Almond Vanilla Bean Apple Crisp (Recipe + Video!)

Fall has arrived, and if you’re a mom in the Iowa City area you have likely either visited the apple orchard or you’re making plans to visit soon. Every year we go and I think about what new apple recipes I can try out, but I always make sure I leave a few apples for my absolute favorite apple crisp.

I’ve always loved apple crisp, but this recipe has a few extra of my favorite things, including vanilla bean, almonds, and a high crisp-to-apple ratio!

Almond Vanilla Bean Apple Crisp

(Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)

INGREDIENTS

For the topping:

1 cup almond flour (you can use all purpose)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup sliced almonds
1 stick unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

For the filling:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp vanilla extract)
5-6 apples thinly sliced
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. To make the topping: Add flour, oats, brown sugar, and sliced almonds into a large bowl until combined. Add in butter into ingredients until mixture is crumbly (This step is not shown in the video attached.)
3. Set topping aside and slice apples very thinly. I like to leave the skin on, but you can remove the skin if you prefer.
4. In a large bowl, add the sliced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean paste. Set aside while you brown the butter.
5. In a small saucepan, put 1 stick of butter over medium heat. After a couple of minutes the butter will begin to crackle and foam. As the butter begins to brown it will develop a nutty flavor. Whisk until it is a light brown color and then remove from heat.
6. Add brown butter to the apple filling mixture and mix to combine.
7. Add about 1/3 of the topping mixture into the filling, and stir to combine.
8. Fill an 8×8 pan with filling mixture and sprinkle with topping (it will look like A LOT of topping and that’s okay!)
9. Bake for 55 minutes or until the top is golden brown and cooked through.

You can find my favorite salted caramel sauce recipe here for the full experience!

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