Sourdough Apple Crisp

This old-fashioned Sourdough Apple Crisp is the ultimate cozy fall dessert with spiced, tender apples and a crunchy sourdough cinnamon streusel on top.

You can’t beat the ease of this sourdough apple crisp, and the warm spices and apples baking in the fall are the best. The recipe screams cozy cardigans and flannel, and it’s a great dessert to serve to guests after apple picking with a scoop of ice cream!

Follow the detailed tips and recipe instructions below on how to make the perfect sourdough apple crisp.

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🛠 Tools Needed

• Baking scale
  • Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients is the best option! Measuring your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
• Spatula, for mixing the apple filling
• Mixing Bowl, for mixing the streusel
• 9×13″ Baking Dish
  • I like using a ceramic baking dish for this apple crisp, but you can use metal or glass too. The dish should hold 3 to 3 ½ quarts by volume.
  • Bake in a smaller 9″ square pan and use a fewer apples. Save any extra streusel for topping muffins or other baked goods.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

Please see below for my ingredient recommendations and potential substitutions.

Apple Filling

• Apples
  • The apples are the star in apple crisp, so be sure to use fresh apples that are crisp and tart. Soft apples like McIntosh, Gala, or Red Delicious will break down into mush (okay for Apple Butter and apple sauce).
  • Common apples I’d recommend for this recipe are Honeycrisp, Pink Ladies, Granny Smith, Cortland, or Braeburn. A mixture of these would be great too.
  • Add a tablespoon of cornstarch or flour to the filling if you think your apples will break down too much and be too juicy.
• Lemon Juice
  • The acidity in the fresh lemon juice helps prevent the apples from turning brown before baking and to brighten them up. Add lemon zest or more juice if your apples seem sweeter than tart.
• Cinnamon and Cardamom
  • Apples and cinnamon are always a perfect match, but cardamom also adds a lovely bright warmth to apples so I like to add both to the filling.
  • Substitute with other warming spices like clove, nutmeg, ginger, etc. You could even do a mix of spices like in my Sourdough Banana Bread with Chai Spices.
• Brown Sugar
  • The brown sugar has molasses for more caramel flavor to the filling.
• Salt
• Vanilla Extract

Sourdough Streusel

• Old-fashioned Rolled Oats
  • Use rolled oats for the streusel for the best chewy and hearty texture. They help the streusel clump.
  • Other recipes I love with oats are my Sourdough Oatmeal Cream Pies and Brown Butter Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
• All-purpose flour
  • You can substitute some or all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour like buckwheat flour for extra flavor.
• Salt
• Brown Sugar
  • For sweetness, caramel flavor, and moisture for clumping.
• Cinnamon
  • Can add or use other warming spices to the streusel, but cinnamon is most common.
• Unsalted butter, cold
  • Keep your butter cold when making streusel or pastry like Sourdough Pop Tarts or Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones. This helps the streusel not melt and keep crispy clumps as it bakes.
• Sourdough Discard
  • The discard adds moisture and acidity to help the streusel crisp up and bind together, similar to making Easy Sourdough Discard Granola.
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.

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🍎 How to Make Sourdough Apple Crisp

Follow this detailed recipe guide as you make the best sourdough apple crisp in just three easy steps.

1. Make the Streusel

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC).

I use my hands to make streusel, but you can also use a food processor if that’s simpler for you.

Mix the dry ingredients (oats, flour, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon) in a mixing bowl, breaking apart any large clumps of sugar.

Then, add in small cubes of cold butter and pour in the sourdough discard.

Use a fork to toss the ingredients in the bowl and use your hands to squeeze the mixture together into clumps and to incorporate all the dry ingredients.. I like having a mix of large and small clumps of streusel for different textures.

Cover and chill the streusel in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

2. Make the Apple Filling

While the streusel chills, make the apple crisp filling.

Chop the apples into ½” pieces (I don’t peel for ease, but you can if prefer) and place into your baking dish. You can slice the apples too, but I find that apple crisp becomes mushier with slices than I prefer. Chopped pieces tend to have more texture and bite to them.

Squeeze the fresh lemon juice on top of the apples and sprinkle the brown sugar, salt, vanilla and spices on top. Then, toss the apple filling with a spatula to coat the pieces.

3. Bake

Remove the cold streusel from the refrigerator and sprinkle the clumps all over the surface of the apple crisp.

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan to catch any drippings.

Bake the sourdough apple crisp for 55-65 minutes or until the apples are tender (check with a paring knife or toothpick) and bubbling around the edges, and the streusel topping turns dark golden brown and crispy.

Finally, let the apple crisp cool for 30 minutes before serving warm with a scoop of ice cream.

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How to Store and Serve

Sourdough apple crisp or crumble is best be served warm, but is also good at room temperature. I prefer it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You can store apple crisp covered at room temperature for a day or in the refrigerator for up to five days. Reheat slightly before serving. Over time, the streusel topping will soak in more juices and will become less crisp.

I don’t recommend freezing apple crisp as it will affect the texture of the filling and baked streusel.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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