As the leaves begin to turn and a crisp chill fills the air, there’s nothing quite as comforting and inviting as a warm, homemade Cranberry Apple Crisp. This beloved dessert perfectly encapsulates the essence of autumn, blending the sweet, tender notes of baked apples with the vibrant, tart burst of fresh cranberries, all crowned with a golden, buttery, and irresistibly crunchy oat topping. It’s a symphony of textures and flavors that promises to delight your senses and fill your home with the most delightful aromas.
Our Cranberry Apple Crisp recipe is designed for ease and maximum flavor, making it an ideal choice for both seasoned bakers and beginners. It’s a versatile dessert, perfect for holiday gatherings, cozy family dinners, or simply a treat on a chilly evening. The contrast between the warm, spiced fruit filling and the crisp, crumbly topping is truly magical. For an elevated experience, we highly recommend serving this delightful crisp warm, accompanied by a generous scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream or a dollop of freshly whipped cream. The cool, rich dairy provides a magnificent counterpoint to the warm, jammy fruit, creating a dessert that’s pure comfort in every bite.
Dive into this recipe and discover why Cranberry Apple Crisp remains a perennial favorite, bringing warmth, sweetness, and a touch of seasonal joy to any table. Let’s gather our ingredients and create some delicious memories!
Essential Ingredients for Your Perfect Cranberry Apple Crisp
Creating an exceptional Cranberry Apple Crisp starts with selecting high-quality ingredients. Each component plays a crucial role in building the layers of flavor and texture that make this dessert so special. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need for both the luscious fruit filling and the crunchy oat topping:
For the Cranberry Apple Filling
- Apples: Approximately 6 medium apples, weighing about 3 pounds. Honeycrisp apples are my top recommendation due to their ideal balance of sweetness and tartness, and their ability to hold shape beautifully when baked. Other excellent choices include Granny Smith for a tangier profile, Fuji for extra sweetness, or a mix of varieties for a complex flavor. Ensure apples are firm and free of blemishes.
- Cranberries, fresh or frozen: 12 ounces (about 3 cups) of cranberries. Fresh cranberries offer a vibrant tartness and beautiful color, while frozen cranberries are a convenient alternative and can be used directly from the freezer without thawing. Their tartness is essential for balancing the sweetness of the apples and sugars.
- Orange Juice: 2 Tablespoons. A splash of orange juice adds a bright citrus note that enhances the flavors of both the apples and cranberries. It also helps to prevent the apples from browning and contributes to the jammy consistency of the filling.
- Granulated Sugar: ½ cup (100g). This provides the primary sweetness for the fruit filling, ensuring the tartness of the cranberries is well-balanced.
- Brown Sugar: ½ cup (100g). Brown sugar adds a deeper, molasses-rich sweetness and helps to create a more complex flavor profile in the filling. It also contributes to a slightly richer, more caramelized texture.
- Flour: ¼ cup (30g) all-purpose flour. The flour acts as a thickening agent for the fruit juices, ensuring your filling becomes wonderfully jammy and not watery. Without it, the crisp can become too soupy.
- Cinnamon: 2 teaspoons. Ground cinnamon is the quintessential fall spice that ties all the fruit flavors together, adding warmth and aromatic depth to the filling.
For the Crisp Oat Topping
- Old-Fashioned Oats: 1 cup (100g). Rolled oats (old-fashioned) are crucial for that signature chewy and crispy texture. Quick oats can be used in a pinch, but they will result in a less substantial topping.
- Flour: 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour. This forms the base of the crumble, binding the oats and sugars together to create a cohesive yet crumbly topping.
- Brown Sugar: ½ cup (100g). Just like in the filling, brown sugar in the topping contributes a rich, caramel-like sweetness and helps achieve that golden-brown color and slightly chewy texture.
- Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon. A touch of cinnamon in the topping enhances the overall warm spice profile of the crisp, complementing the flavors in the fruit filling.
- Salt: ½ teaspoon. A small amount of salt is vital for balancing the sweetness and enhancing all the other flavors in the topping, preventing it from tasting flat.
