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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
Apple Brown Betty
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
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
This post was originally created in September 2015 and was updated with more helpful information. Don't worry - the recipe wasn't changed!
MariL
Apple betty really isn't much like an apple crisp, which is a much simpler sweet consisting of apples, sugar, enough butter to keep them from burning, and oats on top. The former is much more of a deep adish dessert, or used to be, and its layers all contain butter. The classic version in Joy of Cooking contains no flour at all. You mix crumbs with a stick of butter and put at the bottom of a casserole, then place your first layer of apples and cover with a mixture of more crumbs, lemon juice, zest, brown sugar, cinnamon (and other spices) and dabs of butter. Keep going through several layers as with scalloped potatoes until done, and bake at 350F. The result is a *much* richer dish than the ones you all seem to be describing, which sound good but....
Seppi
tossed the apples with the regular sugar and followed the rest of the directions normally. It turned out delicious!!
Charlie
Looks delicious, I plan on making this tomorrow.
I will tag you on Insta when it’s ready.
Charlie
RB
My crumbs keep disintegrating - they end up almost like a glaze. What am I doing wrong?
Krissy
Hmmmm. My guess is that is has something to do with the butter. Are you using real butter and not an oil blend? Are you cutting it in all the way so that it is uniform small little pieces? Also, I'm wondering if your apples are too juicy? Do you remember what kind you used? -Krissy
Patricia
Delicious! But I think I used too much butter, ahhh, who am I kidding? Never too much butter 😋. Thank you!
Emily
My kindergarten teacher taught me to make Apple Brown Betty 26 years ago. She passed away a very long time ago, and every time I make this dish, I remember what a wonderful teacher she was. Mrs. Matthews, this one is dedicated to you. My kitchen smells amazing. Krissy, thank you for being part of a day of happy memories. You never know how your work online is going to touch people. Keep doing what you're doing. You matter.
Krissy
what a great comment! Thank you so much!
Amy
Fantastic recipe, made it with extra red delicious apples. Next time will add chopped pecans for crunch!
Jane Saunders
I've often wondered what a Brown Betty is and now I know - thankyou. Apple desserts are hard to beat as autumn comes along.
camila
wow this is one of my favorites too!! looks amazing. and the melting ice cream with the warm apple Brown Betty is just everything that's right with this world!
Jessica
This was the ultimate fall dessert and I could have eaten 2. Thanks!
Pam Greer
We just went to an apple orchard this past weekend and I am looking for things to do with all the apples! This will be perfect!
beth
My Mom used to always make Apple Brown Betty. I haven't had it in years! I totally have to make this! Thanks for the reminder!
Kelly Anthony
Apple season is finally here! Totally going to try a brown better one of these days. This one looks perfect!
Catherine Brown
Such a classic! and I LOVE that giant scoop of ice cream in the middle too!!