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What is an Apple Crisp?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Apple crisp is a dessert made by filling a heavy pan with fresh apples topped with a streusel mixture, and baking the dish in the oven until the streusel turns crisp and the apples soften. Typically, apple crisp is served hot, sometimes with whipped cream or ice cream as a topping, although it can also be eaten cold. This dish is especially popular in the fall and winter, when many people find themselves seeking warm desserts for relief from the cold weather.

This dessert is part of a larger family of crisps, cobblers, crumbles, grunts, and so forth, with various other colorful names being used in isolated regions of the world. You could liken apple crisp to an apple pie without the pie dough, making it a much simpler dessert in which fruit is designed to be the star of the show.

Fuji apples are well suited for an apple crisp.
Fuji apples are well suited for an apple crisp.

To make apple crisp, you need a baking pan, ideally a heavy pan which will conduct heat slowly and evenly, along with some apples and a streusel topping. Make the streusel first, setting it aside while you peel, core, and cut the apples, creating small chunks. Throw the apples into the pan, top with the streusel, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) until you see the streusel starting to brown, around 25-45 minutes, depending on the size of the pan.

An apple crisp is typically seasoned with cinnamon.
An apple crisp is typically seasoned with cinnamon.

The apples used in apple crisp can vary considerably. Many people like to use crisp pie apples like granny smiths, Fujis, Suncrisps, Braeburns, Pippins, Jonathans, Cox's Orange Pippins, and Jonagolds, among others. These apples break down nicely during the cooking process, absorbing flavors from the topping without becoming mushy, like modern golden and red delicious apples tend to do. Many cooks also toss the apples with lemon juice or vinegar to prevent them from browning too quickly, and to add a faint tang to their apple crisp

Nutmeg is often used to season an apple crisp.
Nutmeg is often used to season an apple crisp.

Streusel topping is made by mixing flour and sugar in a 4:1 ratio with spices such as cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger, and tossing the flour with melted butter. Some people like to add quick oats to their streusel topping for more texture. For people with gluten intolerance, gluten-free flour alternatives can be used in streusel. Since the glutinous properties of regular wheat flour are not critical in streusel, any gluten-free topping may be used. For example, corn flour could add a nutty flavor and an interesting texture, or gluten-free bakers could stick with a basic flour mixture. Vegans and strict vegetarians can use margarine or oil as a replacement for butter.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

anon256637

Nice article. I found it after doing a search to see if corn flour can be used in place of wheat (white) flour for the streusel topping. I don't cook gluten free but a family member is on a girlfriend diet and I wanted to make a dessert they can enjoy.

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    • Fuji apples are well suited for an apple crisp.
      By: Darya Pino
      Fuji apples are well suited for an apple crisp.
    • An apple crisp is typically seasoned with cinnamon.
      By: Natika
      An apple crisp is typically seasoned with cinnamon.
    • Nutmeg is often used to season an apple crisp.
      By: Thomas Francois
      Nutmeg is often used to season an apple crisp.
    • Many people like to use tart Granny Smith apples in apple crisp.
      By: xiangdong Li
      Many people like to use tart Granny Smith apples in apple crisp.
    • Sometimes apple crisps are topped with whipped cream.
      By: Tsuboya
      Sometimes apple crisps are topped with whipped cream.
    • Honey can be used in a pinch for apple crisp if the baker has run out of sugar.
      By: Sergii Moscaliuk
      Honey can be used in a pinch for apple crisp if the baker has run out of sugar.