Individual Apple Crisp in Ramekins
The first batch I baked in ramekins came out looking perfect and tasted kind of sad. Golden top, raw apples underneath. Six little dishes don’t let the heat soak into the fruit the way one big pan does, so now I give the slices a few minutes in a hot skillet before they go anywhere near the oven, and that fixed it for good.
There aren’t any oats here. The topping is closer to a shortbread crumb, sandy and buttery, and it browns in craggy patches with sugar glinting on top. I press it down just a little so it holds together when the spoon goes in. Honestly, the lemon zest is what people notice. I set the ramekins on a sheet pan so the juices that bubble over don’t land on the oven floor.
This individual apple crisp in ramekins is what I make when friends come over for dinner in the fall. Everyone gets their own dish. You can assemble them in the afternoon, keep them covered in the fridge and bake them right before dessert, then serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Coat six 8-ounce ramekins with nonstick spray and set them on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.nonstick cooking spray
- Toss the sliced apples in a large bowl with the lemon juice, the brown sugar for the filling, the salt and the cinnamon until every slice is coated.7 cups apples, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar for the topping and lemon zest in a second bowl. Add the cold butter cubes and rub them in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand with some pea-size clumps. Keep it in the fridge while you cook the apples.1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- Melt the remaining butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples with their juices and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the slices just start to soften but still hold their shape.1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- Divide the apples and their juices among the ramekins. Pile the crumb topping over the fruit, all the way to the edges, and press it down lightly so it forms a loose crust.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is deep golden and the juices bubble up around the edges.
- Let the ramekins cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving, so the filling thickens and the dishes are safe to handle.
Nutrition
Notes
Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in the topping if you need to. Leftovers keep 3 days covered in the fridge; rewarm them at 350°F for about 10 minutes.
You might also like our Easy French Apple Tart.
made these for book club last night and the skillet step is legit, apples were soft all the way thru. used honeycrisp. only had 4 ramekins so the extra went in a mug lol
really good but i’d cut the white sugar a little next time, my apples were pretty sweet already. topping baked up nice and crumbly at about 32 min
no oats is what sold me, my husband picks them out of every crisp. added a pinch of nutmeg to the apples and put vanilla ice cream on while they were still warm. gone in 10 minutes