Easy Apple Crisp Recipe from Grandma - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

May 6, 2019March 25, 2023

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Explore this recipe for our Grandma’s easy apple crisp. These tips will help you make the best apple crisp you’ve ever had.

We are sharing a simple recipe for traditional apple crisp without oats and a melt-in-your-mouth topping that screams cinnamon and butter. Your family will be begging for you to make this over and over again.

Apple Crisp Without Oats Recipe

How do you make apple crisp from scratch?

Follow these simple instructions below, and soon your house will be smelling like fall.

Arrange peeled, sliced apples in a baking dish. Combine water and ground cinnamon, and pour over apples in the baking dish. Work together butter, sugar and flour until crumbly. Sprinkle over the sliced apples. Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown. The full instructions for old fashioned apple crisp recipe can be found below.

We are in love with this recipe. Barbara found it in Grandma’s Old Wooden Recipe Box (her most prized possession). It really is a unique recipe because it’s apple crisp with no oats and no brown sugar. Instead, the topping is a combination of flour, white sugar, and butter (or margarine). The cinnamon goodness is poured right over the sliced apples in the pan before the topping goes on.

Our Grandma was a phenomenal cook, baker, Grandma, Mom, friend, woman.And, making and eating this recipe reminds us feel the way we felt when we spent time with her.

Grandma also had another easy apple cobbler type dessert in her recipe box. If you like yours with an oat topping, try our Old-Fashioned Apple Crumble recipe.

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp Recipe Ingredients:

• Apples, peeled and sliced
• Water
• Ground Cinnamon
• Flour
• Butter (or margarine)
• Sugar

Howdo you make apple crisp from scratch

Step By Step Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Peel and slice apples in a bowl.
3. Arrange apples in a baking dish; combine water and ground cinnamon and pour over top the apples in the dish.
4. Work together butter, flour and sugar until a pea-sized crumbs forms using two forks, a pastry blender or even your clean hands.
5. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples.
6. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until golden brown crisp topping on top.

Full recipe for homemade apple crisp without brown sugar is at the bottom of this page.

Recipe FAQs

• You can use a metal 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 inch pan or go old fashioned and use a 1 1/2 or 2 quart Pyrex or Corning Ware dish. Any of those will work. Just watch the cooking time. This delicious apple crisp will cook faster in a larger pan because it’s spread thinner.
• Grandma says margarine can be used instead of butter.
• To make the crumbly topping for this old fashioned apple crisp, use two forks, a pastry blender or even your clean hands. Work it until it resembles course crumbs.
• Love apple crisps without oats? Try this Minnesota Apple Crisp recipe.
• This recipe inspired us to make a divine cherry version. Try it! A peach version would be good too. Here is a Blueberry Brown Betty recipe that’s similar to a blueberry crisp.
• Should you should peel your apples first before making this crisp? Not necessarily. If you are in a hurry, then you could leave the peels on; however, this does change the texture of the crisp. If you have time, go ahead and peel them.
• Grandma would say to use whatever apples you have on hand for this easy apple crisp recipe. We agree!
• Try serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
• Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite pantry and kitchen items.

Try Other Fruit Desserts

Love fruit cobblers, crisps and cakes? Here’s some more of our favorite old fashioned fruit desserts.

Easy Cherry Crisp

Crock Pot Peach Cobbler

Grandma’s Rhubarb Streusel Dessert

Peach Batter Cake

Grandma’s Rhubarb Pie

Our Favorite Apple Recipes

We love cooking with apples…especially baking with this versatile fruit. Here are some of our favorite apple recipes:

• Old-Fashioned Apple Slab Pie
• Minnesota Apple Crisp
• Caramel Apple Crisp Bars
• Cinnamon Stewed Apples
• Red Hot Cinnamon Apples

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