
Rustic Apple Crumble Recipe
This rustic apple crumble recipe combines fresh apples with the warm flavours of cinnamon and cloves, topped with a crisp oatmeal crumble. Simple to prepare, this dish makes a stunning Thanksgiving dessert, Christmas dessert or served up pretty much any day of the week in the fall and winter months!
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Like most basic white chicks, fall is my favourite time of year. I love the crisp fall air and crunchy leaves underfoot. I love the earthy reds, oranges and browns that mix with the evergreens here in the Pacific Northwest. I love the cozy glow of candles as the nights get darker, and the warm scent of pumpkin spice that seems to infiltrate life at this time of year. And I love apples.
Ever since we moved to our old place with the big ol’ apple tree where we first started homesteading, apples have become a fall treat that we eagerly await each year. I hardly ever buy apples from the store anymore, and would rather wait until the abundance of the fall harvest to enjoy them fresh, preserve them and bake them into all sorts of goodies.
Applesauce was the very first thing I ever canned, and it’s a standby every year!

The Gravenstein apple tree at our old place has been on the property for roughly 100 years or more. A couple winters ago, the snow pack was so heavy that the largest two branches broke off the tree. The owners had the tree filled with concrete in hopes of preserving what remained. This year it rebounded and gave us lots of apples. Although not nearly as many as we got a couple years ago when the tree was three times its current size!
But I also love to enjoy apples while they’re in season, because there’s really no better time than fall to combine flavours like apple, cinnamon and cloves into all sorts of tasty treats.
By far my favourite apple recipe of all time is this humble but impressive rustic apple crumble. Aside from the time it takes to peel and slice the apples, the rest takes just minutes to prepare and less than an hour to bake to perfection.
It’s always a crowd pleaser and goes well with dinner any night of the week, or for any special occasion. It’s my go-to recipe for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner (in addition to this divine no-bake whipped pumpkin pie), and Ryan and I even shared some on our anniversary this year after doing dinner at home for the first time. (We had steak and mushrooms with beet greens and garlic out of our garden, by the way, and it was absolutely delish).

I love to bake my apple crumble in my cast iron pan, but you can also make it in a regular baking dish or pie pan. Cast iron adds a rustic feel (and adds iron!) to the dish, so if you have it, cook with it!
But the coup de grâce was definitely the rustic apple crumble skillet that we baked up with our first batch of apples from our tree this year. And it was extra special, not just because it was our 4-year anniversary (woot woot!) but also because this is our last year enjoying the fruits of that tree.
While we’re still transitioning to our new house, we’re saying goodbye to that old apple tree this year and inheriting a hazelnut tree instead! I’m absolutely LOVING our new place, but I will definitely miss the apple tree:(

Hazelnuts are getting ready to fall off the tree at our new house!
Whether you have an apple tree on your property or you buy them from the farmers market, now is the time to gather them and turn them into all sorts of yummy foods that will sustain you and your family now and in the months to come.
Whatever you do with your apples this season, be sure to put this apple crumble recipe on your fall menu. Then put on your sweater, sip a chai latte and enjoy all the comforts of the best season of the year:)
Happy fall y’all!

Rustic Apple Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 2 pounds of apples, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
For the Crumble Topping
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Combine all ingredients for filling in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined. Spoon filling into a baking dish, pie plate or cast iron pan.
- Combine dry ingredients for crumble topping in a mixing bowl. Stir in melted butter and mix well to combine. Crumble topping should be a little bit clumpy from the addition of the butter and just slightly moist throughout.
- Spread topping evenly over apple filling. Bake for 45-50 minutes and enjoy warm with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream:)
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Homesteading is a year-round lifestyle, and
for whatever reason, homesteading is most often thought of as a three-season “activity.”
1. 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨.
2. 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳.
3. 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭.
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Happy homesteading!

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