It’s officially fall, so that means it’s also officially apple season! This easy one serving apple crisp recipe really satisfies that apple craving, while indulging your sweet tooth at the same time. I had a serious hankering for something sweet, but not too gooey, and this hits the spot.
Try to use apples that are large, crisp, and juicy, but not too sweet. I am lucky enough to have access to a greenmarket with a farmer who grows 75 kinds of apples. So, I used Esopus Spitzenberg (supposedly Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple). If you don’t have 75 kinds of apples, Granny Smith or Mutsu or similar will do just fine.
The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar (for 12 servings), which was waaay too much. Every other recipe I saw used half that. So, I followed suit and cut it in half. It’s still sweet and delicious, without endangering your teeth.
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cup apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (this is roughly one large apple)
- 1 T plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2T plus 2 1/2 tsp flour
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 2T plus 2 tsp quick cooking oats*
- 1T plus 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1 T plus 1 tsp melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat toaster oven to 350 degrees.
- Arrange the sliced apples in a small baking dish.
- Mix 1 tsp white sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the mixture over the apples.
- In the same bowl, add the oats, flour, remaining white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and melted butter, and stir to mix together.
- Pour the oat mixture over the apple slices.
- Put in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
*Quick cooking oats are just finely ground oatmeal; if you don't have them, just put some regular oatmeal in a mini-chopper and grind them up.
Easy One Serving Apple Crisp Recipe Substitutions and Variations
- Give in to the pumpkin spice craze and add ground cloves and ginger
- Try a splash of brandy (especially Calvados)
- If you want your crisp more syrupy, add some apple cider
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream on top
Tools and Ingredients for Easy One Serving Apple Crisp
A mini chopper is essentially a food processor’s little cousin. This is perfect for grinding up the oatmeal in this recipe. And, it takes up a lot less space than a food processor. It’s great for chopping nuts, dicing onions, making pesto, or even grinding a small batch of meat for meatballs.
This dish is ideal for baking smaller casseroles, cakes, crisps, and crumbles. Use it for brownies, peach crumble or a mini-meatloaf. It’s perfectly content in the oven, the dishwasher, and the microwave. And, it also takes up very little space in your cupboard.
More Fruit Dessert Recipes
Small Batch Cinnamon Sugar Apple Bread
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Sweet summer peaches, two little bowls, and one pan. Soooo good. Make sure to top it with some vanilla ice cream. Because you deserve it.
Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce and Ice Cream
A classic French dessert that’s remarkably easy to make. Poach the pears gently, then add chocolate and ice cream. Fancy huh?
Caramelized Pineapple Chunks for One Person
Delicious, easy, and pantry-friendly. Hint: you can use canned pineapple! And it only takes a few minutes to make. Serve plain, topped with chopped nuts, or add other fruit too.