This old-fashioned, oat free, classic Apple Crumble recipe is easy to make and is a total crowd-pleaser. With a crispy, buttery, whole wheat streusel topping and a juicy, jammy apple stuffing, it’s best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is a simple, cozy and comforting dessert that is delicious beyond comparison. YUM!
I love baking, and I especially love baking with fruits. Apples are one of my favorite ingredients, and they show up in various desserts on my website, like Apple Pie, Apple Cake, and Apple Halwa.
Apples also make an excellent base for cobblers, crisps and crumbles. What’s not to love about a dessert with fruit that is lightly sweetened and baked until fork tender and topped with a yummy, carb-y layer? Nothing, that’s what! This is a simple treat that the whole family is sure to love.
What is a Crumble
A crumble is a baked, casserole style dish with a signature crumbly topping that resembles bits of shortbread. Crumbles can be either savory or sweet, so long as they have a yummy streusel layer. The streusel gives a lovely crisp texture that acts as a perfect foil for the soft, tender filling beneath it.
Many fruits can be used to make crumbles, including: peach, various types of berries, plum, apricot, and rhubarb. In this apple crumble recipe, the topping is a crunchy whole wheat streusel that pairs beautifully with the thick, jammy apple layer.
While some fruit crumbles add oats to the topping, that would – in my opinion – make them more of a crisp. As such, this simple streusel topping features nutty whole wheat flour which gives some of the flavor of whole grains while maintaining a shortbread texture.
If you want to learn more about the difference between a crisp, crumble and cobbler, this is an excellent article to read.
About This Easy Apple Crumble Recipe
This dessert recipe is extremely easy, coming together with just about 20 minutes of prep. And unlike some other recipes out there, the apples don’t have to be cooked separately. Everything is baked together in one casserole dish at the same time, making it entirely fuss free.
You also have lots of leeway with the type of apples you use, making this entirely customizable. I personally prefer red apples in my crumble, but you can easily use a mix of any varieties that you please. In fact, you can even save yourself some time and opt to use canned apples instead.
Once the apple crumble is baked, allow it to cool slightly, then dish it out. You don’t even need a knife to cut the pieces! Simply scoop out portions with a serving spoon. I told you it was easy!
Step-by-Step Guide
How To Make Apple Crumble
This classic fruit crumble comes together very quickly – just make the apple filling, make the streusel, then assemble and bake.
Make Apple Filling
1. First, rinse and dry 4 medium-sized apples (500 grams) in running water. Peel, core and slice them, then chop apples in 1-inch cubes.
2. Add the apples to a mixing bowl. Sprinkle them with the following ingredients:
- 60 grams (or 6 tablespoons) of either granulated, powdered or castor sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
3. Add ½ teaspoon lemon juice.
Note: The acid in the lemon juice magically makes the apples taste more like apples; if you don’t have any on hand, swap in another acid like apple cider vinegar instead.
4. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour.
Note: This acts as a thickener. You can swap in all purpose flour, a gluten-free all purpose flour mix or cornstarch instead.
5. Mix very well and keep aside.
6. Grease a baking tray or pan with some butter and set it aside.
Make Streusel Topping
7. Add 75 grams cold butter cubes (⅓ cup) to a mixing bowl.
8. Add ½ cup castor sugar or confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar (100 grams).
Note: Please do NOT use granulated sugar as it does not melt while baking and gives a terrible granular texture to the top streusel layer.
9. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence.
10. Top with 1 cup whole wheat flour (120 grams), ½ teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt.
11. With a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients till you get a sandy, breadcrumb-y texture.
Note: No pastry cutter? No problem. You can use a knife or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour. You can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. If butter begins to melt, then pop the bowl into the fridge for a few minutes until it is cold again.
12. The texture of the streusel should look like wet sand or breadcrumbs.
Assemble
13. Place the apples in the greased pan in an even layer. Additionally, preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes.
14. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly all over the apples, using either a spoon or your fingers.
15. Sprinkle the apple mixture with the crumbles until evenly coated.
Bake Apple Crumble
16. Place the pan in the preheated oven.
17. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 40 minutes, or till golden on top.
Oven temperatures vary, so keep an eye on things. If the crumble topping is browning too quickly, cover it with foil so it can continue to bake without burning.
18. Let the apple crumble cool until warm and then serve. You can serve with ice cream, custard or whipped cream. Enjoy!
Serving & Storage
The apple crumble can be served warm (which is preferable) or at room temperature. While it is delicious served plain, I like to accompany it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, custard or sweetened whipped cream.
Any leftover apple crumble should be refrigerated. To reheat, simply warm it in the oven for a few minutes and then serve.
Tips & Variations
While it’s pretty impossible to make this apple crumble recipe taste anything but amazing, here are a few notes to keep in mind:
- A Note On Apple Varieties: Red apples taste best in this recipe. You can use any variety of red apples. Even green apples that have a sour-sweet profile taste good. If you prefer some tartness in the crumble, you can opt for green apples. If you’re short on time or working with just pantry ingredients, you can even use canned apples.
