• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Contact
    • Services
      • Contact
  • Recipes
    • Recipes Visual Index
    • How to Make Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Maker
    • Kitchen Cheat Sheet
    • Kitchen & Pantry Essentials
  • Order Cookie School!

A Cookie Named Desire

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Order Cookie School!
  • Recipes
  • Services
×
Home - Fruit

Published: Sep 9, 2019 · Modified: Dec 8, 2022 by Amanda Powell · This post may contain affiliate links.

Apple Crumble

Jump to Recipe

Prepare to fall in love with the most amazing apple crumble you will ever try. A cozy, apple pie-like filling topped with buttery crumble topping. There is nothing more incredible than a bowl of this easy apple dessert topped with a scoop of ice cream. 

baking dish showing cooked apples and crumble topped with ice cream

Recommended apple types

Like an apple pie, I prefer to choose a variety of apples that are sweet, tart, and most importantly, can hold their shape. My favorite apples include: Granny Smith, Northern Spy, Ginger Gold, Jazz, Golden Delicious, and Pink Lady. While you can also go for sweeter apples, I find they are too sweet in a dessert like an apple crumble. 

How to make

Making a crumble is so easy and only takes a few easy steps to put together.

  1. If desired, peel the apples (I switch back and forth between peeling and unpeeling my apples). Core your apples, and dice them. 
  2. Toss the apples with sugar, salt, cinnamon, and flour. Set aside. 
  3. Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter together for the crumble topping until the mixture resembles large crumbs. 
  4. Pour the apple mixture into a large baking dish, then top with the crumbles. 
  5. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the crumbles are golden brown. Allow to cool completely before serving. 
collage of step by step process of making apple crumble

Crisps vs Crumbles

Crisps and crumbles are very similar. Both are usually filled with a delicious pie-like filling and both have a buttery, crisp/crumbly streusel made primarily with flour and sugar cut with butter. The main difference is that crumbles usually do not have other add-ins such as oats and nuts. Both can include spice. Crisps usually have a finer mixture, whereas crumbles usually have larger clumps. You can use either type to make this apple crumble, but this recipe sticks to the more traditional topping. 

Freezing tip

If you were wondering, yes, you can freeze apple crumble. They are great for freezing baked or unbaked, and can last for 3 - 4 months in the freezer if stored correctly.

For a baked crumble, place the dish in an airtight container and freeze in the coldest area of your freezer. If you use a deep freezer and your container is truly airtight, your apple crumble can last up to a year. 

For an unbaked crumble, you have two options.

  • You can freeze the entire apple crumble in a freezer-safe baking dish, wrapped tightly and well, so that it is airtight. 
  • You can freeze the apple crumble filling and topping separately in airtight freezer-safe containers.
close up showing juicy cooked apples

Thawing tips

Regardless of whether or not the crumble is baked or unbaked, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, you can bake/reheat the apple crumble using the about same baking information as if you were making a new crumble. You may need less time with the baked crumble, so check it at 30 minutes. 

Making it gluten-free

It is pretty easy to convert this to a gluten-free apple dessert. You can simply replace the flour with a gluten-free baking mix. In the filling, you can also replace the flour with cornstarch. For the crumble, I also like swapping out a small portion of the gluten-free baking mix with almond flour. 

Serving inspirations

There is no better way than to serve apple crumble with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is a classic pairing that cannot be resisted. You can also serve it with whipped cream. I also love having a bowl with a hot mug of tiramisu hot chocolate or even warmed homemade apple cider. 

bowl filled with apples and crumble topped with ice cream

Recipe Card

apple crumble overhead

Apple Crumble

Amanda Powell
A warm and irresistible apple crumble
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Course pie
Cuisine American
Servings 1 crumble
Calories 454 kcal
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients
  

Apple Crumble Filling

  • 3 lbs apples cored and peeled (if desired)
  • 1 orange zest
  • 1 lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the Crumble

