For The Coziest Apple Crisp, Grab These 5 Simple Ingredients

Apple crisp is an underrated classic among autumnal desserts. Something like a crumble, it takes a base of sweet and spicy apples and tops them with a crunchy oat layer, and plenty of fall seasonings throughout. Sometimes it can be a more complex process, but it's easy to make apple crisp with just 5 ingredients you might already have.

A simple but flavorful apple crisp can come together with only butter, old-fashioned oats, ground cinnamon, sugar, and of course apples. Most of these ingredients are kitchen staples, and apples are easy to get year-round (and even more so when they're in season). But what kind of apples are best for this?

Ideally, this 5-ingredient apple crisp would use some combination of Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, and/or Golden Delicious apples. These three work particularly well for their textures when baked, which remain appropriately firm without becoming too watery (Golden Delicious apples should be bought and used as fresh as possible, as they are slightly more prone to mushiness). However, any apple variety that works well in a pie will work well in this easy crisp.

There's something to be said for getting great flavor out of just a handful of ingredients, but simple recipes like these can often be replete with chances to upgrade them. Chefs recommend many ingredient swaps to make crisps and cobblers taste better, and one old-school one worth considering is replacing butter with lard. Mixing pork fat into the oats, sugar, and seasoning will result in a crispier crisp than dairy butter can offer.

Another worthwhile ingredient swap to consider is using fresh ground cinnamon instead of store-bought. Freshly-ground spices often have bigger and bolder flavors than pre-ground bottles, an edge that comes in handy when the dish has less than half a dozen ingredients total. You can also try adding seasonings that work well with cinnamon, like nutmeg or clove.

Upgrading this dish also doesn't have to involve changing the actual recipe. You may not have known that you can flavor fresh whipped cream with jam; an apple or rhubarb jam would work especially well with this recipe. But it also doesn't have to be jam. Whipped cream takes on liquid flavors and ingredients well — consider whipping in maple syrup or caramel sauce before using the cream to top the crisp.