Classic Apple Crumble is made with a juicy apple filling flavored with sugar and ground spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It is topped with a buttery streusel made from whole wheat flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, and vanilla. Bake until golden and serve warm as a comforting dessert.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Desserts
  • Cuisine: British, World

Ingredients

  • 500 grams apple (or 4 medium-sized apples or 3 cups chopped apples)
  • 6 tablespoons sugar (or 60 grams - can add granulated sugar, raw sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar or castor sugar)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ((cinnamon powder))
  • ½ teaspoon lemon juice
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg powder (or grated nutmeg - optional)
  • 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
  • 75 grams cold butter ((unsalted) or ⅓ cup cold butter cubes)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (- 120 grams)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ½ cup castor sugar (or powdered sugar, 100 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

Method

Making apple filling

  1. Firstly rinse the apples in running water. Drain all the water. Then peel them. Removed the seeds and pith. Chop all the apples in 1-inch cubes.
  2. Take the apples in a mixing bowl.
  3. Add sugar, ground cinnamon, lemon juice, whole wheat flour and ground nutmeg powder (optional) to the apples.
  4. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
  5. Grease a baking tray or pan evenly with some softened butter. Set aside.

Making streusel stuffing

  1. Chop 75 grams of cold butter in cubes. In a mixing bowl take the cubes. If using about 1 inch pre-cut cubes, you will need about ⅓ cup of the butter cubes.
  2. Add castor sugar or powdered sugar. Avoid using granulated sugar in your recipes, as it tends not to dissolve during baking, resulting in an undesirable granular texture on the top layer.
  3. Add vanilla extract. Then add whole wheat flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
  4. With a pastry cutter cut the butter in the flour till you get a sandy breadcrumb like texture in the flour. You have the option to combine the butter and flour using either a knife, a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or your fingers. In case the butter starts to melt, consider placing the mixture in the fridge for a few minutes.

Layering

  1. Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Place the apples stuffing in the greased baking tray or pan.
  3. Layer the apple neatly in the pan.
  4. With a spoon sprinkle the streusel topping evenly all over the apples.
  5. Sprinkle in such a way that you get an even layer of the streusel stuffing on the apples.

Baking apple crumble

  1. Place the baking tray or pan in the preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes or until golden on top.
  2. Remove the baking tray or pan from the oven when you see a golden crust on the top. Various ovens have different temperatures, so keep a check while baking.

Serving & Storage

  1. Allow the Apple Crumble to reach a warm temperature before serving.
  2. It pairs well with ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.
  3. If there are leftovers, refrigerate them and warm in the oven before serving again.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.