- Butter: 10 Tablespoons (141g) unsalted butter, melted. Melted butter creates a topping that is wonderfully crumbly and easy to mix, ensuring even distribution of flavor and a rich, golden finish once baked.
Cranberry Apple Crisp FAQs: Your Questions Answered
Making a delicious crisp should be an enjoyable and straightforward process. Here are some frequently asked questions to help you achieve the best results with your Cranberry Apple Crisp.
What type of apples should I use for this crisp?
The choice of apples can significantly impact the final flavor and texture of your crisp. My personal favorite is the Honeycrisp apple. It offers a fantastic balance of sweetness and tartness, along with a firm texture that holds up well during baking without turning to mush. If you prefer a more tart dessert, Granny Smith apples are an excellent choice as their sharp flavor cuts through the sweetness beautifully. For those who enjoy a sweeter apple, Fuji or Gala varieties would be wonderful options. You can even combine two types of apples to get a more complex flavor profile. Ultimately, pick your favorite apple variety, or experiment with a blend, to suit your taste!
Do I need to peel the apples before baking?
Whether to peel your apples is entirely a matter of personal preference. I usually prefer to peel apples when they are baked in a crisp or pie, as the peels can sometimes become tough after cooking, affecting the overall smooth texture of the fruit filling. However, leaving the peel on adds a rustic touch, contributes to the fiber content, and saves time during preparation. If you don’t mind a little texture from the peels, feel free to leave them on. Just make sure to wash them thoroughly before slicing.
Can I use frozen cranberries for this recipe, or do they have to be fresh?
You can absolutely use either fresh or frozen cranberries for this recipe, making it convenient no matter the season. If you’re using frozen cranberries, there’s no need to thaw them beforehand. Simply add them directly to the apple mixture while still frozen. Thawing them first can release too much moisture, potentially making your fruit filling watery. Both fresh and frozen cranberries will contribute that essential tartness and vibrant color to your crisp.
How should the Cranberry Apple Crisp be stored?
To keep your apple cranberry crisp fresh and delicious, store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. While the topping might lose some of its crispness in the fridge, it’s easy to revive. For best results, reheat individual servings in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 10-15 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and the filling is warm and bubbling. You can also reheat it in the microwave for a quicker option, though the topping won’t be as crunchy. Surprisingly, I’ve also found that eating it cold straight from the fridge is quite delightful, offering a different, refreshing experience!
Can I prepare this crisp ahead of time?
Yes, you can prepare certain components of the cranberry apple crisp in advance. You can mix the fruit filling ingredients and store them covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Keep the crisp topping ingredients mixed separately, storing the dry ingredients in one container and the melted butter separately. When ready to bake, simply combine the topping ingredients, assemble the crisp, and bake as directed. Baking it fresh ensures the topping is at its crispiest. While you can bake the entire crisp ahead of time, the topping will soften upon refrigeration. Reheating will help, but it won’t be quite as fresh as a newly baked one.
Top Tips for Baking the Best Cranberry Apple Crisp
Achieving a truly outstanding Cranberry Apple Crisp involves a few key techniques. Follow these tips to ensure your crisp is perfectly balanced in flavor and boasts that irresistible texture every time:
- Slice the Apples Evenly: Consistency is key when preparing your fruit. Ensure all apple slices are roughly the same size and thickness. This guarantees that they will bake evenly, resulting in a uniformly tender fruit filling. I prefer ½-inch thick slices, which allows the apples to become soft but still retain a slight bite. If you prefer your cooked apples very soft and almost melt-in-your-mouth, aim for thinner slices, closer to ¼-inch thickness.
- Test the Apples for Doneness: The best way to determine if your crisp is ready is to check the tenderness of the apples. While the topping might look golden, the fruit underneath needs to be perfectly cooked. Gently insert a paring knife into an apple slice through the crisp topping. The knife should slide in easily with minimal resistance, indicating the apples are soft but not mushy. No one wants a crunchy apple crisp!
- Allow the Crisp to Cool: Patience is a virtue when it comes to serving a perfect crisp. The fruit filling produces a considerable amount of hot juice during baking. If you serve the crisp immediately out of the oven, this liquid won’t have had enough time to thicken. Allowing the crisp to cool for at least 20-30 minutes after baking gives the fruit juices a chance to set and thicken properly. This results in that desirable jammy, cohesive filling rather than a soupy bottom layer. Plus, that perfectly jammy filling is truly the best part!
