This simple apple crumble recipe is made with rolled oats for a delicious crunchy topping. Includes recipe tips to help you select the best apples! This post contains affiliate links. When you shop through them, a small commission helps support this site. Thanks!
Welcome to my favorite apple crumble recipe.
It’s like a handful of cinnamon oatmeal cookies snuggled up with some baked apples. And, believe it or not, it’s actually pretty good for you!
How did I come up with it? Let’s just say that I have been making a lot of apple crumble lately. Correction: I have been making a LOT of apple crumble lately.
I have a more or less continuous sweet tooth and I like to make dessert every day if possible. However, I know that some desserts (like this deep dish brownie recipe) are not really suitable for eating every day because they’re too rich and none of us wants to gain 50 pounds a year.
So, I needed to come up with a dessert that I could have on most days that would be sweet and satisfying, yet would not leave me feeling as though I’d overindulged.
I started from an easy blackberry crumble recipe and worked on streamlining it for easy prep, adjusting for the change from blackberries to apples, and also reducing the total amount of sugar.
To improve the overall nutritional value (and because I like the taste of apple skins), I tested seven varieties of apples to see which apples stayed firm and flavorful when baked with the skins left on.
Which Apples Stay Firm & Flavorful When Baked with Skins On?
Good options:
- Honeycrisp was the clear winner. The flavor was unparalleled and the liqueur produced by the cooked apples was sublime.
- Pink Lady / Cripps Pink was very firm with good flavor. A solid runner-up.
- Granny Smith, precut and bagged had a classic apple flavor but a softer texture.
- Sonya had a mild, pearlike flavor and soft texture. Although this was softer, some people may like its very mild taste.
Not so good options:
- Kanzi had mushy flesh.
- Granny Smith, cut from whole apples basically turned into applesauce. My own reading suggests that apples held in storage for a long time after harvest can become mushier when baked. The ascorbic acid wash given to the precut and bagged variety helps retain firmness, or so I was told by a CrunchPak rep at the Southern Exposure produce convention I visited.
- Pinata had tough, chewy skins and mushy flesh. It was the worst apple for baking with skins on.
Helpful Apple Crumble Baking Tips
- Buy the freshest apples. The fresher the apple, the more juice to produce that yummy liqueur that collects in the bottom of the pan and soaks into the crumble topping. Look for “new crop” signs in your grocery store.
- Use an apple slicer for easy cutting.
- Don’t bake in ceramic. Ceramic dishes are pretty (that’s why you’ll see them in my photos), but if you bake apples in them, much of the juice will evaporate because of how ceramic retains heat. I recommend a light colored aluminum cake pan if you have one- it’s quick to heat up and quick to cool down.
- Salt is good. A dash of salt makes the flavors pop.
- Let it cool completely. As tempting as it may be, don’t serve hot out of the oven. Baked apples benefit from a rest. You’re better off letting it cool to room temperature, then warming it slightly in the oven or microwave. Believe it or not, it tastes even better the second day!
Easy Apple Crumble Recipe with Oats
This simple apple crumble recipe is made with rolled oats for a delicious crunchy topping. Includes recipe tips to help you select the best apples!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour you may substitute all purpose flour if you prefer
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 6 tablespoons butter melted and divided
- 1 pound baking apples cored and sliced into eighths (I recommend Honeycrisp or Pink Lady / Cripps Pink)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375.
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Place the apple slices into a pan. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of melted butter over the apples and reserve the rest of the butter. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of brown sugar over the apples. Toss or stir in the pan to coat the apples.
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Place the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, and 1/3 cup of brown sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine. Pour in the remaining melted butter and stir until well combined.
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Spoon the mixture evenly over the apples, allowing it to remain somewhat clumped as you do so.
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Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the apples are easily pierced with a fork. Let cool almost to room temperature before serving.
How do you like your crumbles? Do you leave apple skins on or off? What’s your favorite fruit to use in a crumble?
Dini @ Giramuk's Kitchen
Apple Crumble is one of my Dad’s favourite Crumbles! I’ll be telling him about this for sure. Looks awesome! I prefer baking/cooking with Honeycrisp or Granny smith usually, but I need to keep a look out for Sonya 🙂 Sounds interesting…
Katie
I always thought Granny Smith were the standard for pies and such- in fact, I tried using them multiple times for this- but I guess that’s with the skins off. It’s always a learning experience here! 🙂
Jen
Honeycrisp are some of my most favorite apples! I love their taste and cooking with them is so easy. I love a good apple crisp, but interestingly I have never made one with oats. This looks delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Katie
I’ve been making mine with oats because I really like the texture. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Stephanie Stuart
I’ve really been in the mood for a good crumble lately. Thanks!
Katie
My pleasure! This one really is my favorite.
Heather / girlichef
A warm fruit crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is one of my favorite desserts in the world. This sounds fantastic, and thanks for sharing all of these great tips!
Laura @MotherWouldKnow
Adore apple crisp and your recipe looks great. Even better are your tips – I’ll have to bookmark your notes on which apples worked when baked with skins on. That’s the kind of practical advice I can use – and keep using.
Nutmeg Nanny
Love all the tips on which apples bake up best with the skin on. This crisp looks delicious!
pam (Sidewalk Shoes)
This is my kind of crumble! Thanks for the tips on the cooking apples!
Dino
i always use granny smiths mix with cox i find if i grate two slices of apples at the bottom of dish n then and add just a table spoon of black cherry jam over it top up the rest of apple slices over it the grated apple makes delicious thick sauce n adds extra flavour
Katie
Dino, that’s a great idea! I never thought of using jam before. I’ll have to try it. Thanks for the tip!
Bertha
I love people sharing their experience and inspiring people to eat and drink healthy foods. This is simply awesome. I visit youtube and blogs for new recipes and I try them myself. Thanks for this recipe, I am going to try this.
Mary Hustad
I used to make sour cream apple pies when the children were growing up. A recipe from Meta Given’s Cook Book, that I learned to bake from after I got married in 1962! I do the same with apple crumble, put some of the flour/sugar/cinnamon mixture on the bottom first to soak up a little of the moisture from the apple mixtue. I like the added moisture the sour cream gives to the cooked apple mixture. Apple Crumble is such a great and satisfying dessert – especially with a little ice cream. Love the contrast of the warm apple filling with the cold ice cream. And it is very hard to just eat a little bit, and neither I nor my husband need the extra calories! So I was checking out the Internet for a recipe with oats and less butter. Thank you! (-:§
Katie Moseman
Mary, you’re so welcome! Thank you for your lovely comment. I loved reading it and you made my day!