A simple but delicious apple crumble recipe!

Apple crumble dessert with vanilla ice cream. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Something about the crisp fall air triggers the inner baker in me! In my household, apple and pumpkin pies appear in October and become staple desserts throughout the holiday season. And even though it’s a heck of a lot of work, I usually insist on making my apple pie crusts from scratch using the good old-fashioned flour and rolling pin.

​Sometimes, I even take it to a whole new level of insanity by creating a two-crust pie (one bottom crust and crust for the top), but on those occasions when I need a shortcut, the crumble topping makes a delicious sugary substitute. (If you’d like to see my homemade apple pie recipe, you can find it here in an older blog post from a few years back.)

Homemade apple pie with crumble topping. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2020.

Lately, I’ve been spending time on Pinterest looking for recipe ideas. While happily pinning away, I stumbled across a recipe for an apple crumble--a recipe that was essentially my apple pie without the bottom crust. As much as I love baking apple pies, I don’t enjoy all the work that goes into creating the pie crust, so this crumble recipe is an excuse to cut corners but still end up with a delicious dessert!

As this recipe is similar to my apple pie filling, I used my recipe—minus the pie crust—with a few tweaks taken from the Pinterest recipe to experiment with flavor. And I had to adjust for the servings because I’m a family of five, so I need to make a LOT!

This apple dessert has two main parts: apple filling and crumbly topping. For this recipe’s filling, I used 14 McIntosh apples to fill a 9 x 13 baking pan. So here’s the recipe I used for this mouthwatering apple dessert…

Apple filling ingredients:

14 apples, peeled and sliced 
2 TBS lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

McIntosh apples. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Lemon juice and apples. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Cup of sugar. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Dark brown sugar. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

All purpose flour. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Iodized salt. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Spices and vanilla extract. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​Crumbly topping ingredients:

1 stick butter, unsalted
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Butter. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Baking powder. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Preheat oven to 375˚.

Peel, core, and chop apples. Coat in lemon juice. Add vanilla extract, brown sugar, sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Apple peeled. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Apple chunks. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Apple chunks with sugars. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

9 x 13 greased baking pan. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Apple mixture in pan. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl for crumb topping. Cut in melted butter until you get a crumbly texture. Spread evenly over the top of the apple pie filling.

Apple mixture with crumb topping ready for the oven. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Put in oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

When done, remove from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes so the filling thickens.

Apple crumble dessert fresh out of the oven. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Apple crumble dessert. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​Once cooled, a sliver of this warm apple dessert was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and chopped pecans…and WOW! It all just melts in the mouth! The tartness of the apple mixes perfectly with the sweet vanilla ice cream and the nutty flavor of the pecans. This could also be served with melted caramel, whipped topping, or nuts. You could also mix raisins into the apple mixture before baking for a delicious variation.

Chopped pecans. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Vanilla ice cream. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​The one thing I will do differently the next time I make this delicious apple crumble will be to double the ingredients for the topping. I just felt like the topping was a bit on the skimpy side…Not that the result tasted any less heavenly!

Apple crumble dessert with pecans and vanilla ice cream. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Do you have a favorite apple dessert for the fall holidays? Drop a comment below with your recipe tips, tricks, or variations. I’d love to hear other delicious dessert ideas!

Btw…If you like recipes, follow me on Pinterest, where I have started boards for dessert and meal recipes.

Related blogs you may want to read:
Homemade chicken noodle soup recipe
Banana and raisin bread recipe
Potato soup recipe
Tuna noodle casserole recipe
Chicken vegetable pot pie
Salmon chowder recipe
How to eat healthy with chicken and roasted vegetables

This article may contain a few items or commercial mentions, but I only used them for demonstration purposes only. I am not endorsing any particular product or receiving any monetary gain for this blog.