Apple Crumble

Nagi "There are tons and tons of Apple Crumble recipes out there. This recipe doesn’t have any ground breaking techniques or secret ingredients. But it works, tastes great and it makes an Apple Crumble that is everything it should be. Specifically:

1. The apple filling is not dry or watery. It is made ever so slightly jammy / syrupy with the addition of flour mixed with the usual sugar (plus cinnamon for fragrance). Just a bit of flour really makes a difference; and

2. The crumbly topping bakes up beautifully crisp but is not dry or doughy or overly sweet. It crumbles when you serve it – hence the name 😉 – but it doesn’t disintegrate, there are chunks that hold together. Think chunky muesli/granola – like that. But softer. 🙂

Ingredients

Apple Filling

• 1kg Granny Smith Apples( green apples) , weight before peeling

• 1 tbsp flour , plain / all-purpose

• 100 g white sugar (sub brown sugar)

• 2 tbsp lemon juice (or water)

• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Topping

• 90 g rolled oats / oatmeal (quick cooking is ok)

• 150 g flour , plain / all-purpose

• 175 g brown sugar (sub white sugar)

• 0.5 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon powder

• 125 g unsalted butter , melted

• Pinch of salt

To Serve

• Vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C  (both fan and standard).

2. Apple – Peel apples, then cut into 1.5cm/ 1/2” cubes.

3. Apple filling – Place apples in a bowl. Sprinkle with flour, sugar and cinnamon, then pour over lemon juice. Toss, then spread out evenly in a 1.5 litre/1.5 quart baking dish. 

4. Crumble topping – Place Topping ingredients in a bowl. Mix until clumps form, like wet sand (see video). Spread over the apples, crumbling with fingers if required to get that crumbly topping.

5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove, cover loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand for 10 minutes before serving (let's the apple syrup thicken slightly).

6. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Recipe Notes

1. Weight is BEFORE peeling and coring. I like making this with Granny Smith apples because they are slightly tart. You can use any apples you want, or even pears.

2. Peaches work too but you can cut back on the sugar a bit. This recipe is also great for any type of berries.

3. Whatever you use, don’t omit the sugar completely because it’s part of how the filling becomes a bit jammy rather than watery.

4. Weights – This recipe is quite forgiving / difference in cup measures are relative so it works whether using US cups or Imperial cups (i.e. what 99% of the rest of the world uses). It won’t work with Japanese cups (which are smaller) so please use the weight measures provided.

5. To make ahead, prepare recipe up to just before crumbling topping on top. Cover topping with cling wrap (refrigerate if it’s hot where you are) then crumble over just before baking.

6. SWEETNESS: A few readers have said they find this too sweet for their taste. I don’t have an overly sweet tooth, and love this as is. If you like less sweet things, reduce the sugar in the topping down to as low as 1/2 cup. It’s best to keep sugar in Filling as is so the syrup consistency isn’t affected. Also, use green apples – they are less sweet than others.

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