pumpkin spice apple crisp

So last week, I made this pumpkin spice apple crisp.

I made it because I had three mushy apples and a jar of Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter to use up.

pumpkin butter

And oh my goodness… I’m so grateful for those mushy apples. Because this dessert is AMAZING!

This pumpkin spice apple crisp would be perfect to bring to a holiday gathering. It is a delightful combination of apples and pumpkin, two flavors that are bursting with holiday joy.

This crisp tastes like apple pie, only it is loads simpler to make! All you need are four ingredients {well, five, if you top your slice with whipped cream, which you certainly should!} And you don’t need to tell anyone, but for a dessert it’s even relatively healthy, thanks to all those apples and a relatively small amount of butter and sugar.

pumpkin spice apple crisp

{adapted slightly from this recipe}

– 3 large apples {I used fuji and jazz because that’s what we had going mushy in our fridge}
– 3/4 cup pumpkin butter
– 8 oz pumpkin quick bread mix {most packages are double this amount, so I used half of the mix for the crisp and then made pumpkin muffins with the remaining half of the mix… another alternative would be doubling this recipe and using the whole package of pumpkin bread mix}
– 3 tbsp butter
– whipped cream for serving {optional}

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Peel, core, and dice your apples and put into a bowl.

apples diced

3. Toss apple pieces with the pumpkin butter until they are coated. Pour into a shallow class dish or pie pan.

pumpkin butter apples

4. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix with your hands into the pumpkin bread mix until well-combined. This should create a crumbly topping. {Note: your fingers will be messy!}

5. Pour the topping over the apple mixture and spread it into an even layer.

topping prebake

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until topping is golden brown and your house smells aaaamazing.

pumpkin spice apple crisp

7. Enjoy warm with whipped cream on top… or pumpkin ice cream! Yum, just thought of that, it would be delicious. Now I need to make this again so I can eat it with pumpkin ice cream 🙂

apple crisp slice

My Grandpap, an extreme lover of apple pie, told me that this was one of the best apple desserts he has ever eaten! We certainly gobbled this up in our household. Hope you do, too!

if you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy:
incredibly easy pumpkin spice cookies
apple cake with crumb topping and brown sugar glaze
gluten-free apple pie bites
chocolate pumpkin spice kiss cookies
pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting

apple cake with crumb topping & brown sugar glaze

Hi everyone! I’ve decided to designate the next few days as Apple Week here on the blog! I have a few apple-themed recipes I’m excited to share with you, so I thought why not group them together in a single week … after all, no time of year says apple like autumn does!

apple week

Today, I’m excited to share the recipe for the apple cake I shared a teaser picture of in yesterday’s post. Grandma and I baked this cake for our dinnertime get-together at my aunt’s house, and it was a huge hit! There were only six of us there, and pretty much the entire cake got devoured by the time we left.

apple cake with crumb topping and a brown sugar glaze

apple cake

for the cake:
– 5 cups apples {peeled, cored and chopped}
– 1 & 3/4 cups flour
– 1/4 cup almond meal
– 2 tsp baking soda
– 2 or 3 tsp cinnamon {depending on your tastes}
– 1 tsp salt
– 3/4 cup brown sugar
– 1/4 cup maple syrup or agave
– 1/2 cup vegetable oil
– 1 cup applesauce
– 2 eggs
– 1 tsp vanilla

for the crumb topping:
– 1/2 cup flour
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 2 tbsp butter

for the brown sugar glaze:
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 2 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, maple syrup/agave, and chopped apples. Mix until apples are well coated with sugar. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, and vanilla until well combined.

4. Sift together dry ingredients: flour, almond meal, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

5. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

6. Pour the batter over the apple-sugar mixture. Stir until well combined, then pour into the baking pan.

7. To make the crumb topping: mix together flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add butter in small pieces. Mix until you have a fine, crumbly mixture. Generously sprinkle the crumb topping over the apple cake batter.

8. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. {Note: your house will smell AMAZING when this is baking!}

9. While cake is baking, make your brown sugar glaze by combining brown sugar, vanilla and water in a small bowl. Stir until smooth.

10. Remove cake from oven and drizzle with brown sugar glaze, which will harden as the cake cools.

In my opinion, this cake is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!!

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like this recipe? you might want to also check out:
baked cinnamon french toast
incredibly easy pumpkin spice cookies
chocolate spice zucchini muffins
apple banana oatmeal muffins