This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Easy Apple Crisp (without Oats)

This easy apple crisp recipe without oats is one of our favorite fall desserts. Enjoy it plain, or top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. We also include baking tips for crispier crisp and best apple varieties.

This recipe is simple enough that my sons can make it themselves. (They still haven't completely mastered rolling out pie crust neatly.)

Easy Apple Crisp (without Oats)

Easy Apple Crisp Recipe without Oats

Adapted from Favorite Recipes of America – Desserts (1968)

Ingredients

  • 6 cups apples, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, or gluten free flour blend like Namaste
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F. Arrange apples in 2 quart baking or casserole dish. Sprinkle apples with 1 tablespoon of sugar, toss to coat.

Cut together flour, salt, cinnamon, remaining sugar and butter with a pastry blender or food processor. Mix until just blended.

Spread the crisp topping over apples, evenly distributing over entire dish.

apples with topping, not baked

Bake at 375° F until topping is golden brown and center is bubbling, about 50 minutes. Serve warm, with ice cream if desired.

If you prefer a less sweet dessert, cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, or substitute 1/4 cup of honey. (Honey will be more likely to brown faster, so you may wish to lower the temperature 5-10 degrees.)

Want a little more spice in your crisp? Double up on the cinnamon, or add a little nutmeg, cardamom or ginger. This apple crisp recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13 baking dish. I prefer glass bakeware, if available, for slow and even cooking.

Tips to Keep Apples from Browning

To keep the apples from browning, place cut apples into cool water with lemon juice. Use about 1/4 cup lemon juice per 4-6 cups of water.

If you don't have lemon, use salt or citric acid.

  • 1 tablespoon salt per 6 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon citric acid per 4-6 cups water

I fill my 8 cup glass measuring cup about two-thirds full with lemon water to start. Then I place the apple slices in the lemon water as they are prepared. This makes it easy to see how many apples I have sliced.

Once I have enough apples, I drain them and move them to the baking dish. Then I use the measuring cup to mix the topping.

Cameo and Cortland apples naturally resist browning, and are favorites for baking.

peeled apple slices
Apples for a batch of apple crisp, plus peels saved for homemade apple cider vinegar.

Best Apples for Apple Crisp

You can use any apples for this apple crisp without oats, but the flavor and texture changes. We use wild apples from the tree on the fence line, or whatever we have available.

If you're buying apples, some popular varieties for crisps and pies include:

  • Granny Smith
  • Golden Delicious
  • Honeycrisp
  • Braeburn
  • Cameo
  • Cortland

If you have access to heirloom apples, look for:

  • Northern Spy
  • Caroline Red June
  • Gravenstein
  • Rhode Island Greening
  • Cripp's Pink
  • Twenty Ounce
  • Yellow Bellflower
  • Winesap
  • Arkansas Black
  • Idared

A mix of tart and sweet apples, or soft and firm apples, adds interest to the crisp. Try Pink Lady with Granny Smith, Braeburn with Golden Delicious, or Gravenstein with Greening.

pan of apple crisp

Tips for a Crispier Apple Crisp

People sometimes ask, “Why didn't my apple crisp get crispy?”, especially if they have an apple crisp without oats or nuts.

For a crispier crisp, it helps to start with room temperature butter instead of cold butter. You want the butter to cling to the other ingredients and bind everything together.

You might also want to slightly adjust the amount of flour. I use a brand of flour that is quite dry, so this flour/butter ratio works for me. With a different brand, you might want to increase to 1 cup of flour.

It's best to use a wider baking dish, to spread the topping evenly over the fruit. This helps to make sure the topping is properly cooked an some liquid will steam off.

If you have some on hand, try demerara, maple sugar, or coconut sugar. Sugar with larger crystals adds a little more “crunch” and texture to your topping.

Print Friendly Recipe

Crumbly topping meets yummy apples in this delicious apple crisp without oats. Use the print friendly recipe below to print it out for later.

The apples in the video are RubyMac apples, which have a pink interior. This gives the finished crisp a pretty pink finish. You can also mix in some berries with the apples for more color.

bowl of homemade apple crisp
Print

Easy Apple Crisp without Oats

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.5 from 2 reviews

This easy apple crisp goes together in minutes to create that homemade apple pie flavor without the work. Delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream.

  • Author: Laurie Neverman
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 16 servings 1x
  • Category: Dessert

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 6 cups apples, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, or gluten free flour blend like Namaste
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Arrange apples in 2 quart casserole dish or 9×9 baking dish. Sprinkle apples with 1 tablespoon of sugar, toss to coat.
  2. Cut together flour, salt, cinnamon, remaining sugar and butter with a pastry blender or food processor. Mix until just blended.
  3. Spread crisp topping over apples, evenly distributing over entire dish.
  4. Bake at 375° F until topping is golden brown and center is bubbling, about 50 minutes. Serve warm, with ice cream if desired.

Notes

If doubling the recipe, bake in a 9×13 pan and add 5-10 minutes baking time.

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Easy Apple Crisp recipe (without Oats)

More Apple Goodness

We love our local apples, and enjoy them fresh, cooked and preserved. Some of our favorite apple recipes include:

For preserving, check out:

Originally published in 2016, last updated in 2021.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

9 Comments

  1. Thank you for your recipes! My experience with coconut flour is that it browns much faster so I use half and half with regular gluten-free flour which allows the apples to cook fully while the crisp is browning. I use mostly Gala apples with a couple Honey Crisp apples and find that there is no need to add any sugar to the apples, just a lot of cinnamon. My family enjoys eating the apple peels so I sprinkle them with lemon and cinnamon and store them in a bag in the fridge.

  2. Thank you so much for this! My daughter has food allergies and oats and sugar are problems for her. Finally, a recipe for apple crisp that she can eat! This is great!






  3. This was great. Easy to prepare but I still added the sugar to the apples! Must read for comprehension! But even with the extra dose of sugar it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe. There’s a tiny smidge left

    1. Glad you enjoyed it. With two teenage boys in the house, I almost always make a double batch. My sister says I need to take pictures that show more apples, so I may need to whip up some again soon. 🙂