Apple-Cranberry Crisp with Oatmeal Topping Recipe | Sur La Table (2024)

FAQs

Why is the top of my apple crisp not cooking? ›

Either the oven is not hot enough or you don't have enough fat and/or sugar in the topping. Browning is from caramelization of the sugar, not toasting the oats or flour. This is how you make a ripper Apple Crumble Topping.

Sweet, sticky, and scrumptious, apple crisp is a baked dessert with a golden brown streusel topping. Ingredients typically include cooked apples, butter, sugar, flour, oats, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It may go by its other alias apple crumble. But whatever you call it, we call it delicious.

It's easy to make ahead of time: Ina Garten Apple Crisp is a perfect make-ahead dessert and brunch recipe over the holidays!

In a large bowl, toss together apples, granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; transfer to prepared dish. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in 1 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt until large pieces form. Scatter over filling.

Baking: Start baking the apple crisp covered with foil. This allows the apples to soften without any risk of the topping over-browning. After about 20 minutes, remove the foil and let the crisp finish cooking uncovered. Once the juices are bubbling, the topping is golden brown, and the apples are tender, it is done!

How do you keep apple crisp from getting soggy? If it's soggy, you've got to remember to refrigerate the topping with butter before you add it to the crisp. It doesn't need long, just enough time as you prepare the rest of the dessert so that it will cook up crispy rather than turn soggy.

Like an apple crisp, an apple crumble is a baked fruit dessert with a layer of topping. But unlike the crisp, the crumble topping rarely includes oats or nuts. Instead, a crumble's topping is more like streusel, made with flour, sugar and butter.

What Makes A Good Apple For Apple Crisp? The best apples for baking keep their structure under heat, which prevents the chunks of fruit from turning into mush after baking. The firm and crisp Granny Smith and Honeycrisp varieties are popular apples to use in apple pies and apple crisps.

Differences Between Cobblers and Crisps

Exterior: Cobblers are denser due to the biscuit dough topping and base, while crisps use oats and a streusel topping, making them lighter.

We prefer to prep the apples when we make the crisp, but you can prep them ahead of time. Peel and slice the apples and toss them with lemon juice, then pack tightly in freezer bags and refrigerate for up to one day.

Why is it important to use cold butter when preparing apple crisp? ›

Use cold, cubed butter.

Making the crumble with room temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread as it bakes, rather than creating a landscape of craggy, crunchy sweet pieces. Using cold butter will help all the crumble ingredients bind together before baking and then saturate them evenly in the oven.

Freeze apple crisp either before or after baking! It will keep in a deep freezer for up to 6 months and in a top freezer for 2-3 months. Allow the crisp to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating or baking.

However, we also love adding porridge oats for extra chewiness, as in these recipes for very-berry oat crumble and American-style apple crisp. Chopped and toasted nuts such as pecans, almonds or hazelnuts also make a lovely addition to a traditional crumble, for taste as well as an extra-crunchy texture.

So what's a crumble vs. a crisp? A crumble is just a crisp without oats in the streusel. It may feature nuts, but the streusel topping is usually a simple combination of butter, flour, and sugar that is more clumpy than that of a crisp.

This is known as oxidation and occurs when the cells within the fruit are exposed to air. Lemon juice helps with this, acting to coat the flesh and protecting it. It also adds extra flavour to your apple crumble recipe and offsets the sweetness of the sugar.

If using ramekins, fill the cups about 3/4 full with apples and then top with crumbles; the apples will shrink slightly when baked. Bake the apple crumble for about 30-40 minutes or until the topping is perfectly golden brown. Check at the 30 minute mark if using ramekins.

But if you underbake your pie, not only will the apples potentially be crunchy and the crust wan and flabby; the combination of heat, liquid, and thickener won't have sufficient time to work. Juice bubbling out the edges of the pie is actually a good sign: it shows the filling is hot enough to thicken.

To reheat, bake covered at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until heated through. NOTE: I recommend thawing the baked crisp before reheating, but if you want to try to reheat from frozen and are using a glass pan, make sure it's tempered glass, like this OXO option made from borosilicate glass.

Check the apple's firmness: Pick up the apple and feel the fruit's skin. You can even gently press a small area of the skin to make sure it's firm to the touch. Avoid apples that are noticeably soft, mushy, or indent easily after you press the skin.