If you’re craving a cozy apple dessert that’s easy to throw together but still totally irresistible, this Graham Cracker Apple Crisp recipe is calling your name. Juicy, cinnamon-spiced apples bake up tender under a buttery, golden topping made from crushed graham crackers, oats, and brown sugar. It’s the perfect blend of sweet, spiced, and crunchy—and absolutely divine with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Ingredients & Equipment Needed
- apples – you’ll want about 8-10. I use half green and half red. You can use any apples you like in apple crisp. I like to throw in at least a few Granny Smith (and you can certainly use ALL green apples) to balance out all the sweetness. If I’m using all of a sweet variety of apples, then I just decrease the sugar in the apple mix (not the topping) by a bit. And if I’m using ALL green apples, I usually increase it. This recipe is written assuming you’ll be using a mix.
- graham crackers
- brown sugar
- all purpose flour
- salt
- baking powder
- butter
- flour
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground nutmeg
- ground cloves
- vanilla ice cream – for serving, not optional in our opinion!
- apple peeler & corer – highly recommended
How to Make Graham Cracker Apple Crisp
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Make the topping: In a bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Add cold butter (grated or cut into chunks). Use hands or a pastry cutter to mix until crumbly. Set aside.
- Prepare the apples: Core, peel, and slice or dice apples. Toss with flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Spread evenly in a 9×13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over the apples.
- Bake for about 35 minutes, until the apples are tender and the topping is golden brown.
- Let cool slightly, then serve warm—best with vanilla ice cream!
Storage & Other Tips
- Cutting in butter: One of my go-to kitchen hacks is using a wide-holed cheese grater to grate cold butter into crumb toppings. It makes it super easy to cut in!
- Let it cool fully: Allow the crisp to cool completely (2–3 hours) on a wire rack before storing. Storing while warm traps steam and makes the topping soggy.
- Refrigerate for freshness: Transfer the cooled crisp to an airtight container or leave it in its baking dish covered with plastic wrap. Freshly baked crisp keeps well in the fridge for 2–4 days.
- Freeze for long-term storage: After cooling, freeze in airtight containers or foil-wrapped pans for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Reheat in a 350 °F oven for 10–20 minutes until warm and crisp on top. This is the best method for topping texture. You can reheat an individual serving in a microwave for 30 – 60 seconds, but the topping won’t stay crisp.
- Assemble ahead, bake later: You can prep the topped dish and refrigerate it for up to 2 days before baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know when the crisp is done?
The topping should look golden and crumbly, and the apple filling should bubble around the edges. A fork should pierce the apples easily, and the topping should feel firm—not soggy
Can I add nuts to the topping?
Definitely! Chopped pecans, walnuts, or seeds make a great addition—just don’t overdo it, or the topping may become too dense.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes! Assemble the crisp and refrigerate for up to 2 days before baking. For freezing, you can freeze unbaked or baked crisp—just extend bake time by ~50% if baking from frozen .
What’s the difference between a crisp and a crumble?
In the U.S., a “crisp” typically includes oats in the topping, while a “crumble” is more like a streusel with flour, butter, and sugar—but there’s plenty of crossover.
Graham Cracker Apple Crisp
Warm spiced apples are topped with a buttery, graham cracker topping and baked to perfection. The quintessential fall dessert!
Servings servings
Equipment
Ingredients
Topping
- 2 ½ – 2 ¾ graham crackers 2 full sleeves
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup cold butter, diced or grated 2 sticks
Apples
- 8 – 10 apples I use half green and half red; see notes for a tip on sweetness
- 3 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- vanilla ice cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
Topping
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and whisk together. Either cut butter into chunks or use a large-hole cheese grater to grate it into the dry mixture. Use hands or pastry cutter to combine until crumbly. Set aside.
Apples
- Core, peel, and slice or dice apples. Toss them with flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and spread out in a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly on top.
- Bake for about 35 minutes, until apples are tender (not mushy) and crumbly is golden brown. Cool down a little and then serve warm over vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- If using all tart, green apples, increase brown sugar in filling by 4 tablespoons.
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcal, Carbohydrates: 72g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Sodium: 143mg, Potassium: 263mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 53g, Vitamin A: 101IU, Vitamin C: 8mg, Calcium: 82mg, Iron: 1mg
Calories: 285kcal
Cost: $7
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Questions & Reviews
Yummy! Definitely on my list to make!
Absolutely going to make this for the holidays. THANKS ??
Never ever thought to use graham crackers. Going to make it today!
Thanks!!!
Oh YUM. Why didn’t I think of this before ?? Brilliant idea! And yes like you, apple crisp is my favorite Fall dessert, too. What’s better then apples in sugary/cinnamony goodness? I don’t think there is anything better! Lol Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Which peeler do you have?
This one!
The whole family loved this recipe, even my husband who hates any dessert with cooked fruit! I didn’t have enough graham crackers on hand, so I did half graham cracker, half oats and it turned out great. I also drizzled a little boiled cider on it to bring out the apple flavor. If you haven’t tried boiled cider, it is basically apple cider that’s been reduced to a syrup, yum! Thanks Sara, this is my new apple crisp recipe!!
ooh, I bet it’s so good with boiled cider!
This look so good! My husband doesn’t like cooked apples (what is wrong with him???) so I never take the time to make apple pie. But I might make this for Thanksgiving since I know I can handle the difficulty level of sprinkling something on top of the apples. I have traumatic experiences with pie crusts and have sworn them off. But I think this graham cracker topping looks even better than a pie crust.
I am so excited to try this! I have home canned apple slices that will work perfectly for this recipe! I am going to make small pans to deliver to Home / Visiting teaching families! Thank you Sara!!!
This crisp looks amazing! Such a perfect fall dessert!
I’m going to say about 12 things here – most of them don’t matter…I’d like to try this with maybe 50/50 graham crackers and oats – best of both worlds. I’ll let you know how that turns out. Also, when I make apple crisp, I always just sort of eyeball the sugar – toss it together and give an apple a taste. That’s how I judge if the sugar is correct. Third thing – I’ll stop short of 12 – I made the cinnamon chip bar things from your website last night, and the middle ones were just a little too warm still when I cut and transferred them and the bottoms fell apart. Never fear! I crumbled that butter/graham cracker mixture on top of some vanilla ice cream! Delicious! I was thinking “I should just make the butter graham cracker part and bake it to crumble on ice cream” – this is even better though because the apples make it healthy!
Let me know what you end up using for measurements because I thought the same thing. 50/50 Graham cracker and oats. Let me know if it works out if you try it!