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup unsalted butter cubed and chilled
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take out a 9 x 13 baking pan.
  • Peel (if desired), core, and dice your apples.
  • Toss the apples with the orange and lemon zest and juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  • Mix together the flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon for the crumble in a bowl.
  • Add in the butter and use a pastry cutter or your hands to squeeze or cut in the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles large crumbs.
  • Pour the apples into the baking pan. Sprinkle the crumbles over the apples.
  • Bake for 30 - 45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the top is golden brown. If your crumble is browning too fast, place aluminum foil over the crumble and continue baking until the filling is bubbly.
  • Allow the apple crumble to rest and cool so the filling can thicken.
  • Serve warm or room temperature, preferably with a scoop of ice cream.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowlCalories: 454kcalCarbohydrates: 71gProtein: 4gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 166mgFiber: 5gSugar: 43g
Keyword apple, apple crumble, apple recipes, crumble, fall, fall baking
Tried this recipe?Tag me on Instagram! @acookienameddesire #acookienameddesire

More Fruity Recipes

  • close up of crumble in pan
    Strawberry Crumble
  • homemade fruit roll ups in a pan
    Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups
  • close up inside of pan of blueberry crisp
    Blueberry Crisp
  • A simple and easy triple berry shortcake made in a mug. The perfect last minute dessert.
    Triple Berry Shortcake

About Amanda Powell

Baker, photographer, and sometimes world traveler behind A Cookie Named Desire. Obsessed with helping people live life sweetly with delicious food to share with the special people in your life and creating lasting memories.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeanne says

    June 11, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    This really tastes great! The only issue I had is that even though I followed your recipe exactly there was basically no juice so I never reached the bubbly stage . I also baked an hour to get the apples tender. I think it needed a juicier apple or more juice added. I used pink lady's. I’d love for it to have more juice next time. Any suggestions??4 stars

    Reply
    • Amanda Powell says

      June 16, 2022 at 12:17 pm

      I use a mix of sweet and tart apples. The sugar in the recipe should help extract the juices from the apples (I actually find my crumbles sometimes get a little too juicy). If you use pink lady's, perhaps try adding a little more orange and lemon juice to the mix, or even a tablespoon or two of water or apple juice.

      Reply
    • Sauda K says

      September 16, 2023 at 2:14 am

      I always add a half a cup of water and stew my apple mixture down a bit for ten minutes.

      Reply
  2. Matthew says

    October 04, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    My kids and I loved this.

    Reply
  3. JENN says

    October 15, 2019 at 1:02 pm

    This is the apple crumble of my dreams! Thanks so much for the recipe!

    Reply
  4. Tayler Ross says

    October 15, 2019 at 11:56 am

    This is the best apple crumble I've ever made! It will definitely be added to our regular dessert rotation! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
  5. Suzy says

    September 10, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    This looks and sounds amazing! Love that you can freeze it!

    Reply
  6. Shadi Hasanzadenemati says

    September 10, 2019 at 12:12 pm

    Love this idea! Looks so delicious and I can't wait to try it!

    Reply
  7. Rebecca Hubbell says

    September 09, 2019 at 9:22 am

    I love apple crumble and the topping on this recipe is just perfection!

    Reply
4.74 from 19 votes (18 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hey, I'm Amanda!

I am the baker and photographer behind A Cookie Named Desire. I'm a cookbook author, food science nerd, world traveler (sometimes) with a major weakness for cookies and cheese.

Read More

Reader Favorites

  • S'mores Stuffed Cookies
    S'mores Cookies Recipe
  • homemade cookies scattered out on baking sheet
    Milano Cookies Recipe
  • cookies piled together on rack
    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • avocado chocolate peanut butter smoothie in a glass
    Avocado Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
  • Making salt water taffy at home is actually easier than you think
    How to Make Salt Water Taffy
  • finished jelly donut shots on a tray
    Jelly Donut Shot

Summer Favorites

  • lemon bar cookies next to bowl of lemon curd on parchment paper
    Lemon Bar Cookies
  • This passion fruit mojito is the perfect tropical summer drink for parties and weekend BBQs.
    Passion Fruit Mojito
  • Cherry Pie Iced Tea
  • close up of crumble in pan
    Strawberry Crumble

Footer

^ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • About Me

Copyright © 2024 A Cookie Named Desire

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.