Apple Cranberry Crisp is a warm and comforting dessert that combines tart cranberries and sweet, tender apples under a buttery, crumbly topping. Prep this easy fall dessert in just 10 minutes then it's off to the oven!
Top this delicious fall dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of brown butter frosting!
Apples are the quintessential fall fruit! Don't forget a Dutch Apple Pie for Thanksgiving; the topping is definitely similar to this crisp!
Here, we combine sweet apples with tart cranberries for the perfect warm dessert to end the night. The fruit softens up nicely in the oven while the topping is crisp, then it all gets combined with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- While the list of ingredients feels long, they are all pantry staples. It also comes together super quickly!
- I think leftovers are even better than the first time around.
- Yes it's dessert, but no one will complain when you sneak some on to their breakfast plate. It's got oats, after all!
- The easy steps allow beginners and kids alike to have a hand in making this dessert. Just like with this fresh Strawberry Crumble!
Recipe Ingredients
Topping:
- Butter: I prefer unsalted when baking so I can control the salt levels.
- Flour: This helps our crisp topping stick together.
- Oats: Old-fashioned or rolled oats will give the best texture. I use these in Oatmeal Cream Pies too!
- Sugar: Both brown and granulated sugar give you the best crumble on top!
Filling:
- Apples: I use honeycrisp because they have a great firm texture that holds up to being baked.
- Cranberries: The perfect tart pairing to our sweet apples. Cape Cod Frozen cranberries are my go-to, I use them in this Cranberry Cake recipe too!
- Oranges: We need both the zest and juice of a fresh orange.
- Cornstarch: This will thicken the filling so it isn't running all over the place.
- Spices: Pull out all of your warm, autumn spice jars here! We are using cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom and ginger.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Gluten-free? You can easily use a 1-to-1 gluten free flour blend in place of wheat flour and make sure you grab the certified gluten-free oats too.
- Feel free to mix up apples. Look for varieties that have a crisp texture to them, such as Granny Smith or Cortland. I suggest using some sweet apples to pair with the tart cranberries.
- Fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries make a delicious swap for the cranberries. Use leftover raspberries for this chocolate raspberry tart!
- Only have lemons on hand? Go ahead and swap that for the fresh orange.
- Swap pears in for the apples! Pear and cranberry make a great combo!
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How To Make Cranberry Apple Crisp
Step 1: Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl.
Step 2: Mix streusel topping until you have clumps form. It will be a crumbly mixture.
Step 3: Spread apple cranberry crisp filling in a baking dish and evenly sprinkle with oat crisp topping.
Step 4: Bake until bubbly and hot.
Expert Baking Tips
- Place a baking sheet under your dish in the oven. Depending on how deep your dish is, you might get some filling bubbling over. It's much easier to clean that sheet pan than the bottom of the oven!
- Zest your orange before juicing it. A microplane zester makes quick work of this.
- Always use the freshest ingredients possible. Since you already need the zest, fresh OJ is a must.
- I personally like to leave the peel on the apples, less work, same great taste. I leave the peel on when making Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad too.
- Bake Apple Cranberry Crisp until soft and bubbling. The fruit will become tender and the crisp topping will be golden brown.
Recipe FAQs
Once cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven for a crisp topping again. Microwave or air fryer also works. I think it also tastes great cold or room temp, and I won't tell if you sneak some for breakfast!
You might be asking yourself if there even is a difference. And yes, there is - both are very simple desserts to make from pantry ingredients. Typically a crisp contains oats while a crumble does not.
Yes! Frozen cranberries have not been processed at all before freezing, meaning you can interchange them. If you have a smaller grocery store, they might not carry cranberries year-round in the fresh produce section. Buy extra when we get to the holidays and simply toss some straight in the freezer!
Yes, it can! Prepare Apple Cranberry Crisp up to 24 hours ahead of time and store in the fridge until you're ready to bake. Allow crisp to sit out 1 hour before baking or allow for 10 extra minutes of baking time.
Yes! When subbing dried cranberries in place of fresh or frozen you'll want to use about 25% less. For this recipe, use 2 ¼ cups dried cranberries. If you want to take it a step further, soak the dried cranberries in orange juice (fresh or bottled) overnight then strain before adding to the mixture.
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📖Recipe
Apple Cranberry Crisp
Equipment
- 1 pie pan deep
Ingredients
Apple Cranberry Mix
- 7 cups honey crisp apples sliced
- 3 cups cranberries frozen
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 juice & zest of 1 orange
- 4 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal brand
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Crisp Mix
- 4 oz unsalted butter room temp
- ¾ cups oats
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal brand
- ½ cup flour all purpose or GF
Instructions
Apple Cranberry Mix
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all apple cranberry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl then pour into a deep dish pie pan
Crisp
- Mix all crisp ingredients together until well combined. Sprinkle over the top of apple cranberry mix then bake 75-90 minutes until apples are soft and the mixture is bubbly
Amy
Can you use fresh cranberries instead of frozen?
Krista Stechman
Yes, fresh cranberries will work too.
Christine
So good! Tastes like heaven!
Krista Stechman
So happy to hear that!
Krista
I love all the warm spices mixed with the apple and cranberry. I eat half the crisp topping raw then put the rest on to bake, LOL!