This Salted Caramel Apple Crumble isn’t just the perfect fall dessert, it may just be the best thing to happen to your cast iron skillet 😉
I’ve mentioned before that I consider salted caramel a fall-ish flavor. You can get salted caramel year round but there’s just something about it that I find more fitting this time of year. Any who, I decided I wanted to make my own salted caramel from scratch, and to my surprise and delight, it’s one of the most easiest and most delicious things to make.
I love all the apple recipes that are popping up right now, basically because I loved apples in general but apples turned dessert are just as amazing as homemade salted caramel. I love crumbles as oppose to cobbler because I go crazy for the brown sugar, buttery crumb topping more so than the fluffy, buttery biscuit top ( I save the buscuit top for this). So I decided I wanted to do two things; 1) make an apple crumble with a brown sugar, cinnamon, buttery crumble topping & 2) I wanted to drizzle homemade salted caramel all over it.
Now obviously the base of this recipe is apples. I’ve been reaching apple desserts and I read that it’s best to use a few different types of apples as opposed to just one kind. I chose to use a couple of honey crisp apples, some gala apples & throw in some of those gorgeous green granny smith apples. I think the combination of sweeter apples mixed with the tart granny smith really balanced everything tastefully and resulted in a delicious, warm apple filling.
Now about that salted caramel. Over the weekend I posted a delicious, easy and life changing post about homemade salted caramel. I affectionately called it; Quick & Easy Salted Caramel. You can view the post & recipe here. I highly, highly recommend you try this stuff. It makes a small batch but after you taste it, you’ll want to double, maybe even triple the recipe the next time you make it. Homemade salted caramel is the kind of stuff you do back flips over.
Another little detail that makes this a great fall recipe; the spices. Cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg are used in this recipe. Let me tell you, while this crumble is baking in the oven your kitchen will be filled with the sweetest, most warm, comforting scent of fall. It’s pretty magical 🙂
And don’t forget the pecans. They’re not the star of this recipe, but it’s a small touch that brings it all together. They add texture, crunch & flavor to the crumble topping.
And of course it goes without saying that this delicious apple monstrosity needs to have a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with it. The hot/cold combination is incredible and the vanilla ice cream pairs perfectly with the apple/cinnamon/brown sugar crumble.
Q: So what do you guys think? What are your favorite fall recipes your making right now? I’d love to know in the comments below 🙂
Salted Caramel Apple Crumble
Ingredients
For the Apples
- 9-10 apples peeled and cut into slices, use a combination of apples like honey crisp & granny smith
- juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
For the crumble topping
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick softened at room temperature
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
For Salted Caramel
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For this recipe you can use a properly seasoned cast iron skillet or a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl combine peeled and sliced apples, cornstarch, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Stir ingredients together until apples are covered in sugar & spices. Pour apples into the cast iron skillet and spread them out evenly to cover the skillet.
- To make the crumble, combine butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and pecans into a medium sized bowl and mix together with a fork into the mixture forms crumbs. Be patient with this part, it may take a few minutes to get the butter incorporated into the dry ingredients. Sprinkle crumble over the apples, covering it evenly. You will have spot that are not completely covered, this is fine.
- Place skillet in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until apples are bubbly and crumble is golden brown. Be careful when you remove this from the oven, it's piping hot!
- While the apple crumble is in the oven you can make the salted caramel. To make the salted caramel; combine butter, brown sugars, heavy cream, vanilla & salt in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Stir the ingredients together until butter is completely melted and ingredients are combined and smooth. Allow the sauce to come to a boil for about a minute or so, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes, still stirring to avoid burning. Remove the sauce pan from heat and pour caramel into a heat safe bowl or container.
- After the apple crumble has had time to cool, about 15 to 20 minutes, drizzle the salted caramel over the entire crumble. This dessert is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Oh my goodness! This looks amazing! I love caramelly apple desserts!
Thanks Carlee 🙂 I had to practice major self control with the one, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about lol
This sounds so yummy! I need to gather the ingredients and make this! I pinned it to my dessert board!
Thanks, Deborah! It’s so easy to make and so addicting, I hope you love it. Let me know what you think if you decide to make it!
Apple crumble is a very popular autumnal dessert over here, but crumble with salted caramel just sounds so indulgent and delicious!
Indulgent & delicious are the perfect words to describe this dessert, and I’ll throw easy in there too. Thanks for stopping by Abida 🙂
Your Salted Caramel Apple Crumble looks delicious! Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
You said cornstarch on down in the recipe. How much. I didnt see how much to use in the ingredients?..thank you- char
Thank you for catching that Charlotte! You’ll use 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to mix in with the apples, I went back and corrected it, so you’ll see that the recipe card reflects cornstarch as one of the ingredients. Thanks again for asking 🙂
I need to make this gluten free. What would you suggest, oatmeal?
Hi Dana! You could use oatmeal, just be careful of what brand you use because I’ve read that some brands may contain gluten if it’s not a specified “gluten free” rolled oat that your using. You could also use gluten free flour, which I’ve used before and had great results with. If you choose to go the oatmeal route just keep in mind that it may result in a crispy texture for the crumble topping, oatmeal is typically used in crisps as opposed to crumbles. I hope this is helpful, let me know how you decide to make it gluten free and let me know if it comes out good 🙂
This sounds delicious and I love the idea of baking it in my cast iron skillet. A question though, could you tell me approximately how many cups of sliced apples you used. Since apples are in so many different sizes, I don’t believe my skillet could hold 9-10 sliced apples in it. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Trisha! I baked this crumble in a 12 inch cast iron skillet which is a huge portion. The amount of apple slices I had came out to about 7 to 8 cups, give or take. What sized cast iron skillet are you using? Also keep in mind that at first it may seem like a lot of apples, but they will break down slightly and shrink in size while their baking. Let me know if this is helpful 🙂