This caramelized apple crisp recipe is truly special! Before baking the apples in the crisp, they are caramelized in a saucepan which leads to a far richer, more complex flavor.
This recipe is also reasonably low in sugar and packs in a good deal of oats, making it one of the healthier crisp recipes you'll find.
Why You'll Love this Apple Crisp Recipe
Crisps are such a phenomenal way to enjoy dessert because they're fruit forward, warm, and pair very nicely with vanilla ice cream!
We love this caramelized crisp because the extra step of sautéing the apples in brown butter before baking, adds a huge depth of flavor.
The Best Apples for Baking
Most apples taste great in crisps and crumbles, but the ones that really shine are Honeycrisps, Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, and Braeburn. They're the best apples for baking.
I would not recommend using Red Delicious or Galas for this recipe, however - they're great snacking apples, but they don't hold up well under 45 minutes of oven heat.
What You'll Need to Make this Recipe
- 2 pounds apples, cored & diced into ½ inch pieces
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar, divided
- juice from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons butter, divided
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- 1 cup oatmeal
How to Make a Caramelized Apple Crisp
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
- Toss apples with the lemon juice, ⅓ cup sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Brown the butter (usually takes 3 minutes) and add the apples.
- Sauté the apples for 5 minutes and stir only occasionally and very gently.
- Put apples in a baking dish that can hold at least 6 cups.
- For the crisp top, combine the remaining butter, almond flour, oats, and ⅓ cup sugar in a medium bowl and with your hands or a pastry cutter, combine till pea-sized pieces have formed.
- Spread the topping evenly over the apples.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the crumble top is golden brown.
- Serve immediately (with optional vanilla ice cream) or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Tips for Making this Recipe
- This recipe calls for 2 pounds of apples - that's about 6 small apples or 4 large apples. A little or more or less won't be a problem, though!
- If you don't have cardamom, you can substitute it for ¼ teaspoon of cloves or leave it out.
- For this recipe, we used spices from our favorite spice shop, The Spice House. You can use their ground cardamom and Saigon cinnamon for this recipe. They're both excellent!
Caramelized Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- 2 pounds apples cored & diced into ½ inch pieces
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar divided
- juice from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons butter divided
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- 1 cup oatmeal
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
- Toss apples with the lemon juice, ⅓ cup sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Brown the butter (usually takes 3 minutes) and add the apples.
- Sauté the apples for 5 minutes and stir only occasionally and very gently.
- Put apples in a baking dish that can hold at least 6 cups.
- For the crisp top, combine the remaining butter, almond flour, oats, and ⅓ cup sugar in a medium bowl and with your hands or a pastry cutter, combine till pea-sized pieces have formed.
- Spread the topping evenly over the apples.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the crumble top is golden brown.
- Serve immediately (with optional vanilla ice cream) or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Sarah says
Yum! Salted or unsalted butter?
EW says
I use salted butter!
Susan says
Do you peel the apples?
Emily Wilson says
I don't, but you certainly can if you'd prefer!