Apple Crumble

Apple crumble recipe. With soft cooked cinnamon apples topped with super crunchy, crumbly and buttery topping this is the best winter dessert ever. Also apple crumble is so easy to make, you need only 5 mins preparation time. To make things even better here I am showing how to make single serve crumbles, portion control? may be 🙂 But with such a goodness of crumble served generously with scoops of ice cream, it is easy to eat all the servings I say 🙂 Here is how to make best apple crumble ever.

As the weather gradually shifts from summer to monsoons and winter, along with the change of seasonal produce my choice of dessert also changes a bit. Yes only a bit as I never say no to my ice cream irrespective of the season :).

Warm chocolate pudding, bread and butter pudding , hand pies or fresh slices of warm butter cake is most appealing during this time of the year.

When there are gorgeous Kashmir apple all around us we make apple crumble, then some apple cucumber salad, apple muffins, apple milkshake, cake, jam, kheer and then again some crumble. If you want to make something more exotic there is an apple jalebi for you 🙂 .

But today let’s talk crumble. These are one of my favorite things to bake. Come on these are so easy that you will hardly call it a recipe.

So What Is An Apple Crumble?

Crumble is a dessert usually made of fruits like apple, strawberry, peach and flour. It is a baked dessert where on baking the fruits get stewed and the flour topping turns crunchy with amazing butter flavor.

I first tasted an apple crumble in a cafe and kind of liked it. Kind of because it was very sweet and top of that it was served with so much of ice cream. I had some and thought this is how a crumble will be.

But when I found this best apple crumble recipe in a magazine , I was elated as the ingredients and quantity of sugar was optimal and I knew I ad to try it. This was many years back and ever since we are enjoying the best crumble ever.

Also I always make them as single serving. It is a mess free way to serve apple crumble. Just one (or two or three) ramekin for a person and no mess.

As a rule of thumb, we buy only seasonal fruits at home. That means we get to enjoy apples only during this time of the year when Kashmir and Shimla apple are in season. So I go overboard and get as many as I can 🙂

Last week I had bought a good stash and made this apple crumble first. The remaining  were put to good use in apple chips, milkshake and some salad.

We had this super comforting warm and delicious crumble with the just right amount of sugar with a small scoop of butterscotch ice cream and need I say it was perfect?

This Apple Crumble Recipe Is

Crunchy, delicious wit right amount of sweetness

Not dry or doughy at all

Perfectly baked buttery flour topping that is delicious

No need for extra ingredients like oats

Vegetarian and can be made by using vegan butter

Warm and comforting winter dessert

Kid friendly mini dessert.

Ingredients For Apple Crumble

To make this dessert you don’t need a long list of ingredients. Just a couple of good apples, some flour, butter and sugar. I don’t prefer to use oats but add some walnuts and cashews here.

Apples- Sweet or slightly tart apples as per your preference. There should be certain amount of sugar for the apples to stew properly and remain juicy, so if you are not big on very sweet dishes, just use tart apples here. I have used Indian Kashmir apples. In USA and other countries you can use Granny Smith, Red delicious or golden apples or use green apples too.

Sweetener- For this recipe I only suggest granulated sugar or raw organic sugar for stewing apples and may be demerara sugar in topping.

Butter- Butter is the key ingredient for flavor and texture in this recipe. The flour topping gets its amazing flavor and crunchy texture from butter. You can use both salted or unsalted. I fusing unsalted just add a pinch of salt to cut down the sweetness and round off the flavors.

Flour- Good old plain flour is what we use for making crunchy and crumbly topping. However I have made the same recipe many times with wheat flour and works good. In fact the flavor of wheat flour combined with butter is too good.

How To Make Apple Crumble

Prepping The Apples

Begin by preheating your oven at 180 C or 350 F

Next, rinse, peel, core and chop the apples.

Sprinkle some ground cinnamon and sugar over it.

Mix well.

Divide this apple mixture evenly among 4 ramekins. Press gently with a fork. Set aside till we make crumble topping.

Preparing Crumble Topping

Combine melted butter, sugar , flour , chopped almonds and a pinch of salt in a bowl.

Mix well until the mixture resembles grits and coarse sand.

Baking Apple Crumble

Divide the prepared crumble topping equally and spread over the apple mixture in the ramekins.

Press slightly and place on a oven proof tray.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top turns golden and sugar from apples bubbles.

To serve:

Once ready, let the apple crumble warm down for 12 mins or so.

Serve with a scoop of butterscotch or vanilla ice cream. Ice cream is optional but recommended.

Tips To Make Apple Crumble

Apples to Sugar – For apples to cook in its own juice and stew well you need to add the sugar mentioned else they may turn very dry and burn slightly.

Flour to butter- The butter quantity given in this recipe is not too high or low. This is correct amount you need for the topping to be crunchy and it crumbles down so well with a wonderful flavor. If you should you may reduce the butter a bit but the texture may vary.

Plain Flour Alternative- Instead of plain

Add-ons in the topping– Here in this recipe I have just used some walnuts and cashews but you can also add 1/4 cup rolled oats along with flour.

Scaling Up- This recipe yields four small or individual servings. I have used ramekins but you can use a 4 or 5 inc baking dish for this recipe. You can easily sale up by doubling the ingredients proportionally.

Make Ahead- You can prep the apples and topping mixture well ahead and refrigerate. But assemble and bake just before serving.

Serve apple crumble warm as dessert with or without ice cream.

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Apple Crumble Recipe