Easy Apple Crisp Recipe from Grandma - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

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Explore this recipe for our Grandma’s easy apple crisp. These tips will help you make the best apple crisp you’ve ever had.

We are sharing a simple recipe for traditional apple crisp without oats and a melt-in-your-mouth topping that screams cinnamon and butter. Your family will be begging for you to make this over and over again.

Easy Apple Crisp Recipe from Grandma - These Old Cookbooks (2)

Table of Contents

Apple Crisp Without Oats Recipe

How do you make apple crisp from scratch?

Follow these simple instructions below, and soon your house will be smelling like fall.

Arrange peeled, sliced apples in a baking dish. Combine water and ground cinnamon, and pour over apples in the baking dish. Work together butter, sugar and flour until crumbly. Sprinkle over the sliced apples. Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown. The full instructions for old fashioned apple crisp recipe can be found below.

We are in love with this recipe. Barbara found it in Grandma’s Old Wooden Recipe Box (her most prized possession). It really is a unique recipe because it’s apple crisp with no oats and no brown sugar. Instead, the topping is a combination of flour, white sugar, and butter (or margarine). The cinnamon goodness is poured right over the sliced apples in the pan before the topping goes on.

Our Grandma was a phenomenal cook, baker, Grandma, Mom, friend, woman.And, making and eating this recipe reminds us feel the way we felt when we spent time with her.

Grandma also had another easy apple cobbler type dessert in her recipe box. If you like yours with an oat topping, try our Old-Fashioned Apple Crumble recipe.

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp Recipe Ingredients:

  • Apples, peeled and sliced
  • Water
  • Ground Cinnamon
  • Flour
  • Butter (or margarine)
  • Sugar
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Howdo you make apple crisp from scratch

Step By Step Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Peel and slice apples in a bowl.
  3. Arrange apples in a baking dish; combine water and ground cinnamon and pour over top the apples in the dish.
  4. Work together butter, flour and sugar until a pea-sized crumbs forms using two forks, a pastry blender or even your clean hands.
  5. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples.
  6. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until golden brown crisp topping on top.

Full recipe for homemade apple crisp without brown sugar is at the bottom of this page.

Recipe FAQs

  • You can use a metal 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 inch pan or go old fashioned and use a 1 1/2 or 2 quart Pyrex or Corning Ware dish. Any of those will work. Just watch the cooking time. This delicious apple crisp will cook faster in a larger pan because it’s spread thinner.
  • Grandma says margarine can be used instead of butter.
  • To make the crumbly topping for this old fashioned apple crisp, use two forks, a pastry blender or even your clean hands. Work it until it resembles course crumbs.
  • Love apple crisps without oats? Try this Minnesota Apple Crisp recipe.
  • This recipe inspired us to make a divine cherry version. Try it! A peach version would be good too. Here is a Blueberry Brown Betty recipe that’s similar to a blueberry crisp.
  • Should you should peel your apples first before making this crisp? Not necessarily. If you are in a hurry, then you could leave the peels on; however, this does change the texture of the crisp. If you have time, go ahead and peel them.
  • Grandma would say to use whatever apples you have on hand for this easy apple crisp recipe. We agree!
  • Try serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
  • Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite pantry and kitchen items.
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Try Other Fruit Desserts

Love fruit cobblers, crisps and cakes? Here’s some more of our favorite old fashioned fruit desserts.

Easy Cherry Crisp

Crock Pot Peach Cobbler

Grandma’s Rhubarb Streusel Dessert

Peach Batter Cake

Grandma’s Rhubarb Pie

Our Favorite Apple Recipes

We love cooking with apples…especially baking with this versatile fruit. Here are some of our favorite apple recipes:

  • Old-Fashioned Apple Slab Pie
  • Minnesota Apple Crisp
  • Caramel Apple Crisp Bars
  • Cinnamon Stewed Apples
  • Red Hot Cinnamon Apples

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Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Grandma’s Easy Apple Crisp

Grandma's Easy Apple Crisp recipe is a traditional, old fashioned apple crisp without oats. The melt-in-your-mouth topping screams cinnamon and butter and will have your family begging for more.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple crisp without oats, Easy Apple Crisp, grandma’s easy apple crisp

Servings: 8

Calories: 239kcal

Author: Barbara

Ingredients

  • 4 cups peeled and sliced apples
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

  • Arrange peeled and sliced apples in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

  • Combine water and cinnamon, and pour over apple slices.

  • Work together flour, sugar and butter until it becomes crumbly.

  • Sprinkle mixture over apples.

  • Bake until golden brown, approximately 35-40 minutes.

Notes

  • You can use a metal 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 inch pan or go old fashioned and use a 1 1/2 or 2 quart Pyrex or Corning Ware dish. Any of those will work. Just watch the cooking time. This delicious apple crisp will cook faster in a larger pan because it’s spread thinner.
  • Grandma says margarine can be used instead of butter.
  • To make the crumbly topping for this old fashioned apple crisp, use two forks, a pastry blender or even your clean hands. Work it until it resembles course crumbs.
  • This recipe inspired us to make a divine cherry version. Try it! A peach version would be good too.
  • Should you should peel your apples first before making this crisp? Not necessarily. If you are in a hurry, then you could leave the peels on; however, this does change the texture of the crisp. If you have time, go ahead and peel them.
  • Grandma would say to use whatever apples you have on hand for this easy apple crisp recipe. We agree!
  • Carb counts, calorie counts and nutritional information can vary greatly depending on products used. The information below is auto-calculated and should not be used for specific dietary needs.

