Easy Apple Crumble Recipe (2024)

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Perhaps one of my all-time favourite desserts. This apple crumble recipe is easy to make yet incredibly comforting, especially when smothered in warm custard.

I love mine to have a warm, spicy taste, so I add a generous helping of cinnamon, but if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Also, some people suggest boiling the apples before cooking them, but I don’t bother, I find they come out too mushy, and it ruins the texture of the finished product.

Nothing can beat a homemade apple crumble. Shop-bought ones always seem to lack the flavour (not to mention you hardly get any!)

Everyone in the family loved it and agreed it was the best apple crumble they had tasted.

What’s The Difference Between Crumble, Crisp and Cobbler?

Apple crumble, apple crisp, and apple cobbler- you’ve probably heard of all three but might not know the difference between them.

An apple crumble is originally from England, typically made with flour, sugar and butter, with a fine, crumbly topping.

Cobbler is an American dessert, typically made with flour, sugar, butter and oats; the topping is a biscuit or pie dough.

And finally, a crisp is essentially the same as a crumble, but the topping is made with oats, which also crisps up when cooking, giving it its name.

Can I Add Rhubarb?

Yes, if you want to make rhubarb crumble instead. Add ten sticks of rhubarb, cut into 1-inch chunks, and add 80g of sugar to a saucepan, and boil until soft, adding more sugar if you want the rhubarb sweeter. Then, continue with the recipe as normal.

How To Make Apple Crumble

Start off by adding the flour to the bowl. To make sure it mixes in well, add in the cinnamon now.

Next, mix in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Here, if you’re in a hurry, you can use a bit of a cheat, but it might sacrifice the texture slightly. Once you’ve started combining the ingredients, you can use an electric mixer to do the rest for you, but make sure to add more flour if the crumble is sticking together in balls of dough.

Peel all the apples, cut out the bruises you often find with cooking apples, and slice them into slices 5mm (1/5 inch) thick.

If you want, you can make the slices a different thickness, but make sure you are consistent, or else the texture of all the apples will be different.

Place the apples in the baking dish (a ceramic or Pyrex dish works best), and sprinkle with 1 tbsp. demerara sugar to take out the bitter and acidic taste of the cooking apples.

Add the cinnamon to achieve that iconic warm, hearty taste associated with apple desserts. I really love cinnamon in desserts; if it’s not your thing, then feel free to leave it out or add in slightly less.

Apple Crumble

Yield: 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Nothing beats a warm, hearty apple crumble, and it's very simple to make. Perfect with fresh custard.

Ingredients

300g plain flour
200g demerara sugar
200g butter, chilled, diced
2 tsp cinnamon (for the crumble)
3 or 4 medium bramley cooking apples, depending on dish size
1 tbsp demerara sugar (for the filling)
1 tsp cinnamon (for the filling)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4/350°F
Add the flour and cinnamon to a mixing bowl, and mix.
Add the chilled butter.
Rub the flour and butter together between your thumbs in a mixing bowl until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar, and toss the crumble to integrate all of the sugar.
For the filling, peel all the apples, and slice to about half a centimetre thick.
Place the apples evenly in the baking dish, and sprinkle with the 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.
Cover with the crumble mixture, but make sure not to compact it.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden-brown on the surface.
Serve with custard or ice cream and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 624Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 217mgCarbohydrates: 91gFiber: 5gSugar: 48gProtein: 6g

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FAQs

What is the secret to good crumble? ›

❓FAQ

Use cold butter. This will help to create a crumbly texture that will not stick together when baking.
Use a mix of flour and oats. The oats will add a bit of crunch and texture to the topping.
Don't overmix the ingredients. The crumble topping should be made with a "coarse" crumb.

Jun 5, 2023

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What is apple crumble topping made of? ›

The Crumble Topping

It's a dessert, if I wanted an apple, I would eat an apple, ha! The apples are completely covered with a crumble topping that is made up of flour, oats, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and butter.

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How do you keep crumble topping crisp? ›

By freezing your topping, it makes it harden just slightly and that means the texture will be nice and crispy when it's cooked.”

How do you keep apples from getting mushy in crumble? ›

I usually give them a short blast in the microwave; not long enough to send them to mush, but just enough to keep their shape and texture and the oven will do the rest. I usually slice the apples quite thinly then put the crumble mixture on top and put the dish on a baking sheet. I part cook the apples.

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Is it better to crumble with cold or melted butter? ›

A well-made crumb should be firm yet tender, and chewy, with big chunks—like granola. The best way to achieve this is to use cold cubed butter. Using room-temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread out and flatten when it bakes, rather than standing pert and perky.

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How do you make crumble less crumbly? ›

Butter, which encourages both browning and crispness, is the magic ingredient in getting your topping just right, so follow the recipe instructions. But if you feel your topping is still too dry and crumbly, (even for a crumble) add a bit more melted butter, a tablespoon at a time.