Are you ready to indulge in the ultimate autumnal comfort food? Look no further than this ridiculously easy and incredibly delicious Cast Iron Apple Crisp recipe. Picture warm, cinnamon-infused apples sitting beneath an irresistible crispy buttery almond topping. This smells amazing in the kitchen, creating a lovely cosy warm atmosphere. This easy apple crisp is perfect for any occasion so grab your cast iron skillet and let’s get cooking!
What is Cast Iron Apple Crisp
Apple Crisp, closely related to apple crumble, with the addition of oats and nuts for the ‘crisp’. My version of crisp topping without oats is laced with chopped almonds for extra crunch. A warm comforting pudding, this can be made with other fruit such as berries. So easy to make and super tasty, you can quick this one up in a flash.
Ingredients
A few simple ingredients are all that is needed to make this great dessert:
Apples – incredibly obvious but choosing the right apple is important depending on your taste! I have used Granny Smiths because I like a tart apple (you could also use Bramley Apples), but if you like them sweeter, try using Fuji or Braeburn.
Unsalted Butter – try and use a good butter. I find a good quality butter can make all the difference for flavour not just in this recipe but cooking in general. Using salted butter would be too salty for this recipe.
Almonds – I like to use chopped almonds in my crumble topping for extra flavour and crunch. You could also try using pecans, walnuts or your favourite nut.
Cinnamon – again try and use good quality ground cinnamon. You want to smell it once you open the jar, and using a good cinnamon powder is key to elevating the overall flavour of the crisp. You could also try other spices like mixed spice, pumpkin spice or even ginger and nutmeg.
Plain flour – This is essential to mix with the butter to create that crispy topping.
Brown sugar – you can use ordinary white sugar to sweeten the apples and the crumble topping but brown sugar has a deeper flavour
Vanilla Extract – to round off the flavour of the apple filling (optional)
How to Make Skillet Apple Crisp
Follow these simple steps to make Skillet Apple Crisp
- Measure out all your ingredients
Get all your ingredients ready so you can work efficiently and more importantly, less stressfully!
- Get your crumble topping ready
Combine the flour with the salt, sugar and cinnamon. Rub the flour mixture and butter together between your fingers until you get a large rough breadcrumbs consistency. Gently stir in the chopped walnuts. Prebake at 180°C for around 20 minutes, tossing halfway until starting to turn golden.
- Peel and core all your apples and chop them into rough chunks around 1 inch in size. Place in a bowl with the juice of half a lemon
- Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and stir gently to evenly coat the apples.
- Place the chopped apples into the cast iron skillet ( I used a 26 inch cast iron) and level them out
- Cover the apples with the crumble topping and place in a preheated oven until the fruit is bubbling underneath and the top is golden
The key to getting a lovely crisp topping is to prebake the crumble and use cold butter when rubbing butter into flour. If you just top the fruit and bake it in the skillet, only the very top crisps up and the underside gets soggy. Some people like that, it can be comforting in the cold weather to eat but I wanted this topping to be properly crisp, with warm soft cinnamon-laced fruit underneath.
Finally, bake the skillet apple crisp in the oven until the topping is golden brown and the apples are tender. If the topping starts to brown too much, tent the pan with foil until the apples are tender. Let it coll slightly for 10 minutes once out the oven and serve with a scoop of your favourite ice cream – enjoy!
FAQ’s
I would suggest using Bramley apples but you can use any of your favourite apples. I have used Granny Smiths here in this recipe.
Prebaking the crumble is the way forward! Level out the crumble topping on a baking tray and place in the oven at 180°C until golden, tossing halfway through.
If you overwork the butter into flour, the crisp topping without oats will go soggy when you top your apples and bake. Look for a rough breadcrumbs texture with pea-sized clumps.
Looking For Another Recipe?
Cast Iron Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- Topping
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 250 g plain flour
- 50 g chopped walnuts/pecans/almonds
- 70 g soft brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- Filling
- 1 kg of Granny Smith Apples
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon/pumpkin spice/mixed spice
- Juice of ½ a lemon
Instructions
- Measure out all your ingredients first
- Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon togethor
- Rub in the flour mixture with the butter. Cut into cubes and ensure it is cold before you begin
- Prebake in the oven at 180°C for around 20 minutes tossing halfway through until the crumble gets golden at the edges
- Peel and core all your apples
- Roughly chop, around 1 inch in size and place in a bowl with the juice of half a lemon
- Toss the apples thoroughly with the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and vanilla
- Place the apples into the cast iron skillet then top with the crumble topping
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C until golden and the fruit is bubbling. If the topping starts to get too dark, tent with tinfoil
