A brown sugar apple crisp is the perfect ending to any dinner. It’s a simple dessert that satisfies any sweet tooth.
Brown sugar apple crisp is a deliciously simple dessert or snack that’s a great way to use up leftover apples. There are no baking skills required, obviously since I’m making it, and you likely have all the ingredients on hand.
The brown sugar adds a depth that makes this apple crisp even more flavourful. Though it does take a little bit of effort to peel and slice the apples I promise you this dessert is super basic and totally worth it.
Preparing Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
Ingredients
Produce
Gala apples: Sweet, sometimes tart fruit that grows on apple trees. There are over 7,500 varieties of apples grown around and we use gala. They are sweet and crisp but not too crunchy. Most sweet varieties will work in this recipe.
Lemon juice: Lemons are citrus fruit loaded with vitamin C. These somewhat oval, yellow fruit are packed with flavour. They are sour and sometimes tart and add freshness to recipes. For this recipe, we are using the juice of a lemon.
Dairy
Butter: Butter is churned milk or cream and is high in fat. It is solidified when refrigerated, holds a semi-soft, spreadable consistency at room temperature, or can be liquefied when heated.
Pantry
Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a spice that is actually made out of the inner bark of the tree. You can commonly buy cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon. This recipe calls for ground cinnamon.
Nutmeg: Nutmeg is a seed coming from an evergreen tree. The seed is used as a spice in food however be careful not to use too much for two reasons. One reason is that it’s a very overpowering flavour. The second is that in larger amounts it can be toxic due to its psychoactive effects.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar is a mixture of white sugar and molasses. Molasses is responsible for the darker colour. We use dark brown sugar for this recipe but any brown sugar will do.
Whole wheat flour: I use whole wheat flour for this recipe to add a little bit more fibre but all-purpose flour works just as well.
Rolled oats: Also called old-fashioned or whole oats, these oats are steamed and pressed to gain their shapes. These are most commonly used to make granola and in baking.
How to Make Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
There is a little bit of work with this one but it’s still very simple to make. Gather your ingredients and let’s get slicing.
Step 1: Prep the Apples
Start by peeling, coring, and slicing the apples. I cut them into 1/8-inch slices, maybe a bit bigger.
Once your apples are sliced, move them to a medium bowl.
Next add the lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg to the bowl.
TIP: If you are a fan of nutmeg you can add as much as ½ tsp of nutmeg in total.
Using two spatulas, toss the apples until they are all evenly coated with
the flavouring. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl with each toss to get all the spices mixed in.
TIP: Silicone spatulas are my favourite for this task. They are perfect for easily scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the flavour.
Now grease a 9×13 glass baking dish with butter or oil pray, then spread the apples on the bottom of the dish in an even layer.
Preheat the oven now to 350°F.
Step 2: Make the Crisp
Next, it’s time to make the crisp. Combine the wholewheat flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and cinnamon in a bowl. I use the same bowl as the apples, and there is no need to wash it.
Stir until all the dry ingredients until they’re well combined and the cinnamon is evenly distributed.
Then add the butter and using your hands massage the butter into the other ingredients until you get a wet sand type of consistency. You want to make sure all the spices and flour are combined with butter.
Once the dry ingredients are mixed in with the butter the crisp is done. Sprinkle it over the apples in an even layer and bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes.
Substitutions
Whole Wheat Flour: You can use all-purpose flour instead. There isn’t going to be much of a difference so whichever flour you have on hand will be great.
Brown Sugar: You can definitely use white granulated sugar instead of brown sugar. The brown sugar contributed to the nice darker colour and also adds a slightly different taste thanks to the molasses it contains. Using white sugar however isn’t going to make it any worse, just slightly different.
Gala apples: Though different varieties of apples will have different textures, especially once cooked, we are not picky here at House of G&K. The only thing you want to do is check how tart your apples are. If they have a slightly sour or tart taste add ½ cup of sugar in the crisp instead of 1/3 cup.
Serving Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
Once the apple crisp is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for at least 20 minutes.
It tastes delicious when it’s warm or cold so this is just based on your preference.
Whatever temperature you like it at, I highly recommend serving it a la mode…there’s nothing like a scoop of vanilla ice cream paired with an apple dessert.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is brown sugar apple crisp gluten-free?
This recipe is not gluten-free as it calls for wheat flour. You can make this apple crisp gluten-free by using gluten-free flour. Also, make sure your oats are labeled gluten-free as well.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
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Brown Sugar Apple Crisp Recipe
Equipment
- 9x13 baking dish
- Peeling knife
- Knife
Ingredients
Apples:
- 3 lbs gala apples
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp flour
Crisp:
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup+2tbsp whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Peel, core and slice the apples.3 lbs gala apples
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Add the apples to a bowl then add lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and flour. Using silicone spatulas, toss everything until well coated making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp flour
- Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish and spread the coated apples in an even layer.Cooking spray
- Next, make the crisp. Combine the wholewheat flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and cinnamon in a bowl and stir until combined and the cinnamon is evenly distributed. Then add the butter and using your hands massage the butter into the other ingredients until you get a wet sand type of consistency. You want to make sure all the spices and flour are combined with butter. This takes a couple of minutes of mixing.1/2 cup+2tbsp whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 cup butter
- Pour the crisp evenly over the apples and bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes.
