Cardamom Spiced Apple Crisp (Printer-Friendly)

Tender apples spiced with cardamom, topped with a buttery oat and almond crumble for a crunchy finish.

# What You'll Need:

→ Apple Filling

01 - 6 medium apples (about 2 pounds), peeled, cored, and sliced
02 - 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
03 - 1/3 cup granulated sugar
04 - 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
05 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
06 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
07 - 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
08 - Pinch of salt

→ Crumble Topping

09 - 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
10 - 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
11 - 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
12 - 1/3 cup sliced almonds
13 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
14 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
15 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes

# Method:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch baking dish and set aside.
02 - In a large bowl, toss sliced apples with lemon juice, sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and salt until evenly coated. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish.
03 - In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, almonds, cardamom, and salt. Add cold cubed butter and use your fingers or a pastry blender to mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
04 - Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the apples, covering the entire surface.
05 - Bake for 40 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the apple filling is bubbling around the edges.
06 - Allow the crisp to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve warm, optionally with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • Cardamom sneaks in with this sophisticated warmth that makes people pause mid-bite and ask what they're tasting.
  • The contrast between soft, tender apples and that shattering buttery crumble feels like two textures finally agreeing with each other.
  • It's genuinely hard to mess up, even if you've never made a crisp before.
02 -
  • Cold butter is non-negotiable; if you forget and grab room-temperature butter, the crumble will bake into a dense cake instead of a crispy, crumbly topping.
  • Don't skip the lemon juice—it's not about tartness, it's about keeping the spices bright and preventing the filling from becoming muddy and dull.
03 -
  • If your butter is too soft when you're making the crumble, pop the whole bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes—the texture will snap back to what you need.
  • Cardamom loses its punch once it's ground, so if you can find whole pods and grind them yourself, the difference will surprise you.
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