Cardamom Spiced Apple Crisp (Printable version)

Tender spiced apples with a crunchy oat and almond topping, baked to golden perfection.

# Needed ingredients:

→ Apple Filling

01 - 6 medium apples (about 2 pounds), peeled, cored, and sliced
02 - 2 tablespoons lemon juice
03 - 1/3 cup granulated sugar
04 - 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
05 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
06 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
07 - 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
08 - Pinch of salt

→ Crumble Topping

09 - 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
10 - 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
11 - 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
12 - 1/3 cup sliced almonds
13 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
14 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
15 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

# How to make it:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch baking dish and set aside.
02 - In a large bowl, toss sliced apples with lemon juice, sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and salt until evenly coated. Spread mixture in prepared baking dish.
03 - In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, almonds, cardamom, and salt. Add cold cubed butter and use your fingers or pastry blender to mix until texture resembles coarse crumbs.
04 - Sprinkle crumble mixture evenly over apples in baking dish.
05 - Bake for 40 minutes until topping is golden brown and apples are bubbling at edges.
06 - Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve warm, optionally with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

# Expert advice:

01 -
  • The cardamom gives you that sophisticated-without-trying flavor that makes people think you spent hours on this.
  • It comes together in about an hour, which means you can have a proper dessert on the table even on a weeknight.
  • The contrast between the soft, spiced apples and that buttery, crunchy topping hits differently than regular apple crisp.
02 -
  • If your apples release a lot of liquid during baking, it's because some varieties are juicier than others, so don't worry, the flour will help thicken it up into something delicious rather than watery.
  • Keeping your butter cold is the single most important trick for getting that crumbly texture instead of a dense topping, so pull it from the fridge just before you need it.
03 -
  • Make the crumble topping a day ahead and keep it in the fridge so you can skip a step when you're actually ready to bake.
  • If your oven runs hot, cover the top loosely with foil for the first 20 minutes of baking to prevent the crumble from browning too quickly before the apples cook through.
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