The Latent Larder

Salted Caramel Apple Crisp

Tart baking apples under a pecan-oat crumble, finished with a stovetop caramel sauce poured on right before it hits the table.

Serves
8
Prep
25 min
Cook
45 min
Written
Salted Caramel Apple Crisp

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.

  2. Toss the apples with the granulated sugar, 2 tbsp flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice, then spread them in the dish.

  3. Rub the oats, ¾ cup flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt together, working in the cold butter with your fingers until the mixture clumps into pea-to-marble-sized pieces.

  4. Scatter the topping evenly over the apples without pressing it down.

  5. Bake until the topping is deep golden and the fruit is bubbling thickly at the edges, 40-45 minutes.

  6. While the crisp bakes, melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking until the sugar dissolves and the mixture bubbles, about 2 minutes.

  7. Off the heat, whisk in the cream and flaky salt until the caramel is smooth.

  8. Let the crisp rest 10 minutes, then drizzle the warm caramel over the top just before serving.

Notes

The caramel is what separates this from a plain apple crisp — it thins out over the warm topping and pools into the fruit underneath instead of sitting on top like a glaze. Make it while the crisp is still in the oven so both hit the table warm.

Mix a tart apple like Granny Smith with a sweeter one like Honeycrisp; all of one or the other makes a filling that’s either sour enough to pucker or slack enough to weep. Good with vanilla ice cream, though the caramel does most of that job on its own.