recipes

Easy, Single-Serving Apple Crisp Recipe

Name: Michelle's Apple Crisp
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 8-10 apples, peeled, cored and chopped; ½ cup packed brown sugar; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats; ¾ cup brown sugar, packed; ¾ cup chopped pecans; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; ¾ teaspoon salt; 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into cubes

by Michelle Sendowski | November 14, 2018

Table of Contents

I'm so excited that apples are in season. A few years ago, I really got into making pies. I use this amazing recipe by Linda Sendowski for all my pie crusts. Every time I make it, everyone raves about how flaky and delicious the pie crust is. Check out some of my favorite pies from the past couple of years.

About a month ago, I saw someone post in Freezer Meals and Recipes about how they use their Souper Cubes® trays to make individual-size chicken pot pies. This got me thinking, can I make pies in these things? So one weekend, I made a pie crust and gave it a shot. I'll be honest, the first test round was harder that I thought. I ended up rolling out the dough too many times and it fell apart. I made two pies and then gave up. I think next time I will try it again but with store-bought pie crust that is already rolled out.

Recently on Instagram I saw someone post about how she makes apple crisp/crumble as part of her freezer meal prep. I thought that was genius and would be much easier to execute than actual pies. So this past weekend I went to the market and picked up some apples and oats. I had wanted to include cranberries in mine, but unfortunately they weren't available in the market yet.

I love this recipe. Apples are really cheap in the market right now and are so fresh. I love homemade pie and crumble, but we're a family of two and can't go through an entire pie on our own. Plus, it takes some effort to throw a pie together. Using my Souper Cubes® trays to make apple crumble has been a game-changer for my fall/winter desserts. Now, especially when Jake is on the road for work travel, I get to take out a single portion of homemade apple crumble, throw it in the oven for 40 minutes, top it with ice cream or whipped cream, and enjoy it!

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. What's your favorite pie recipe? I can't wait to try this recipe when peaches are back in season.

Full recipe and directions below.

How To Make Easy Single-Serving Apple Crisp

Step 1: Gather and prep all your ingredients

For 8 individual apple crisp pies, I recommend using 8-10 apples. I love using pink lady or fuji apples if they're available. Cook's Illustrated has a helpful table for "Best Apples for Baking" with all the various types of apples, their flavor, and a short description.

Step 2: Peel and slice your apples

To save time and energy, I don't always core my apples (oops). I typically peel them first, cut off four big pieces around the core, and then cut each piece in half. From there, I slice them. If I'm making a big pie, I don't slice each piece in half. But since I'm making this for my Souper Cubes® trays, I wanted to make sure they fit easily in each of the cubes.

Step 3: Place apples in a pot over low heat and add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice, and nutmeg

When I was looking up various apple crisp recipes, I noticed people didn't soften their apples first. It seems to me that they're just dumping the spiced apples in the container they're going to eventually bake in. However, I wanted to be able to pop out each crisp, which means I needed a liquid to bind the apples together. This is where the brown sugar and low heat comes into play. When you place the spices and apples in a pot over low heat, the apples will soften and the brown sugar will melt. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

Step 4: As the apples are softening, make crisp topping

Place butter, flour, oats, pecans, and remaining spices in a medium-sized bowl. Mix together with your hands. The pecans are optional, but I really love them!

Step 5: Once the apples have softened and the brown sugar has melted, place them in your Souper Cubes® tray, then top with crisp.

There's some debate over this, but I recommend a 2/3 apples to 1/3 crisp ratio. Others suggest half-half for apples-to-crisp.

Step 6: Let apple crisp cool, then add lid and freeze.

Step 7: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for ~45 minutes. Enjoy!

While Souper Cubes® wasn't designed to be a baking tool, it can go in the oven as the silicone is food-grade. However, I wouldn't place it on the oven rack directly. When I tested this at home, I put it over a cookie pan sheet.

If I'm only baking 1 or 2 apple crisps, I prefer to take out each cube and place it in a mini-loaf pan for the baking process.

Be sure to check out our other recipes: Freezer Friendly Recipes

Freeze Food in Perfect Portions. Buy your Souper Cubes® today.

Michelle's Apple Crisp

Servings

10

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Cooking down the apples before freezing allows for the liquid to help bind your crisp together and helps the crisp go smoothly from freezer to table.

Ingredients

Filling

8-10 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup chopped pecans
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into cubes

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Directions

To prepare filling: Combine apples, ½ cup brown sugar, 3 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, and ¼ tsp salt in a large pot over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has melted and the apples have softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
To prepare topping: Combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup oats, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup pecans, ½ tsp cinnamon, and ¾ tsp salt in a large bowl. Add 1 ½ sticks cubed cold butter and stir with fork or mix with your hands until the mixture has pea-sized crumbs. It's okay if there are clumps of different sizes.
To assemble crisp: Fill Souper Cubes trays approximately 2/3 of the way with the apple filling. Sprinkle the oat topping on top, pressing down gently to help it stay together.
To enjoy for later, place lid on top of tray and place in freezer. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until the crumb topping is crisp and the filling is bubbling at the edges, about 45 minutes. Serve topped with whipped cream or your favorite ice cream.