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There’s nothing quite like digging into a warm apple crumble with golden, buttery topping and soft, cinnamon-spiced apples underneath. Pure comfort in a dish!
Nicky’s Notes
Apple crumble has to be the signature dessert of Autumn right? It’s also a Sunday dessert in my opinion. After the boys get back from football, or after a family sunday roast, this is the perfect finisher to the weekend.
What’s so good about this recipe?
✅ It’s new and improved! I make it so often that I’ve added little tweaks over time, until I got the perfect crumbly topping and soft-tangy-sweet filling.
✅ We use two varieties of apples for different textures and for a balanced mix of sweetness and tartness.
✅ I love a flour-butter-sugar topping (which gives a crumbly-sweet biscuit flavour), but I also add in just a tablespoon of oats to the topping to give a bit of extra crunch, chewiness and extra flavour.
✅ You can make it ahead and refrigerate or freeze it for later! See my FAQs below for notes on this.
Table of Contents
What apples to use for apple crumble
Use a mixture of cooking apples (Bramley apples) and eating apples (a good sweet-tangy variety such as Jazz or Honeycrisp).
- The cooking apples break down more, resulting in a softer-saucy filling. They’re also more tart and tangy than the eating apples (the sugar helps to counteract too much tartness though).
- The eating apples break down less, providing some texture to the filling. They’re also sweeter – providing balance to the cooking apples and a little more complexity in flavour.
How to make it (abbreviated instructions)
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
Peel and chop the apples, then add to a pan with lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and splash of water. Simmer gently with the lid on, until softened, then add to a pie dish.
Rub cold butter into flour, then stir through sugar and oats. Sprinkle over the top of the apples and bake in the oven as 180C/350F (fan) for 25 minutes, until golden.
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Make sure the butter is cold when you rub it into the flour. This will ensure you get a nice pebbly texture, which crisps up beautifully in the oven. As the little pieces of better melt, they create pockets of steam, resulting in a more crumbly finish. If your butter is too soft, it will fully mix into the flour, creating a dense-cakey texture instead.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce
- Creamy custard
- Thick pouring cream or whipped double cream
I love that juicy warm cinnamon-apple flavour with plenty of crumbly topping!
Make ahead and freezing
- Make Ahead: Make the crumble right up to (and including) the point of assembling it in the dish. You can then cover and refrigerate for up to two days.
To cook the crumble, remove from the refrigerator and remove the covering. Bake in the oven at 180C/350F (fan) for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden and the centre is hot. Note: it will be a little browner on top if cooking straight from the fridge, as it needs extra time in the oven to ensure the centre is hot. You can cover with foil for the last 10 minutes to reduce the browning process if you wish. - Freezing: Make the crumble right up to (and including) the point of assembling it in the dish. Then double wrap in clingfilm or foil and freeze.
Defrost the crumble overnight in the refrigerator, then bake in the oven at 180C/350F (fan) for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden and the centre is hot. Note: it will be a little browner on top if cooking straight from the fridge, as it needs extra time in the oven to ensure the centre is hot. You can cover with foil for the last 10 minutes to reduce the browning process if you wish.
Note: You can also freeze baked crumble in the same way. Defrost and reheat as above. It may take 5-10 minutes less with a pre-baked crumble, and you will likely need to cover with foil for the last 15-20 minutes to stop it browning too much.
🍏 Apple Crumble Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple crumble filling:
- 4 medium Bramley cooking apples (approx. 650g/1.4lb altogether, pre-peeling and chopping)
- 1 medium eating apple (Jazz or Honeycrisp) (approx 130g/4.5oz, pre-peeling and chopping)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp golden caster sugar or superfine sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp water
Crumble topping:
- 150 g (1.25 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 120 g (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter cut into 1 cm cubes
- 120 g (2/3 cup) golden caster sugar or superfine sugar
- 1 tbsp rolled oats
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F (fan).
- Peel and chop the cooking and eating apples in roughly 2cm (3/4 inch) chunks and place in a saucepan.4 medium Bramley cooking apples, 1 medium eating apple (Jazz or Honeycrisp)
- Squeeze, or pour, over the lemon juice. PRO TIP: This is to help stop the apples from browning.1 tbsp lemon juice
- Add the sugar, cinnamon and water to the apples and give everything a stir.3 tbsp golden caster sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 3 tbsp water
- Place the pan on the hob (stove top) with a lid on, over a low-medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes stirring a couple of times, until the apples start to break down.
- While the apples are cooking, make the crumble topping. Add the flour to a bowl. Add the butter cubes then rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips, until you get a crumbly mixture. You want to have bigger and smaller lumps. Don't overmix (we don't want perfect breadcrumbs, we want nice crunchy lumpy bits once baked!)150 g (1.25 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 120 g (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter
- Add the sugar, oats and salt and stir together.120 g (2/3 cup) golden caster sugar, 1 tbsp rolled oats, 1 pinch salt
- By now the apples should be ready. We want it to look lumpy and a bit saucy. Carefully pour the apple filling mixture into a 22.5cm/9inch round pie dish (see notes)
- Add the crumble topping to the baking dish and spread on fairly evenly.
- Place in the preheated oven and cook for 25-35 minutes until golden and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before serving. I love to serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce or homemade custard.
Video
Notes
Cooking apple to eating apple ratio
I like to use four cooking apples with just one eating apple, as I like a saucy apple crumble, but you can alter the ratios if you like a more chunky texture in your crumble.Cooking apples are usually larger than eating apples, so if you’re swapping out a cooking apple, replace with 1.5-2 eating apples.
Pie dish:
I use a round pie dish approx 5cm deep and 22.5cm(~9inches) diameter. It holds around 1.5 litres.You could swap for a 5cm deep rectangular dish approx 21cmx28cm (8.2″x11″) or a square 20cmx20cm (8″x8″) dish.
Leftovers:
You can reheat individual portions in the microwave for about 90-120 seconds (in 30 second bursts) until hot throughout. The topping will lose it’s crispness, but that’s the quickest way to reheat.To maintain the crisp topping, place in an oven-safe dish and bake in the oven for around 15 mins at 180C/350F until hot throughout.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This crumble recipe was first posted in Feb 2022. Updated in Sept/Oct 2025 with recipe improvements, new photos, and for housekeeping reasons.
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The flavours were fantastic but the crumble didn’t crunch up, probably something I did wrong. I’d make it again but maybe hotter for longer?🤔
Fabulous…….
We had to struggle some due to 7K elevation but my wife knew just what to do. As Julia Childs taught….We added butter to top and a little water to filling and more time in the oven.
Yummmmm….with some Blue Bell vanilla ice cream…I had to have seconds.
thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Absolutely stunning 😍
You do not have to put the apples on the hob as stated here, and by following the recipe as seen here once, I found it came out watery and soggy. I skip the “hob” step entirely, and place ithe apples/topping in a 180 fan oven for 20 minutes ( on a lower rack ) and it turns out splendidly. It also works if you double this recipe, that way you have 2 for sharing. Or, for my case. Not. Just make certain you have 2 seperate dishes in equal parts and cook one at a time. Hope this helps.
Apple crumble sounds lovely. Hoping to try it but I need to know if I can freeze it?