Apple Brown Betty

Apple Brown Betty is one of my favorite fall dessert recipes.

My version consists of thinly sliced fresh apples with a no oat sweet and buttery topping. Just a few ingredients come together to make this cinnamon spice sweet fruit dessert.

Why this recipe works so well:

As fall arrives, so do the apples and apple recipes! One of my favorites is the historical Apple Brown Betty dessert. We've been making it this way since I was a kid.

• This recipe couldn't be easier. It really only takes a few minutes to prep and then gets baked in the oven.
• It is very similar to all of my cobbler recipes where fresh fruit is on the bottom and a sweet buttery crumb topping gets baked on top.
• This is a great dessert recipe any time of year but is especially wonderful in the fall months.

What is an Apple Brown Betty?

Also known simply as Brown Betty, this is a dessert made with fruit and sweetened crumbs. Apples are the star of the show, but if you want to mix things up, there are known cases where berries have also been thrown in.

An irresistible addition to the Brown Betty dessert is a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, while it’s still warm, allowing for the ice cream to soften and melt slightly into the gooey goodness below.

Most of us commonly relate an Apple Brown Betty to an apple crisp, but there is a difference.     

Brown Betty vs. Apple Crisp:

Both of these desserts are very similar. For example, each uses a buttery crumb topping.

The difference, though, is that Apple Brown Betty dessert topping is mostly the flour, brown sugar and butter that makes it crispy. An apple crisp topping, on the other hand, typically contains oats.

Basic ingredients needed:

• For the filling: Apples and lemon
• For the topping: All-purpose flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and butter

How to make this Apple Brown Betty recipe:

1. Apples are thinly sliced and set in a baking dish. Lemon juice is tossed with the apples to prevent browning and add a bit of tart flavor to this sweet dessert.
2. A pastry blender is used to work the cold butter into the flour, sugar, and spice mixture. This crumbly mixture is applied evenly over the apples.
3. The Apple Brown Betty is then baked in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes.

Cooking tips for best results:

• Apples: you can use any variety that you prefer in this recipe. My preference is for Honeycrisp. Alternatively, you can use a variety of apples.
• Fresh lemon juice is recommended but you can use bottled.
• If you don't have a pastry blender, simply cut the cold butter into very small cubes and use a fork to blend.
• Make ahead directions: You can prepare this recipe up to a day advance and keep refrigerated until you are ready to bake.
• Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Will keep for several days.

Other apple dessert recipes:

• Homemade Apple Pie
• Apple Upside Down Cake
• Apple Cobbler
• Dutch Apple Pie

Apple Brown Betty

One of my favorite fall desserts is my version of Apple Brown Betty which consists of thinly sliced fresh apples with a no oat sweet and buttery topping.

5 from 11 votes

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RECIPE VIDEO WILL AUTOPLAY

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Hover to scale: 6 servings

Chef: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

• ▢ 4-6 large apples (peeled, core removed, thinly sliced (I used honeycrisp))
• ▢ 1 lemon
• ▢ ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ cup brown sugar
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ▢ ½ cup cold butter (1 cube )

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add apple slices to a 9x9 baking dish. Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice over apples. Toss apples to evenly coat.
• In medium sized bowl, combine flour, sugars, and spices. Add cold butter and use a pastry blender to work the butter into the dry ingredients, cutting it into small pieces. You want the mixture to be crumbly with little to no dry ingredients left that haven't touched the butter. Sprinkle all of the topping over the apples evenly.
• Cover with aluminum foil and cook in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil and allow to continue cooking until the topping is crisp, about 10-20 additional minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Notes

• Apples: you can use any variety that you prefer in this recipe. My preference is for Honeycrisp. Alternatively, you can use a variety of apples.
• Fresh lemon juice is recommended but you can use bottled.
• If you don't have a pastry blender, simply cut the cold butter into very small cubes and use a fork to blend.
• Make ahead directions: You can prepare this recipe up to a day advance and keep refrigerated until you are ready to bake.
• Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Will keep for several days.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 197kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 65mg | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin C: 9.6mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg

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This post was originally created in September 2015 and was updated with more helpful information. Don't worry - the recipe wasn't changed!