Ingredients

4 apples, cored and sliced

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp. water

1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, cold, cut into cubes

1 c. old fashioned oats

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preparation

Step 1Preheat oven to 375°. In a large ovenproof skillet, toss apples with 2 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice, water, and cinnamon. Place skillet on a large rimmed baking dish.Step 2In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter (or your hands), incorporate butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add oats and squeeze mixture with your hands until big, moist clumps form. Step 3

Scatter oat mixture on top of apples and bake until apples are bubbling and topping is golden, about 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving with Breyer’s Natural Vanilla Ice Cream.

  1. Use the right kind of apples. In our opinion, granny smith, pink lady, Cortland, and Braeburn are the best for baking. If you can find Mutsu apples (they’re common at East Coast orchards), you can use them here too!
  2. Don’t peel them. It’s time-consuming and not at all necessary. In fact, we like the rustic look of the skin-on apples. 
  3. Use your hands. Cold butter makes for a flakier, more pastry-like topping, but incorporating it into the other dry ingredients is slightly annoying. You could use a pastry cutter, but we always find that the butter starts to build up. We much prefer using our hands. The mixture is easy to control, and it’s faster. When working with cold butter, it is best to work quickly. Cut your butter into chunks first thing, then place it back in the refrigerator while you get the rest of the ingredients out. You don’t need to frantically rush while making the topping, but it’s best to work efficiently. Don’t overwork it to keep the butter from getting too hot. It’s better to have some bigger chunks in the topping than have melty butter by the time you are done mixing. 
  4. Add water + lemon juice. The combo of them both helps the apples get nice and jammy. 
  5. Don’t stop at apples! Experiment with your favorite crisp-friendly fruits (pears, peaches, berries!) or add your favorite nuts to the topping.  Make it ahead of time.  If you want to get some prep work done ahead of time, you definitely can! Make the topping ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator. When you are ready to bake, make the filling and top with the cold topping! You can also assemble the whole crisp unbaked, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze it for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake 55-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.  How to store leftovers? If you happen to end up with leftovers, this keeps well! You can store tightly wrapped at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Reheat leftovers in the oven to re-crisp the topping!   Test Kitchen Notes: —You don’t need to cook this in a skillet—we just love the rustic look. A medium deep-dish baking pan, or even a 9" cake pan, will work too.  —Oats get added to the topping last minute. If they’re not in your cabinet already, feel free to skip them. You’ll technically have an apple crumble! Crisp and crumble are close cousins, with their only difference being that a crisp typically has oats or nuts in the topping.  Have you made this recipe? Rate it and comment below.  Editor’s Note: This introduction to this recipe was updated on July 28, 2022.