Why It Works
- Tossing the apple with a small amount of flour ensures the fruit juices thicken to a glossy glaze in their brief cooking time.
- Microwaving the crisp topping separately from the apples ensures it remains crisp.
- Stirring the topping every 30 seconds when microwaving ensures that it toasts evenly without burning.
Every year in the early fall, I force my family (whether they want to or not) to brace for the crowds, sweat through their flannel, and head out to our favorite local orchard to go apple picking. My kids run wild through the rows of apple trees, tasting, and often throwing, every apple they can reach, while my husband and I try to keep up.
Admittedly a few apples are harmed in this process, but fun is had and memories are made (at least for me). We come home happy and exhausted, with an obscene amount of apples that we spent a LOT of money on, and then have to figure out what the heck I am going to do with all of them. By this point my husband and kids are appled out. Family be damned, I still want to enjoy the fruits of my labor! But, truth be told, I don’t feel like peeling and cutting endless pounds off the autumnal fruit for a huge apple dessert that only I am going to actually eat.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
It’s under these circumstances that I developed this single-serve apple crisp recipe one fall day about 6 years ago. Since then, it’s become the go-to sweet treat I make for myself all fall. It might be the easiest apple crisp recipe out there: It requires a handful of ingredients (most of which you probably already have in your pantry) and one bowl. Plus, the crisp topping and apple filling are cooked within minutes right in the microwave—no need to wait for the oven to preheat.
While I take shortcuts to make this crisp, I don’t skimp on the flavor one bit. The warm bubbly apple filling has a light hint of cinnamon and lemon beneath a crunchy buttery oat topping. It’s wonderful on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Here are my tips for getting it right. Once you try it, I bet this is sure to become a fall favorite for you as well.
Tips for the Easiest Apple Crisp You Will Ever Make
Don’t turn up your nose at the microwave. Cooking with a microwave may not feel as fancy as firing up your conventional oven to make dessert, but these little boxes can be handy when you’re short on time (or, let’s be honest, motivation). As discussed in our article on how microwaves work, the appliances operate by firing electromagnetic radiation at your food. These waves effectively target the food’s internal water molecules, agitating them at a rate that produces enough friction to generate heat and evaporate water.
The problem is that they can’t penetrate much deeper than about an inch into food. What’s more, microwaves hit foods in an unpredictable pattern, so some parts will cook faster than others. Microwave ovens use turntables to help even out cooking to some degree, but another way to help even cooking is to cut the food into small pieces—as we do here with the apple—so that the heat penetrates all the way through each piece of apple. Stirring periodically during cooking also helps ensure even heat distribution.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
So, while a microwave may not be the preferred tool for cooking, say, a centerpiece-worthy steak or an entire apple pie, it’s a useful tool for softening a single serving of apple filling and for drying out and toasting the oat crisp topping.
Pick any apple, really. Don’t overthink this. Yes, we have a wonderfully detailed guide to the best apples for baking that I encourage you to reference when you want to bake perfect apple pies or cobblers for a crowd. But the strength of this recipe relies on using what you have on hand—no special trips to the orchard or store for a specific type of apple. Just be aware that sugar and water content varies by apple variety and may change the cooking time, so stir often and monitor the apple’s texture closely to avoid the filling overcooking and turning mushy.
Add a bit of flour to the apples.I also add a very small amount of flour when tossing the apples with the sugar and spices. The starch in the flour thickens the juices to ensure the cooked filling is glazed and glossy rather than soupy.
Use what you’ve got. I kept this ingredient list as simple as possible, while still guaranteeing a flavorful crisp, but don’t feel limited to the seasonings I call for. Don’t have brown sugar on hand? Just use granulated instead. Fresh out of lemons? Then skip the juice. Hate cinnamon? Omit it or swap in your preferred warm spice, such as nutmeg or clove, or even an apple pie spice blend. One of the joys of this recipe is that you don’t have to work hard for great results.
Keep an eye on that crisp! As noted above, the microwave heats quickly, efficiently, and from all directions, which is why it’s great for quickly toasting small items like this crumbly oat topping. This happens very quickly, and the flour and oat mixture can go from perfectly toasted to burnt within seconds. So watch it closely in the microwave, keep your nose on alert for any burning scents, and stir it about every 30 seconds for even cooking. (Every microwave is a little different, but once you’ve made this crisp a couple of times, you’ll be able to dial in the exact timing for your particular device.) Once toasted, transfer to a plate to cool slightly until it’s fully crisp.
So the next time you’re craving a sweet treat just for you (and only you!) but don’t feel like baking, make this warm apple crisp. Whether you have an endless mound of freshly picked orchard apples or just one forgotten apple at the bottom of a fruit bowl, it’s the perfect simple dessert.