- Don’t Overmix the Topping: When preparing the oat topping, mix the ingredients just until they are combined and crumbly. Overmixing can develop the gluten in the flour, leading to a tough rather than delightfully tender and crisp topping. Use a fork to gently incorporate the melted butter until a cohesive, crumbly mixture forms.
- Enhance with Additional Spices: While cinnamon is wonderful on its own, don’t hesitate to experiment with other warm spices. A pinch of nutmeg, a dash of allspice, or a touch of ground ginger can add extra complexity and depth to both the fruit filling and the oat topping. These spices complement the apple and cranberry flavors beautifully, creating an even richer autumnal profile.
Baking Tip: Weigh Your Ingredients for Consistent Results!
For truly consistent and successful baking, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients rather than relying on measuring cups. Measuring by weight is the most accurate method, as flour and other dry ingredients can compact differently depending on how they are scooped, leading to variations in your recipes. Weighing ingredients will yield more precise results, ensuring a better success rate every time you bake. As an added bonus, using a scale often means fewer dishes to wash, making cleanup a breeze! I provide gram measurements in all my recipes because of this accuracy, and this is the scale I love to use.
More Cozy Recipes You’ll Love!
- Pumpkin Pecan Upside-Down Cakes
- Apple Cheesecake Pop-Tarts
- Maple Pecan Blondies
- Mini Biscoff Cheesecakes
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
If you make this delightful Cranberry Apple Crisp recipe and absolutely love it, please be sure to leave a comment below and share your experience. Happy baking!
Cranberry Apple Crisp Recipe
Sweet apples and tart cranberries combine in a rich, jammy cinnamon filling, all blanketed beneath a golden, buttery oat topping. This Cranberry Apple Crisp is the epitome of cozy fall desserts, delivering warmth and comfort in every forkful!
Author: Rachel
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Apple Filling
- 6 medium apples (about 3 pounds), such as Honeycrisp
- 12 oz (about 3 cups) fresh or frozen cranberries
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (30g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
For the Oat Topping
- 1 cup (100g) old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100g) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 Tablespoons (141g) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9” x 13” baking dish with non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking and ensure easy cleanup.
- For the Cranberry Apple Filling: Begin by preparing your apples. Peel, core, and slice the apples into uniform ½-inch thick slices. Transfer the sliced apples along with the cranberries to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the orange juice and toss gently to coat the fruit, which also helps prevent browning.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, all-purpose flour, and cinnamon. Pour this dry mixture over the apples and cranberries, then toss everything together until the fruit is thoroughly coated with the sweet and spiced mixture.
- Carefully pour the coated fruit mixture into your prepared 9” x 13” baking dish. Spread it out into an even layer using a spatula or the back of a spoon, ensuring an equal distribution of apples and cranberries throughout the dish.
- For the Oat Topping: In a clean mixing bowl, combine the old-fashioned oats, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk these dry ingredients together until well combined. Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until the mixture is fully combined and forms a delightful crumbly texture. Ensure no dry spots remain and the butter is evenly distributed.
- Evenly sprinkle the prepared crisp topping over the entire apple and cranberry mixture in the baking dish. Make sure it’s spread in an even layer to ensure consistent browning and crispness.
- Bake the crisp in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the apples are soft (test with a paring knife), the edges of the fruit filling are bubbling beautifully, and the oat topping has turned a glorious golden brown.
- Once baked, remove the crisp from the oven and allow it to cool for about 20-30 minutes. This crucial cooling time allows the fruit juices to thicken, resulting in that perfectly jammy filling. Serve warm with a generous dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream for the ultimate comforting dessert experience!
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to tag @sweetkitchencravings on Instagram!
HI THERE!
I’m Rachel
I’m the dessert lover, recipe developer, and content creator behind Sweet Kitchen Cravings. Here you’ll find classic yet special recipes that are sure to impress your loved ones!
MORE ABOUT RACHEL