Take your apple crisp recipe to the next level with Apple Crisp with Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce. With sweet apple filling, crumbly oatmeal topping, and rich homemade caramel sauce, this is a dessert you'll want to make year-round!
Apple crisp with a crumbly oatmeal topping is a dessert that most people seem to love, me included! But apple crisp with salted caramel bourbon sauce is a dessert to remember, and to make again and again!
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a bourbon drinker. In fact, I'm not much of a cocktail girl at all. I much prefer an occasional glass of sangria, especially this Cranberry Apple Cider Sangria.
I do, however, love those mini liquor or liqueur bottles. They're perfect for adding a punch of flavour and a little extra interest to recipes. And that's exactly what a tiny airplane-sized bottle of bourbon does to this homemade caramel apple crisp recipe!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- This recipe has all the flavours of fall we love, wrapped up in one delicious dessert!
- Caramel apple crisp is a popular dessert, so popular, in fact, that you'll find it as a stand-by on restaurant menus. It's just that good!
- Not only that, it's a snap to prepare.
- You can save time by making the crumble topping ahead of time, then simply preparing the apple filling and adding the topping.
- You can make apple crisp and freeze it! It will be ready for a quick dessert to satisfy those cravings for something sweet but somewhat healthy!
Q. What could be better than warm apples with a crunchy oatmeal topping, a scoop of ice cream and a generous drizzle of sweet caramel sauce?
A. Warm apple crisp with salted caramel bourbon sauce!
🛒 Ingredients
Before we get to the full recipe for homemade apple crisp with caramel sauce, here are a few notes about some of the ingredients. I've listed possible substitutions you can make.
For the apple crisp
- apples: almost any variety. I like to use a sweet variety, like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady or Braeburn. These varieties also seem to hold their shape when cooked, unlike Red Delicious or MacIntosh. If you like that sweet and tart combination, use Granny Smith apples.
- lemon: I add lemon juice to prevent the apples from browning and to add some bright lemony notes. You can also add a teaspoon or two or lemon zest if you'd like.
- sweetener: your choice. In the apple filling, you can use maple syrup, brown sugar, coconut sugar or Monkfruit sweetener. For the crumble topping, I find brown sugar or coconut sugar works best.
- crumble topping: I like a combination of almond flour and rolled oats. You can also use a gluten-free flour blend with rolled oats, as I used in this Pecan-Oat crisp topping for Skillet Apple Cranberry Crisp or in this recipe for Cherry Crisp with Frozen Cherries. Sometimes I use a combination of oat flour and rolled oats, as in Peach Crisp with Bourbon and Vanilla. Lots of choices!
- spices: cinnamon and nutmeg are the usual choices for apple crisp. If you'd like, you can also add ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves.
- butter: While I prefer the flavour of butter in this recipe, you can substitute coconut oil to keep this apple crisp recipe dairy-free.
- thickener: cornstarch, or use tapioca starch if you are avoiding corn in your diet.
For the salted caramel bourbon sauce
- sugar: white, granulated sugar
- butter: unsalted
- heavy cream: also called whipping cream
- sea salt
- Bourbon: you can substitute Scotch or another whiskey, or you can leave it out!
🔪 Instructions
How to make apple crisp
- Preheat your oven to 350°F, then peel and thinly slice apples.
- In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with tapioca starch or cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice and sweetener of your choice. The amount you use will depend on how naturally sweet the apples are.
- Combine the crisp topping ingredients in a food processor, pulsing to mix evenly, or simply mix them together in a medium bowl.
- Fill a 9.5 or 10-inch deep glass or ceramic pie plate or other baking dish with the apple mixture, then add the topping.
- Bake for 35- 45 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the crisp topping is golden brown.
- While the crisp is baking, prepare the Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce.
- Cool the crisp slightly, then top with ice cream if desired and drizzle with caramel sauce.
1. Peel and slice apples. 2. Toss with lemon juice, spices, sweetener and thickener. 3. Transfer apples to a baking dish. 4. Top with oatmeal crumble topping and bake.
🥄 How to make salted caramel sauce with bourbon
- Heat sugar and water in a 2 or 3-quart (liter) saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar but stop stirring once the mixture boils.
- Continue to boil until the edges start to turn an amber colour. At this point, you can swirl the pan to distribute the heat. Continue to boil until the mixture has turned a dark amber colour. If you are using a dark or stainless steel saucepan, it may appear darker than it actually is, so let it boil a little longer to be sure you have caramelized the sugar.
