This apple crumble is a true family favourite! It has a soft, sweet apple filling with a hint of cinnamon (optional) and a perfectly crunchy, yet chewy, crumble topping.
This is one of those desserts where I guarantee the whole family goes quiet when digging in. Your family will be begging you to make this again and again.
This is actually one of Chris’s recipes. Have I mentioned before he’s a cook too? I’m a lucky girl. 🥰
His Chilli Con Carne is always on recipe rotation, we must have it at least once every 2 weeks and I LOVE the Sesame Prawn Toast he makes too.
So onto his delicious apple crumble recipe.
📋 What do we need?
For the crumble filling, I like to use a combination of cooking (Bramley) apples and eating apples.
The cooking apples will break down more during the cooking process and the eating apples will retain a bit more texture giving the perfect apple sauce center to the crumble.
What’s the crumble topping made of?
To get the perfectly crunchy apple crumble topping you’re going to want to use:
- Cold, unsalted butter
- 2 different types of sugar – caster for regular sweetness and crunch, and soft brown sugar for that slight caramel flavour
- Oats for added texture (this is optional, you can leave them out if you don’t have any in your cupboard)
- Plain (all purpose) flour
- a pinch of salt
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Mix the dry crumble topping ingredients together.
- Add the cold unsalted butter and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Cook the apple filling in a pan then transfer to a baking dish.
- Add the crumble topping and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 180C (375F) until it’s golden and bubbling.
👩🍳PRO TIP Squeeze a little lemon juice over the apples as you’re peeling and chopping to stop the apples from turning brown.
You can replace half the apples with rhubarb, pear, or blackberries for a different option. This is quite a forgiving recipe and you can mix up the filling with fruit that you’ve got in.
🍽️ What to serve it with
I love to serve my apple crumble with some homemade custard and vanilla ice cream. That way the family can decide what they want to do, custard, ice cream, or both (does anyone do both? Sometimes it’s just too hard to decide!).
🍲 More fantastic desserts
Stay updated with new recipes!
Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m also on YouTube (new videos every week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes stories & beautiful food photos).
🍏 Apple Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
Crumble Topping:
- 240 g (2 cups ) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 60 g (2/3 cup) rolled oats
- 60 g (1/3 cup) soft brown sugar
- 60 g (1/3 cup) golden caster sugar or superfine sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 120 g (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter cut into 1 cm cubes
Apple Pie Filling:
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs) cooking apples
- 300 g (10.5 oz) eating apples such as Braeburn or Jazz
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp golden caster sugar or superfine sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F (fan).
- Peel and chop the cooking and eating apples roughly, no larger than 2cm (or just under 1 inch) chunks and place in a saucepan.1 kg (2.2 lbs) cooking apples, 300 g (10.5 oz) eating apples
- Squeeze, or pour, over the lemon juice. PRO TIP: This is to help stop the apples from browning.1 tbsp lemon juice
- Add the caster sugar and the cinnamon to the apples and give everything a stir.3 tbsp golden caster sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Place the pan on the hob (stove top) over a medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes stirring a couple of times, until the apples start to break down.
- Whilst the apples are cooking, make the crumble topping. Add the flour, oats, sugars, and salt to a bowl and mix everything together until combined.240 g (2 cups ) plain (all-purpose) flour, 60 g (2/3 cup) rolled oats, 60 g (1/3 cup) soft brown sugar, 60 g (1/3 cup) golden caster sugar, 1 pinch salt
- Add the cold butter and rub the mixture with your fingers until the butter starts to look like breadcrumbs and is starting to form clumps. .120 g (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter
- By now the apples should be starting to break down. Carefully pour the apple filling mixture into a baking dish.
- Add the crumble topping to the baking dish and spread on fairly evenly.
- Place in the preheated oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before serving with your favourite ice cream or homemade custard.
Notes
Ingredients swaps
You can replace half the apples with rhubarb, pear, or blackberries for a different option. This is quite a forgiving recipe and you can mix up the filling with fruit that you’ve got in. Nutritional information is approximate, per serving, based on this recipe making 6 portions.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Please can you let me know the white size dish you used for the crumble ?
Fantastic ! I can’t stop marking the crumble ( but without oats).
This recipe for the crumble is wrong. There is way too much flour. Please correct it so people don’t waste their money on ingredients. You need to either half the flour or double the butter!
I enjoyed making this recipe as it was very quick and easy. The apple filling was delicious, however, I found the crumble to be dry. I will probably add less flour next time I make it.
Made this recipe according to the quantities and directions but the crumble was very dry and floury and didn’t have the crispy, gooey texture of a normal crumble -even after being in the oven for over 35mins. I would only use half the amount of flour next time I make it . Otherwise, very tasty!
Hi Nicky,
As reported I stripped the Chicken from the Carcass and boiled up the
bones and remains, then added chopped Vegetables and boiled up ready
to batch freeze tomorrow.
I was able to have a Chicken Lunch with Mash from yesterday’s left overs.
This afternoon I decided to have a go at Mikes Apple Crumble. I was able
to make 2 Dishes which will provide Puddings for a week. The instructions
were easy to follow but I would have preferred the Ingredients List to have
been at the beginning rather than at the end.
Thanks for the reminder, loved your version with oats in the crumble topping😋
This looks yummy! I have some left over applesauce and wondering what you think of using it in place of, or partial place of, the cooking apples? Appreciate your thoughts.
Hi Patty, Yes, you could use the applesauce if it’s one with plenty of texture to it (if it’s smooth sauce, the crumble mixture will likely sink into it). However, it will be lot softer/sloppier as the apples are already cooked before you add the crumble topping, and they’ll soften up further when you bake the crumble in the oven.
Brilliant apple crumble love it