt or use it to make extra delicious yogurt parfaits!
More Apple Dessert Recipes
Love this apple crumble recipe and want more delicious apple desserts? I’ve got you covered!
Apple Recipes We Love
From sweet to savory dishes, breakfast to dessert, there are so many delicious ways to cook and bake with apples! Here are some of my family’s favorites.
Apple Crumble
Ingredients
Apple Crumble Filling
- 10 medium size apples*, sliced and cut into chunks (Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp are great choices)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cups brown sugar (measured packed)
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon water**
- 2 tablespoons cold butter (cut into 1/4" pieces)
Apple Crumble Topping
- 1 cup oats (old fashioned oats preferred )
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted (salted or unsalted)
Instructions
Filling
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 13 inch dish (or equivalent size) by greasing or spraying with non stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine apples, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, cinnamon and water. Mix well until apples are completely coated and ingredients turn into a syrup like consistency.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking dish, then sprinkle the two tablespoons of cold butter evenly around the top.
Topping
- In a separate bowl, combine oats, 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar and melted butter to create the topping. Mix well then sprinkle over the apple mixture.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly prior to serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Store tightly covered.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
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Originally published June 24, 2014. Updated September 23, 2026 with new pictures and text, but the same original recipe.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Yummy! My husband loves hot apple with cinnamon desserts. This is perfect. Love it!!