Apple Brown Betty - The Recipe Critic (2024)

An Apple Brown Betty is a warm and comforting apple dessert that is full of fall flavors. The apples are coated in lemon juice with a brown sugar spiced crumble throughout that satisfies with every bite. If you don’t like oats, this recipe is for you!

I love a good apple dessert! I even have a whole round up that I put together that has them all in one place. We’ve made so many good ones over the years! If you are looking for a great fall apple recipe, you should try this easy Apple Dump Cake, this delicious and satisfying Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake, or this stunning Apple Tart.

Apple Brown Betty

If you are a fan of fall flavors, then this is the dessert for you! Every bite is packed with warm spices and soft (but not TOO soft) apples. An apple brown betty is similar to an apple cobbler or apple crisp. What sets it apart is that the crumble mixture is spread throughout the dish instead of just sprinkled on top. Which, if we are being totally honest, is why I love this recipe so much! The topping is always my favorite part in a cobbler because it has all of the flavor! I want lots of it with every bite, and this recipe delivers!

I also really like that it doesn’t have any oats in it, it’s just flour. So if you don’t like oats, this is the perfect recipe for you! You still get that nice crumbly texture because of the way the butter is incorporated into the flour mixture. Serve it with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and it’s the ultimate crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

This Apple Brown Betty recipe is so easy to make, and is simple ingredients that you probably have on hand already! I love the fall spices in this recipe because apples are at their sweetest in fall. It’s a great recipe to share with family and friends! You can find exact measurements below in the recipe card.

• Apples: I love Honeycrisp apples and Grannysmith for this recipe. You can use your favorite apple, the most important thing is how you prepare, peel, and slice the apples.
• Lemon Juice: This helps to bring all of the fresh flavor out of the apples and brightens up the whole dish.
• All Purpose Flour: This goes on the top to make a crumble instead of using oats.
• Granulated Sugar: Sugar helps to make the sticky gooey topping we all love.
• Brown Sugar: Brown sugar has mollases in it which gives it a nice deep flavor.
• Ground Cinnamon: It’s a must in this recipe! It is the perfect fall flavor and goes great with apples.
• Nutmeg: This spice is a little sweet and full of flavor.
• Allspice: It is actually just from one plant but it tastes like all of your favorite fall spices combined!
• Cardamom: It’s fruity with a little kick and I love it in this recipe!
• Salt: A little salt helps to balance out the sweetness and to bring out all of the delicious flavors in this dessert.
• Butter: You will want to use unsalted butter, and make sure it’s cold! You want it cold when you put it into the food processor to help it crumble.

Apple Brown Betty Recipe

Prepping the apples for baking is a bit of a labor of love, but it’s SO worth it! If you have one of those apple peelers-corers-slicers, you could definitely use that here to move things along. Other than that, this recipe is a breeze and so fun too!

1. Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a baking dish (I used a standard pie dish) with nonstick spray or butter.
2. Add Lemon: In a bowl, pour your lemon juice over your apples and mix to coat well.
3. Pulse: In a food processor, pulse your flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, and salt until it’s well-mixed.
4. Add Butter: Start pulsing in your cubed butter, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is all incorporated. No chunks of butter should remain,
5. Layer: In your baking dish, layer ½ of your apples on the bottom, ½ of your crumb mixture on the apples, then your remaining apples on top of the crumb mixture, and finally, the last of your crumb mixture on top.
6. Bake: Bake for 40-50 minutes. Your apples should be tender, and your crumbs will be crisp and golden brown.