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This cozy and delicious skillet apple crisp recipe is perfect for apple season! In just 25 minutes, you can have this crowd-favorite dessert assembled and ready to pop in the oven. Topped with brown sugar oatmeal crumble, this easy apple crisp is baked in a cast iron skillet to ensure a tender apple filling and crisp topping. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!
Apple crisp is my family’s signature fall dessert (and so much easier than baking apple pie!). My grandmother (Grammy) baked with Fuji and Pippin apples from her trees for decades, and I remember my mom pulling warm pans of apple crisp from the oven every fall.
These wise women taught me the three rules of apple crisp: never skimp on the crumble topping, always serve it warm, and enjoy any leftover crisp for breakfast the next day (the best with coffee!).
I’m adding my own twist to my family’s recipe. Dark brown sugar adds extra notes of caramel to the crumble topping and a splash of pure almond extract brings out the sweetness of the fresh apples.
Love baking with apples? Find more inspiration in my full collection of apple dessert recipes! If you love this crisp, be sure to try this variation: pear crisp with oat topping.
How to Make Apple Crisp, Step by Step
Make crumble topping: Combine rolled oats, all-purpose flour, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together.
Cut in cold cubed butter with a pastry cutter until completely incorporated and large crumbs form.
Chill crumble topping for 15 minutes in the freezer (briefly freezing the topping prevents it from melting in the oven). You can also make the topping 1-2 days in advance and refrigerate until ready to use.
Make apple filling: Whisk together granulated sugar, arrowroot starch (or cornstarch), salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Add apples and almond extract (or other flavoring) to the bowl. Toss with a spatula to combine.
Spoon apple filling into buttered cast iron skillet (or buttered baking dish – see note in the recipe card). Sprinkle chilled crumb topping over apple mixture.
Place skillet on preheated baking sheet (to catch any drips!) and bake for 55 to 60 minutes at 350°F, until the crumble topping is golden brown and the apple filling is bubbling. Cool crisp on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes (1 hour is even better) before serving.
We love topping warm bowls of crisp with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce or homemade butterscotch topping – so good!
Favorite apple dessert recipes:
- Apple Cider Bundt Cake
- Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Tarts
- Easy Caramel Apple Bars
- Spiced Apple Fritter Bread
Skillet Apple Crisp Recipe with Oatmeal Crumble
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 1 10-inch crisp
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
A cozy and delicious skillet apple crisp is perfect for apple season! With a tender apple filling and buttery oatmeal brown sugar crumble topping, you’ll love this easy apple crisp recipe baked in a cast iron skillet.
Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup (84 g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup (70 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (112 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
Apple Filling
- 2/3 cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp (24 g) arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 7 cups (840 g) peeled and diced apples
- 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
Instructions
- Place a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil in the oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly grease a seasoned 10-inch cast iron skillet.
- Make crumble topping: Combine oats, flour, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until well combined and large crumbs form. Chill in the freezer until ready to use.
- Make apple filling: Whisk together sugar, arrowroot starch, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add sliced apples and almond extract. Toss gently to combine. Spoon apple filling into prepared skillet and sprinkle evenly with crumble topping.
- Bake crisp: Place baking dish on preheated baking sheet and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and filling is bubbling. Cool crisp on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving (cooling for 1 hour is best).
- Store leftover crisp tightly covered (or in an airtight container) in the refrigerator up to 2 days. Reheat in a warm oven (350°F) for 15 to 20 minutes, until heated through.
Notes
Skillet: Bake this crisp in a 9 or 10-inch skillet. For ease, you can also use a 9 or 10-inch ceramic baking dish.
Apple filling: If your apples are especially sweet and flavorful, you can reduce the granulated sugar to 1/2 cup (100 grams).
Flavor options: Pure almond extract pairs wonderfully with the apples. You can also flavor the filling with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, or up to 2 tablespoons of amaretto (Italian liqueur), bourbon, or dark rum.
Make ahead: Crisp topping can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored tightly covered in the refrigerator until ready to use. The apple filling can be made 1 day ahead and stored overnight in the refrigerator in a glass bowl. If you’d like to assemble the entire crisp ahead of time, I recommend using a ceramic baking dish (as cast iron may rust in the refrigerator).
Gluten free apple crisp: Make a gluten-free version of this apple crisp by substituting gluten-free oats and gluten-free flour in the topping.
What a delightful crisp!! The recipe was easy and my kitchen smelled wonderful as the crisp cooked away. We served with vanilla ice cream and this is truly a keeper! Thanks for such a great recipe! We loved the crumble topping as well.
Your crisp looks perfect, Martha! Thanks so much for sharing!
Made this today and it was a delicious hit. The caramel drizzle on top was the added jewel.
I added cranberries in with the apples too bc i just love them together.
The crumble top was just oh so very good. Everyone loved this dessert. Keeper for sure.
Thanks Laura!
Thanks so much, Joan! The cranberries sound like a delicious addition! 🙂
The recipe was easy to follow and seems to have turned out well. Won’t be tasting until our dinner gathering in a few hours, but it certainly looks and smells delightful. I’m scoring based on the baking experience on my history of success with Laura’s recipes
Looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing, Dean!
It was delicious! Our guests really enjoyed it.
Excellent recipe
Thank you, Jane!
Yummy warm Granny Smith Crumble with Vanilla Bean ice cream… a perfect Labor Day Dinner!!
As you suggested- the almond extract did bring out wonderful flavors with the cinnamon.
I think I’ll have another serving..dinners are so good.
Mahalo (thank-you) for the recipe!!
Thanks so much for sharing, Vince! Glad you enjoyed the crisp!
The best apple crisp I’ve ever made! Served it with ice cream and caramel sauce.
Thanks so much, Karen! That’s my favorite way to serve it too. 🙂
This was a huge hit! I used 4 large Honeycrisp apples and 3 medium Granny Smiths. There was none left!
Great to hear this, thank you Andrea!
This was a great dish to bring to Thanksgiving. It travels and heats up really well and wasn’t too difficult to prepare. I made vanilla bean and cinnamon ice cream to go with it and it was a huge hit. I’m saving this recipe as a go to dessert.
Thanks so much for this feedback, Rich. That ice cream sounds amazing too, great pairing idea!
Really delicious!!!
Yay, thanks so much for this feedback!
This was SO GOOD!! Thank you for the recipe.
Baked this apple crisp for Thanksgiving and it was such a hit! Flavored the filling with bourbon and everyone raved about it!!
Hi Stacey, that’s so nice to hear. Bourbon sounds delicious!
Looks fantastic, can’t wait to try this recipe. How many Granny Smith apples did you use?
Hi Maureen, I used approximately 1 1/2 large Granny Smith apples and 4 to 5 large SnapDragon apples (which are crunchy and juicy, similar to Honeycrisp apples). I like a mix of sweet and tart apple varieties for nice balance.