Ina Garten’s 3-Step Fall Dessert Is My Favorite

While I am the mother of three children, I would not exactly call myself a parenting expert. I’m often building the ship as I sail it and have been humbled countless times over my almost eight years of motherhood. Humility aside, one thing I am certain of is that apple-picking with a family of young children is absolutely no fun.

Everyone is overheating in the fall outfit you insist they wear, which is far too warm for rising September temperatures. Almost everything is sticky, and inevitably, someone gets stung by a bee to end the day on a high note. Over the years, I’ve learned the pro move is to just head to the orchard to grab a quick picture and expertly purchase a bushel of apples and cider donuts with no rash from the hayride required.

If your children are slightly less feral than mine, perhaps they love trying to pick apples they cannot reach while you attempt to overhead press a wiggly toddler to the top of an apple tree. Kudos to you!

While we won’t be joining you in an orchard adventure anytime soon, one thing I hope we can agree on is my absolute favorite fall apple recipe: Ina Garten’s Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp. This is a crisp that can do it all. An elegant dessert for a fall dinner party? Just add vanilla ice cream. A cozy breakfast full of oats? It hits all the marks.

What Makes Ina’s Apple Crisp So Special

I’ve made a lot of apple crisps in my day, and something they all have in common is their simplicity. There really isn’t too much to them. Toss the apples with some sugar and spices, top that mixture with some sort of streusel, and pop the whole thing in the oven until bubbly and delicious.

True to Ina form, this recipe is simple, but she has a few tweaks that take it to the next level. First of all, she instructs you to toss the apples in both fresh lemon zest and juice, as well as fresh orange zest and juice, which adds an almost floral note. For spices, she calls for the standard cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg, but I always add a touch of ground ginger, too, for some extra zing.

As for the topping, this is where things get interesting. While there is nothing I love more than a buttery streusel, it’s one of my least favorite kitchen tasks. Working the butter into pea-sized pieces takes forever and makes a giant mess. Ina cleverly suggests assembling the topping in the bowl of a stand mixer. You add cold butter, flour, oats, and sugar to the bowl and beat it at low to medium speed until you create the most perfect crumble topping you’ve ever seen. I like to add a bit of spice to this mixture as well—just a pinch of cinnamon and ginger to really carry the flavor of fall through the entire dish.

Tips For Making Ina’s Apple Crisp

Though Ina’s recipe is a straightforward, 3-step process, I’ve learned a couple of things after making it all these years:

• When I first read through the recipe I was a bit puzzled by the ingredient line for “oatmeal”. I have always used rolled oats, and I believe that is what the recipe intends. Either way, the oats in the topping make the whole thing a fantastic option for a decadent fall breakfast. I like to add a little vanilla bean yogurt on top while the crisp is still warm for an unbelievable combination of textures and flavors.
• This recipe makes a huge batch. I often halve the recipe and use a 2-quart oval baking dish like this, which holds the contents perfectly.
• If you are like me and prefer the streusel topping to be extra crisp, I suggest turning the temperature up to 375˚F during the last 15 minutes or so of baking to allow the topping to get nicely golden brown and delicious.

The next time you find yourself with a bushel of apples, whether they were handpicked or store bought, this is the recipe you need to make first!