Apple Crisp with Cranberries and Walnuts

A simple Apple Crisp recipe dressed up for fall with dried cranberries and walnuts. An optional secret ingredients delivers some spicy flavor for those who like a bit of heat.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Total Time 55

Servings servings

Calories 301kcal

Author Toni Dash

Equipment

Pastry Blender

Ingredients

5-7 large sweet Apples peeled and thickly sliced to yield 8 cups (see Notes for apple varieties)
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed Lemon Juice
½ cup Dried Cranberries (apple juice sweetened if available, usually at stores like Whole Foods)
½ cup chopped Walnuts
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
½-3/4 teaspoon Mild Chile Powder optional
¾ cup All-Purpose Flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) cold Unsalted Butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl combine the sliced apples, lemon juice, cranberries, walnuts, ½ cup of the sugar, and the spices. Mix well by to coat the apples.
Spoon into a 9-inch by 9-inch square pan.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the remaining ½ cup sugar, flour and cut in the butter with a dough/pastry blender (or two knives) until crumbly in texture.
Sprinkle topping over the apple mixture.
Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes or until the pples are fork-tender and the topping becomes lightly golden.
Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

A single type of apple can be used or they can be mixed. Here are some great apple favorites:

Honeycrisp apples (our favorite apple)
Golden Delicious
Crispins
Jonagold
Braeburn

Expert Tips

Use a pastry blender for the topping. Though a fork can also be used a pastry blender best combines cold butter into the other topping ingredients. The end topping will have a sandy consistency with no large pieces of butter; it will all be incorporated.

The moisture in the apples will effect the cooking time. AND how juice the crisp is. If you use apples that are not very moist and reach the end of the cooking time without them being fully cooked, loosely cover the pan with foil. This creates some humidity as it cooks.

How to Store

Apple crisp can be left out, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 day. We prefer to refrigerate any leftovers with the baking pan covered or placed into an airtight container for up to 4-5 days.

To reheat, servings can be microwaved or even popped into an air fryer to crisp up the top.

Nutrition