Nutrition

Calories: 239kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 279IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1mg

Easy Apple Crisp Recipe from Grandma - These Old Cookbooks (15)

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Easy Apple Crisp Recipe from Grandma - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between apple crumble and apple crisp? ›

Like an apple crisp, an apple crumble is a baked fruit dessert with a layer of topping. But unlike the crisp, the crumble topping rarely includes oats or nuts. Instead, a crumble's topping is more like streusel, made with flour, sugar and butter.

What are the best apples to use for apple crisp? ›

What Makes A Good Apple For Apple Crisp? The best apples for baking keep their structure under heat, which prevents the chunks of fruit from turning into mush after baking. The firm and crisp Granny Smith and Honeycrisp varieties are popular apples to use in apple pies and apple crisps.

Why do you put lemon juice over the apples when making an apple crisp? ›

The lemon juice will keep the apples from turning brown. Set your prepared apple crisp aside on the counter until ready to bake. Put the apple crisp in the oven to bake just as you are serving dinner. And by the time dinner is over, this warm syrupy dessert will be ready.

What is the difference between apple Betty and apple crisp? ›

Both are very similar apple desserts, but the difference mainly comes down to the crumble topping: Instead of the flour and oat mixture used in an apple crisp, an apple brown betty uses breadcrumbs for its crumbly, delicious topping.

How do you keep apple crisp from getting soggy? ›

How do you keep Apple crisp from getting soggy? You need enough butter in your topping, try both melted or cold cut into the dry ingredients. Also, there needs to be enough texture to keep it from just flattening into the fruit below.

Why is it called Brown Betty? ›

This has led some historians to believe that Betty was the name of the cook and creator of the recipe and that brown was in reference to her skin color.

Which apples are not crispy? ›

As mellow as sweet apples come, Gala apples are known for their sweet, vanilla aroma and soft bite. Bittersweet and soft fleshed, the Red Delicious is a classic apple with mild crispiness. The Golden Delicious sits at the bottom of the crunch list with soft skin and mellow, yellow apple flavors.

Do you peel apples before baking? ›

Unpeeled apples will add a bit of color and texture to your pie, but they may prevent the apples from melding together when baked. Peeled apples will give you a delicately soft pie with no tough surprises, but some people argue that you lose the apple's nutritional value once the peel is removed.

Why is my apple crisp topping dry? ›

If your apple crisp is dry, you didn't use enough butter. Make sure to follow this apple crisp recipe to ensure you've got the proper measurements.

Why isn't my apple crisp crispy? ›

Just make sure you add enough melted butter to coat everything: it brings it all together. Your day-old mush will turn back into the warm and crunchy crisp once more if you reheat in the oven at 350°. And for the love of autumn, please do not forget the ice cream. Or the whipped cream.

How to tell if apple crisp is done? ›

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit. Bake the apple crisp until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown and crisp, about 45 minutes.

Which liquid water lemon juice is better to keep the apple slices from turning brown? ›

To use this method to prevent apples from turning brown, create a water bath for your apple slices with a ratio of 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of water. Soak the apple slices for 3 to 5 minutes, then drain and rinse them. This simple step should keep your apples from browning for several hours.

Why is it called a buckle cake? ›

Buckle. A buckle is a funny name for an old fashioned fruit studded coffee cake. Like many other desserts in the extended cobbler family buckles take their name from their appearance—grunts grunt as they cook, slumps slump when served, buckles—you guessed it—buckle.

What apple is best for apple crisp? ›

Jonagold Apples

They're perfect for both pie and crisp due to their deep, apple-forward flavor and mellow tartness. They release some juice but retain their shape relatively well without getting mushy.

What is brown betty made of? ›

A Brown Betty is a traditional American dessert made from fruit (usually apple, but also berries or pears) and sweetened crumbs. Similar to a cobbler or apple crisp, the fruit is baked, and, in this case, the sweetened crumbs are placed in layers between the fruit.

Why is my apple crumble topping not crunchy? ›

The main reason your crumble topping isn't crunchy is probably because you haven't used Demerara sugar. Although, it could also be that you've got your topping ingredient quantities wrong: either too much or not enough flour and butter alongside the sugar.

Is apple crumble better with custard or ice cream? ›

What is best to serve with Apple crumble? Vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream are both good alternatives, especially if the apple crumble is hot. Do you prefer custard sauce, ice cream, whipped cream or thick cream with your Apple pie? Vanilla ice cream.

What is apple crumble called in America? ›

Apple crisp is a dessert made with a streusel topping. In the US, it is also called apple crumble, a word which refers to a different dessert in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

What is the difference between crisp and crumble and buckle? ›

Though crumbles, crisps, and cobblers are more akin to pie, a buckle is a lot like cake. In fact, they look nearly identical to fruit-filled coffee cakes. As the batter rises in the oven, the weight of the fruit causes it to “buckle.”

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