- Oats: For a crispier texture, you can replace up to half of the flour in the streusel topping with oats.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or a gluten-free flour mixture instead of whole wheat flour.
- Mixing: You can mix the flour with butter using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can also mix with your hands.
- Vegan options: You can use either vegan butter or solid coconut oil instead of butter. If coconut oil is in liquid form, then refrigerate until it solidifies. Use maple syrup or raw sugar for apple stuffing. For the streusel use maple syrup or powdered unrefined raw sugar.
- Sugar: Use either castor sugar or powdered sugar for the streusel layer. Granular sugar does not melt or dissolve and gives a grainy coarse texture which is not pleasant while eating. For the apple filling, you can use granulated sugar, raw sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar or castor sugar – it’ll all work beautifully.
- Butter: You can use either salted butter or unsalted butter for the streusel. If using salted butter, then skip the salt in the recipe.
FAQs
Absolutely! Simply swap in a gluten free all purpose flour mix for the streusel topping and opt to use cornstarch (aka corn flour) as the thickener for the apples.
Sounds like you might not have added enough butter to the dry streusel ingredients. By the time you’re done mixing the topping together, it should look like wet sand or toasted breadcrumbs. To ensure proper flour measurement, spoon the flour into a dry measure cup, then level it with a spoon.
Be sure to place your oven racks in the center of the oven for best results. I also recommend investing in an oven thermometer so you know the true temperature of your particular oven.
If the topping is still cooking too quickly, tent the crumble loosely with a piece of foil. This will allow the fruit mixture to continue cooking and prevent the topping from burning.
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Apple Crumble Recipe (No Oats)
This old-fashioned, oat free Classic Apple Crumble is easy to make and is a total crowd-pleaser. With a crispy, buttery, whole wheat streusel topping and a juicy, jammy apple stuffing, it’s best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Prevent your screen from going dark while making the recipe
Making apple filling
Firstly rinse the apples in running water. Drain all the water. Then peel them. Removed the seeds and pith. Chop all the apples in 1-inch cubes.
Take the apples in a mixing bowl.
Add sugar, ground cinnamon, lemon juice, whole wheat flour and ground nutmeg powder (optional) to the apples.
Mix thoroughly and set aside.
Grease a baking tray or pan evenly with some softened butter. Set aside.
Making streusel stuffing
Chop 75 grams of cold butter in cubes. In a mixing bowl take the cubes. If using about 1 inch pre-cut cubes, you will need about ⅓ cup of the butter cubes.
- Add castor sugar or powdered sugar. Avoid using granulated sugar in your recipes, as it tends not to dissolve during baking, resulting in an undesirable granular texture on the top layer.
Add vanilla extract. Then add whole wheat flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- With a pastry cutter cut the butter in the flour till you get a sandy breadcrumb like texture in the flour. You have the option to combine the butter and flour using either a knife, a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or your fingers. In case the butter starts to melt, consider placing the mixture in the fridge for a few minutes.
Layering
Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the apples stuffing in the greased baking tray or pan.
Layer the apple neatly in the pan.
With a spoon sprinkle the streusel topping evenly all over the apples.
Sprinkle in such a way that you get an even layer of the streusel stuffing on the apples.
Baking apple crumble
Place the baking tray or pan in the preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes or until golden on top.
Remove the baking tray or pan from the oven when you see a golden crust on the top. Various ovens have different temperatures, so keep a check while baking.
Serving & Storage
Allow the Apple Crumble to reach a warm temperature before serving.
It pairs well with ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.
If there are leftovers, refrigerate them and warm in the oven before serving again.
Tips & Variations
- Oats: For a more crunchy and crispy texture, you can add oats. Add ½ cup rolled oats and ½ cup flour.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour.
- Cutting & Mixing: You can mix the flour with butter using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can also mix with your hands.
- Vegan options: You can use solid coconut oil instead of butter. If coconut oil is in liquid form, then refrigerate for some minutes until it solidifies. Use maple syrup or raw sugar for apple stuffing. For the streusel use maple syrup or powdered unrefined raw sugar.
- Sugar: Do use castor sugar or powdered sugar for the streusel layer. For the apple filling, you can add granulated sugar, raw sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar or castor sugar
- Butter: Both salted butter or unsalted butter can be used in the recipe. If using salted butter then skip the salt.
Nutrition Facts
Apple Crumble Recipe (No Oats)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 448 Calories from Fat 144
% Daily Value*
Fat 16g25%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 40mg13%
Sodium 147mg6%
Potassium 306mg9%
Carbohydrates 75g25%
Fiber 7g29%
Sugar 46g51%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 536IU11%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg67%
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg59%
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 2mg10%
Vitamin B6 1mg50%
Vitamin B12 1µg17%
Vitamin C 6mg7%
Vitamin D 1µg7%
Vitamin E 1mg7%
Vitamin K 5µg5%
Calcium 44mg4%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 18µg5%
Iron 1mg6%
Magnesium 52mg13%
Phosphorus 172mg17%
Zinc 1mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This Apple Crumble recipe from the archives was first published in February 2020. It has been updated and republished on January 2024.
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