Grandma Mary’s Apple Crisp with Sweet Biscuit Topping
This buttery, cinnamon-scented apple crisp recipe has a simple, sweet biscuit topping you’ll love.
By Amy Traverso|Oct 03 2022|
Apple crisp with sweet biscuit topping
Photo Credit: Amy TraversoMy grandma Mary made this buttery, cinnamon-scented crisp every fall, and to me, it’s the flavor of home. This is her adaptation of a recipe from the November 1945 issue of Country Gentleman magazine; I still have the original, now tissue-thin and torn at the creases. I make it in summer or fall, filling it with whatever’s fresh: apples, blueberries, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, or pears. But it really is best with apples.
This is probably a different sort of apple crisp than you’re used to. It has a simple, sweet biscuit topping made with flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and eggs. That’s it. Just drizzle with the butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. In flavor and texture, it resembles a cross between a biscuit and a sugar cookie and I love it. You can serve it with a scoop of ice cream, a drizzle of heavy cream, or no topping at all.
Notes: You can cut your prep time in half by using an old-fashioned apple corer/peeler, which makes short work of cutting the apples into perfect, even slices. For the perfect texture, I like to mix tender-tart apples, such as McIntosh or Jonathan, with firm-sweet ones, such as Jazz, Pink Lady, or Jonagold. The tender apples cook down and create a sort of thick sauce, in which the firmer slices are suspended—a mixture of smoothness and texture.
Yield
8 to 10 servings
Total Time
1 hour, 15 minutes minutes
Hands-on Time
30 minutes minutes
Ingredients
10 large apples, peeled, cored, and cut into1/4-inch-thick rings or slices (see Note)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons table salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and set a rack to the middle position. Arrange the sliced apples in an even layer in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish (no need to grease it); set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the eggs and, using a fork or a pastry cutter, work in until crumbly. The mixture will look like streusel, with a mix of wet and dry bits. Have no fear; the eggs provide enough liquid.
Spread the topping evenly over the apples, then drizzle all over with the melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake until the topping is golden brown and apple juices are bubbling, 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes, then serve warm from the pan.
Oddest note about cutting up apples I’ve ever read.
Oh my goodness, YUM!
This is easy to adapt as a gluten free topping for any fruit crisp. It’s the recipe I use whenever I bake this tasty treat!
How many cups of apple slices?
Hi Barbara! This recipe calls for 10 large apples, which should yield just around 15 cups of sliced apples. Happy baking!
Can’t wait to try this different form of apple crisp.
So use this method for cutting up apples….great prep tool and advice!
Great comments on Apple prep! I do it that way each time!!
If I want to cut this in half, can I just halve all the ingredients?
I will only use 1/2 cup of sugar as the apples contain sugar.
My mother made this recipe since I was very young, not so young anymore. 🙂
I have her old recipe card in her old recipe box.
How t0 adapt to gluten free? I’m new to celiac
Try substituting King Arthur (a Vermont company) gluten free flour one for one. Works for me in a lot of baking recipies.
Where do you find the note about cutting up apples?
My mom made this unique “crisp” since the 50’s with apples, peaches, or rhubarb. Fascinating to find out where it originated. It’s a family favorite.
Can’t wait to make this. My grandkids will love it.
Sounds great! Excited to try this and it sound like a perfect fall recipe. Love the note. I’ll have to dig my apple peeler out and put the little granddaughters to work.
Thank for the recipes!
The Notes regarding the apples are just above the Ingredients list.
This sounds delicious, can’t wait to try!
Can’t WAIT to make it tomorrow!
No sugar on the apples?
Read the recipe. There is sugar.
Doesn’t the biscuit topping make this a cobbler?
It’s not topped with biscuits, but a crumbled mixture. Reread the recipe.
Topping seems awfully dry, and not much juice in with the apples, probably because no sugar is mixed with them.
This is a much better recipe for apple crisp than any of the ones containing oats. Oats are a good grain, but not in a crisp.
I have a copy of this and make it often. It is not what most of us think of as a crisp, but it is the best! I use the same recipe with peaches, but add 1 tsp cornstarch because of the extra juice. Try it!
My Grammy made this but we called it “apple pan dowdy” – brings back wonderful memories!