Take a bite into this delightful mix of sweet and tart tender apples beneath an oat crisp that’s baked to perfection. Serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream and as much of this amazing homemade bourbon caramel sauce your heart desires.
Apple crisp is the perfect transition from Summer desserts to Fall baking. The short process from start to finish is enough to not cook yourself in the heat of your kitchen for too long yet always best served warm and with a scoop of ice cream.
In five easy steps, you can create this wonderful dessert and have it ready in one hour! And if the thought has crossed your mind on how an apple crisp may be similar to an apple pie… ever heard the saying, as easy as pie? I promise you, THIS is much easier!
What truly takes this classic apple crisp to the next level, is the bourbon caramel sauce. Holy heavens, this sauce is magic. It’s so good I had to remake it from last year’s bourbon caramel apple cake. Then again, I could be slightly biased because I love baking with bourbon. You can do a quick search on this site to see how many recipes use bourbon. I’m a little obsessed.
How to Make an Apple Crisp
Images below show what varying steps look like during the process of making an apple crisp. For full instructions, see the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
There are several ways to make caramel. I’ve seen some made with condensed milk and another adding a touch of chocolate. Some caramel sauces are more viscous than others. This bourbon caramel, in particular, is not too thick and not too thin. Just perfect.
If there’s concern about using alcohol, feel free to not include it. The bourbon simply adds depth to the traditional caramel flavor. And if you’re into salted caramel, adding a pinch more salt to your liking will do the trick.
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Bourbon Caramel Apple Crisp
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 inch 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Take a bite into this delightful mix of sweet and tart tender apples beneath an oat crisp that’s baked to perfection. Serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream and as much of this amazing homemade bourbon caramel sauce your heart desires.
Ingredients
APPLE CRISP
- 2 medium tart apples (Granny Smith or Rome)
- 2 medium sweet apples (Honeycrisp, Braeburn or Gala)
- 3/4 cup (165 grams) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (45 grams) old-fashioned or quick oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter
BOURBON CARAMEL
- 1/2 cup (110 grams) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) bourbon
- 1 tablespoon (7 grams) powdered sugar
OTHER
- vanilla ice cream, optional
Instructions
- APPLE CRISP: Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). Using cooking spray, grease bottom and sides of an 8 or 9-inch (20 or 23 cm) baking dish that is 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep; set aside.
- Peel and slice each apple to 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick. Place slices into the prepared baking dish filled to the rim; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or a long-tined fork until the mixture becomes crumbly. The crisp mixture should resemble wet sand. Evenly sprinkle over the sliced apples. The height of the unbaked dessert will be higher than the rim of the baking dish however, upon baking, it will decrease as the apples will shrink in thickness.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until crisp is light brown and apples are tender. Allow the apple crisp to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- BOURBON CARAMEL: Meanwhile in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring brown sugar, butter, heavy cream and salt to a boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle over the apple crisp. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. ENJOY!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Crisp
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cinnamon apple crisp, bourbon caramel, caramel sauce, homemade caramel, caramel apple, fall dessert
Apple Recipes
Bourbon Desserts
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Hello there! Can this be frozen uncooked, then thawed and cooked? Also, can the sauce be made, frozen & then reheated? Thank you 🙂
Hi Eva,
Yes! You can freeze it uncooked. Seal it tight with plastic wrap, followed with a large Ziplock bag, container or aluminum foil. Keep in mind freezing apples can alter its texture
making them more spongy but because it’ll get baked, it may not matter too much. If you want to prevent browning of the apples, you can lightly dip the slices in ascorbic acid powder before freezing. It will have a light tart flavor to the powder but need not to worry. Turns out sweeter apples hold their flavor better than the tart variety.
As for freezing the bourbon caramel, I’m unsure how well it will freeze because there’s a touch of alcohol. It’s possible to freeze but I do know it can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a month. Hope this helps!
Connie