Apple Crumble - Two Peas & Their Pod

Fall is in the air and that means all I want to do is BAKE, BAKE, BAKE! Fall baking is my absolute favorite because I love warming up the house and creating something sweet to share with loved ones.

I have a confession though; I don’t love baking pies. I don’t like fussy pie crust and pie isn’t my favorite dessert to eat. I know, who am I? BUT I do love a good cobbler or crumble and this Cinnamon Apple Crumble is the BEST.

It is easy to make (so much easier than making pie dough) and SO delicious. It’s the perfect dessert for fall, Thanksgiving, or really anytime of year because it’s so good.

Crumble Ingredients

The recipe is made with everyday baking ingredients, you just need fresh apples! Let’s get to it!

• Apples– peeled, cored, and sliced
• Lemon juice– to prevent the apples from browning.
• Vanilla extract– I love adding vanilla, so good!
• Sugar– granulated sugar and brown sugar.
• Cinnamon– a MUST!
• Flour– I use all-purpose flour, but if you need the crumble to be gluten-free, you can use all-purpose gluten-free flour.
• Oats– use old-fashioned oats.
• Salt– to enhance all of the flavors and to balance out all of the sweet.
• Butter– I use unsalted butter.

Best Apples to Use

Honeycrisp apples are my favorite fall apple and are great for baking too. They are crisp, sweet, with a little bit of tart. Granny Smith apples are the most popular baking apple. They are easy to find and hold up well in the oven. The tart, tangy flavor goes well with the sweet cinnamon crumble topping.

Other good apple options include: Jonagold, Braeburn, Pink Lady, and Jazz apples. You can also do a mix of apples.

Choose fresh apples that are firm and have no bruising. Peel, core, and slice your apples for the crumble.

The Crumble Topping

I love this recipe because it has A LOT of crumble topping. I have had apple crumble recipes where there is just a tiny bit of topping sprinkled on top and that is not ok. It’s a dessert, if I wanted an apple, I would eat an apple, ha!

The apples are completely covered with a crumble topping that is made up of flour, oats, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. If you want to add nuts, pecans or walnuts would be a nice crunchy addition.

How to Make Apple Crumble

First, make the apple filling. Combine the apple slices with lemon juice, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and flour

Make the crumble topping. Make sure you use COLD butter. Combine the butter with the topping ingredients, using your fingers, until the mixture comes together, and you have a crumbly mixture. Don’t over work the mixture, you want it to stay cold and have pea size buttery, crumble clumps.  

Assemble. Place the apple mixture in a greased 12-inch cast iron skillet or a 9×13-inch baking pan. Both pans work well.

Bake until bubbly. Your house will smell better than any fall candle out there.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream for the ultimate apple crumble experience.

Make Ahead

I love this dessert because it can be made in advance, making it perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or easy entertaining.

Once the crumble is in the pan, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake (up to 24 hours).

If you don’t want to make the entire apple crumble in advance, you can just make the crumble topping and keep that in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

How to Store

Leftover apple crumble will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. I recommend reheating in the microwave before serving. Pro tip-it makes a really great breakfast!

I don’t recommend freezing apple crumble because the apples and topping will get mushy.

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