Having lots of apples to work with in the fall is one of the perks of living in Michigan. I love making pies and applesauce but sometimes just throwing together a quick apple crumble helps satisfy that little weeknight fix for something sweet. I usually have all the ingredients on hand which is how I developed this recipe – out of convenience! But it works and its delicious.

You may have noticed the healthy(ish) part of the recipe hehe! That is such a great way to describe our recipes and eating habits in our household. I am a firm believer in healthy and balanced eating however I also know that we have to live a little and give my kids some fun treats too. This recipe has less sugar than normal and uses a small amount of maple syrup instead and uses oats as the base for the topping but it also does have some brown sugar and butter – where my healthy(ish) comes in.

Heres the breakdown of steps and the full recipe is below.

Peel and slice your apples and toss into a bowl. Heres some of my kitchen gadgets I love to use when baking and cooking. I get so much use out of all these for all different types of recipes. For all my favorite gadgets check out Must Have Kitchen Tools

My kids always love to help me in the kitchen and I’ve learned to really love it. My daughter is not pictures here because she was too busy taking all the apple slices and eating them. It can be rough having little helpers when they grab the flour and dump it everywhere but…. overall its a great experience for all of us and they learn a lot. I wrote a full post about Cooking with your kids and all the benefits.

Next you mix in the cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup and lemon juice and zest. I added lemon into this recipe to help bring out and brighten up the flavors. Give it all a good stir until combined well.

Making the oat topping is quick and easy. Mix up the ingredients and cut the butter into it and your ready to go. If you don’t have a pastry cutter for cutting in the butter using a fork works fine but you just have to use a little more muscle. If you want to keep this dairy free/vegan you could use the Earth Balance sticks instead and I’m sure it would work just fine. I use them a lot for cooking and baking.

Add it all to the pan. Apples first and the the topping. Pop it in the oven and thats it!

It’s done! So quick and easy to put this apple crumble together.

Healthy(ish) Apple Crumble Recipe

5 Medium sized apples (I used honeycrisp but there are many that work)

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 lemon (1/4 tsp lemon zest and 1/4 tsp lemon juice)

Oat Topping

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup unsalted cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep 8 x 8 pan by spraying with non stick cooking spray. Peel and slice apples and put in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, lemon zest and lemon juice and toss until well combined. Add apple mixture to pan.

Make the crumble topping. Add oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour to medium bowl and mix. Cut cold butter into chunks and add to oat mixture. Using a pastry cutter or fork mix the butter in until crumbly and pour on top of apples.

Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes until apples are tender. If topping starts to get too brown lightly cover with aluminum foil. Serve warm by itself or with ice cream or whipped topping. Enjoy!

*if you want to use a 9 x 13 pan just make extra of (or double) the oat topping amount and cut cooking time down by about 10 min.