Crispiest Apple Crisp

  4.7 – 78 reviews  • Apple Dessert Recipes

You won’t soon forget this bourbon pecan pie! This simple recipe substitutes bourbon for vanilla extract, giving a traditional Christmas treat a unique flavor.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 22 mins
Additional Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 47 mins
Servings: 8
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  1. 5 apples – peeled, cored, quartered, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
  2. ½ lemon, juiced
  3. ½ cup all-purpose flour
  4. ½ cup rolled oats
  5. ½ cup wheat and barley nugget cereal (such as Grape-Nuts®)
  6. ½ cup melted butter
  7. ¼ cup white sugar
  8. ¼ cup brown sugar
  9. 2 tablespoons butter
  10. ⅓ cup brown sugar
  11. ⅓ cup white sugar
  12. ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  13. 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Toss sliced apples with lemon juice to prevent browning.
  3. Mix flour, rolled oats, wheat and barley nugget cereal, melted butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 1/4 cup brown sugar together in a large bowl.
  4. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white sugar, and cinnamon into melted butter until sugar begins to dissolve, 3 to 4 minutes. Add apples and water; continue cooking and stirring until apples soften and are coated with sauce, 4 to 5 minutes.
  5. Pour apples and sugar mixture into a 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over the apple filling.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is browned and the filling is bubbling up around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 364 kcal
Carbohydrate 58 g
Cholesterol 38 mg
Dietary Fiber 4 g
Protein 3 g
Saturated Fat 9 g
Sodium 152 mg
Sugars 40 g
Fat 15 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Pamela Morrow
I needed a dessert and didn’t have all the ingredients. I used canned apple pie filling from ALDI which is very well seasoned. Didn’t have any oats or Grape-Nuts. Used two envelopes of apple-cinnamon instant oatmeal and chopped pecans. Very delicious.
Gregory Alvarez
This is the BEST Apple Crisp that I’ve ever had in my life! I started making this years ago when I saw Chef John on his Food Wishes YouTube channel. It’s not only the crispiest topping with the GrapeNuts cereal, but the actual apple flavor is amazing. I think a lot has to do with how he slightly pre-cooks the apple mixture. Love this! You’ve GOT to make it!
Daniel Carrillo
Yummy crispy goodness
Aaron King
Subbed out the grape nuts for granola cereal and dialed the sugar back by about 1/2 – was a beauty. Pro tip on cooking the apples beforehand a little. Thanks John.
Bradley Wolf
Made a blackberry crisp. Used same ingredients and proportions. Delicious!
Timothy White
This is the best apple crisp recipe I have found. Some crisp recipes aren’t even crispy. The grape nuts help. I have also used blueberries and blackberries instead of apples both of which turned out great.
Melissa Clark
All Right!!! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Kudos! Kudos! Kudos! FINALLY, a no bs site that gets straight to the point and doesn’t make me waste my time, feeling like I have to grade their English paper! (Be proud you’re a chef, ’cause writers they ain’t ;?) 5 Stars for the recipe 5 Stars for brevity & conciseness 5 Stars for webpage presentation 5 Stars just because finding this here recipe, with everything I want & expect from a recipe page, really made my day! This page has now been bookmarked, and I will be back 😀 Cordially, DMH vettie United States Navy
Joseph Reed
I make this once a week.
Carolyn Rios
Delicious and super crunchy! I love it
Nicholas Hawkins
This was so good! Just be very careful when you dissolve the sugars in the butter. I made a lot of hard candy.
Jacqueline Bradshaw
The Grape-Nuts cereal addition was a HUGE HIT! I will never make another crumble without adding it. I did up the cinnamon, as suggested by several other reviewers. I doubled the recipe so my ratio is a bit different. I did use a micro blade to grind one full fresh cinnamon stick into the apples as they were cooking. I also added about a 1/2 tsp of allspice as I had it on hand. Both made for a nice bright flavor to the apple layer. I, of course, ground a bit more of an additional cannon stick into the crumble. Thanks Chef John. Another swing and a homer hit.
Richard Vargas
Awesomeness
Nancy Nguyen
Despite not having Grape Nuts, I went ahead with making the recipe. We were not disappointed! I chopped up granola with bits of raisins and dried cranberries for a tasty topping. Wonderful.
Anthony Ballard
I added more white sugar and added nutmeg and craisins. Walnuts would’ve been good but alas, i had none.
Mrs. Linda Ellis
I double the butter and lemon juice and LOVE the addition of Grapen Nuts. Good texture
Joseph Dillon
i used a package of quaker instant oats (apple, no less) in lieu of grape nuts. Loved it
Chris Reid
Loved it! Took it to work and it was gone and they raved over it. This recipe is a keeper.
Amy Cherry DVM
Turned out great. Only change was I added chopped pecans and walnuts to the topping, as I love nuts in anything. Rave reviews from all my guests!
Jennifer Scott
Agree with others that sugar can be backed off a little. Aptly named. The crisp is great.
Andrew Cook
Chef John once again gives us an awesome dish, don’t change a thing and you and your guests will love it. A great fall dessert
Haley Ray
Overall a great recipe! I took some of the other reviewer’s suggestions and doubled the cinnamon, used slightly less sugar, a bit more apple, and skipped cooking the apples on the stove (less mess!). Instead, I mixed the sugars & cinnamon with the apples & lemon in a bowl, poured it into the casserole dish, dropped some pats of butter on top, and then topped with the crunchy topping mixture. Baked for 40 minutes until the edges were bubbling and it was perfectly done! Deliciously crunchy top and soft sweet apples underneath. I served with vanilla bean ice cream to cut the sweetness a bit. I probably could’ve used a few more apples (keeping in mind I was using freshly picked McIntosh that were on the smaller side). This will be my new default apple crisp recipe moving forward – you can’t beat the crunch!

 

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