- Add the butter all at once and whisk it into the liquid sugar. It will immediately foam up. Once the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat.
- Whisk in the whipping cream. It will foam up again. Continue whisking until it is well incorporated.
- Stir in the salt until dissolved, then stir in the Bourbon.
- The caramel sauce may seem too thin, but it will thicken as it cools. Pour it into sterile jars. It will freeze well or will keep in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 weeks.
- Gently warm it before serving.
1. Heat sugar and water until dissolved. 2. Bring to a boil. 3. Boil until it turns a deep amber colour. 4. Add butter and stir until melted. 5. Remove from the heat and add heavy cream. 6. Stir in salt and Bourbon until smooth.
👍🏼 Top Tips and FAQ's
Time-saving tip: make a double batch of the crumble topping and freeze it. Next time you want a quick dessert, you'll be ahead of the game!
Caramel sauce tips: Use a brush moistened with water to brush the sides of the saucepan when sugar crystals form.
Be sure to remove the saucepan from the heat before adding the heavy cream to prevent it from overflowing.
Don't worry! You don't have to start over. Just add a little cool water to the pan, stir to completely dissolve the crystals and continue. Bring it to a boil to redissolve all the crystallized sugar. As the temperature rises, the sugar crystals will start dissolving and eventually turn into sugar syrup. Now you can start the process of caramelizing the sugar once again.
If simply whisking it doesn't help, gently reheat it. You may have to add a tablespoon or two of hot water, heat it, and whisk it until the water has boiled off.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Serve the apple crisp slightly warm with or without ice cream (you can use dairy-free ice cream if you'd like). Drizzle with caramel sauce.
🥶 How to store and freeze apple crisp
Leftover apple crisp should be stored in the fridge where it will last for 3-4 days.
You can freeze apple crisp, either unbaked or baked.
Unbaked. If you want to freeze it before baking, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and overwrap it with foil. It will last up to three months or more. When you're ready to use it, thaw it overnight in the fridge, then bake as outlined in the directions.
Baked. To freeze a baked apple crisp, again, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, overwrap in foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, then heat it in a 350°F. oven until warmed through, about 20 minutes.
👍🏼 Ways to use extra caramel sauce
You'll have more caramel sauce than you need for this recipe. Freeze it for another time (it will last for several months) or try these ideas.
Homemade salted caramel sauce is delicious. Adding a touch of Bourbon, however, raises it to a new level!
So if you're a bourbon drinker and have some on hand, try adding it to this caramel sauce. Or, if you're like me, seek out those mini bottles, then make this gluten-free apple crisp. Whip up some caramel sauce to drizzle on top, pour the extra into a cute little jar and share it with a friend.
🗒 More fruit crisp recipes
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and a rating below. Thanks in advance! Subscribe to receive my weekly newsletter with new recipes.
📖 Recipe Card
Apple Crisp with Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 - 2 tablespoons sweetener, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, or tapioca starch, heaped if you like a thicker filling
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Topping
Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup whipping cream, also called heavy cream
- 1 - 2 tablespoons Bourbon
Instructions
Apple Crisp
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Peel and thinly slice apples.
- In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with tapioca starch or cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice and sweetener of your choice. The amount you use will depend on how naturally sweet the apples are.
- Combine the crisp topping ingredients in a food processor, pulsing to mix evenly.
- Fill a 9.5 or 10-inch deep glass or ceramic pie plate or other baking dish with the apple mixture, then add the topping.
- Bake for 35- 45 minutes or until fruit is bubbling and crisp topping is golden brown.
- While the crisp is baking, prepare the Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce.
- Cool the crisp slightly, then top with ice cream if desired and drizzle with Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce.
Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce
- Heat sugar and water in a 2 or 3-liter saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar but stop stirring once the mixture boils.
- Continue to boil until the edges start to turn an amber colour. At this point, you can swirl the pan to distribute the heat. Continue to boil until the mixture has turned a dark amber colour. If you are using a dark or stainless steel saucepan, it may appear darker than it actually is, so let it boil a little longer to be sure.
- Add the butter all at once and whisk it into the liquid sugar. It will immediately foam up. Once the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat.
- Whisk in the whipping cream. It will foam up again. Continue whisking until it is well incorporated.
- Stir in the salt until dissolved, then stir in the Bourbon.
- The caramel sauce may seem too thin, but it will thicken as it cools. Pour into sterile jars. It will freeze well or will keep in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 weeks.
- Gently warm it before serving.
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