Instant Pot Apple Crisp + Video

Instant Pot Apple Crisp with the warm sweet fall scents of cinnamon, ginger and fresh Granny Smith apples can be in your belly in under 30 minutes.

Warm, sweet, aromatic and crunchy Slow Cooker Apple Crisp has been one of our long time favorite desserts to assemble shortly before a dinner party.so as the guests are enjoying a wonderful dinner, they’ll get to enjoy the fabulous aroma.

I’ve now converted my world famous Apple Crisp recipe to be made in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker. The house will still fill with the fantastic aroma and since it cooks in under 20 minutes, it is ready to eat right after dinner.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Apple Crisp

• Apples, Cinnamon, Sugar, Crystallized Ginger
• All Purpose Flour and Bisquick Baking Mix
• Rolled Oats, Grapenuts Nuggets
• Brown Sugar, Cornstarch and Butter

Preparation for Instant Pot Apple Crisp is only about 10 minutes. (The pressure up and down takes around 15 minutes and is all hands off.) It is such an easy recipe and something you will enjoy any time of the year.

 

Why Use Granny Smith Apples?

• Granny Smith apples hold up well and won’t get mushy after spending a minute under pressure. They are also great to use for pies and crisps, as they will remain intact and not turn into applesauce during baking.
• You certainly do not want to make applesauce instead of apple crisp! With the Granny Smith apples, you can rest assured that your Instant Pot Apple Crisp will have nice chucks of soft apples to sink your teeth into.
• This type of apple is quite tart and have a wonderful flavor. The sugar and other ingredients will make them taste so incredible.

My incredible Cast Iron Blue Ribbon Caramel Apple Pie is another recipe made with Granny Smith apples.

Preventing Apples from Turning Brown

• As you are peeling and cutting the apples into chucks, place them in a bowl of water with lemon juice or vinegar.
• Lemon juice and vinegar are both acidic will help to prevent the apples from turning brown.
• If shooting a video and you have to walk away for a minute, make sure you squeeze in the lemon juice first, as that minute might turn into 10. 😉

Pro Tip: After draining the apples from the water, make sure to squeeze in some lemon juice immediately. 

 

What is Crystallized Ginger?

• It is slices of ginger root, which have been dried/candied with sugar.
• The flavor of the crystallized ginger is wonderful and the texture is divine. I love the chewy pieces. It kind of reminds me of a Boba drink. A delicious drink with chewy pieces, yum.

If you cannot get your hands on the crystallized ginger, try using fresh grated ginger and a teaspoon more sugar. However, crystallized is so wonderful and you can sprinkle it on ice cream, Cheesecake Salad, Instant Pot Bhapa Doi {Steamed Yogurt Pudding} and much more. Even add a 1/4 teaspoon to a delicious Holiday Raspberry Cranberry Spritzer.

 

Is Water/Liquid Needed?

• Nope. As the apples sit with the sugar and filling, they will start to release their juice. This is good as this juice which is falling to the bottom is the liquid that will allow the pot to come to pressure. It is similar to making my Pressure Cooker Fresh Berry Compote (Stewed Fruit). You will notice that after a few minutes, the pot is full of liquid before cooking.

For this reason, no water or other actual liquid is needed, so take your time preparing the topping and the filling.

Can I Mix the Cornstarch with the Filling?

• Oh gosh, no, no, no, no, goodness no. 🙂 Cornstarch is a thickener. As the apples cook, juice will be released. That juice will then allow the pot to begin to come to pressure. As the apples release more liquid, the pot will come up to pressure.
• During pressure cooking, the cornstarch will automatically mix in with the apples and the filling to make a nice, thick filling. Unlike recipes such as Instant Pot Chinese Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce, Pressure Cooker Salisbury Steak w/Onion Mushroom Gravy, where the meat is coated in order to not only to protect the meat, but will also thicken the sauce or gravy and keep the juices in the meat, here the starch is on top and will move through the filling as it is cooking.
• So, for this Instant Pot Apple Crisp recipe, you don’t want to coat the apples in the cornstarch. We want the juices to easily release from the apples and cause the pot to come to pressure. With the sugar helping to release liquid and the heat releasing juice/water, no additional liquid needs to be added and just water down the apple crisp dessert.

Pro Tip: If the cornstarch was mixed in with the filling and not sprinkled on top, you would risk the starch sticking to the bottom of the pot before pressure was reached and you would get a burn notice.

 

I like to use freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon, but you can flavor the topping however you like.

Spice Options for Streusel Topping

• Orange Zest, Orange Peel or Ginger Orange
• Pumpkin Spice
• Cloves
• Allspice

This streusel topping can be used on all kinds of fillings and even on top of muffins and cakes. It can be layered on top and even used as a filling in the middle of cakes and muffins. Check out my Pressure Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole to see how I used a similar streusel as a filling.

 

Watch the video below to see Ed quickly and easily grate up an entire stick of frozen butter. He is using a microplane ribbon grater and grating the butter by hand.

Frozen Butter for Apple Crisp

• Frozen butter and a microplane is my wonderful trick for making crumbled toppings, as well as my incredible Southern Style Old Fashion Buttermilk Biscuits.
• Rather than cutting the butter into pieces and incorporating it into the flour, keep sticks of butter in your freezer and when ready to make the topping, pull it out.
• Using a frozen stick of butter and a microplane grater is super easy and is super quick. The butter grates like, well….butter. It forms little ribbons and strands and is easily coated by the flour without actually melding or combining into the flour and causing huge clumps and uneven incorporation.

Pro Tip: Keep several sticks of butter in the freezer for recipes like this Instant Pot Apple Crisp and also my very famous Best Ever Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake recipe.

 

Why a Fork?

• I don’t know, why a duck? How many are old enough to remember this reference?
• The butter should be coated by the flour and other ingredients and not incorporated or combined with them. You want crumbles, not a paste or batter. 

Pro Tip: Always use a fork to mix a streusel topping.

What are Grapenut Nuggets?

• Grapenuts Nuggets are a fiber filled cereal. They add a nice crunch and texture to the crisp. 
• We started using them in place of nuts, so that we don’t have to worry about nut allergies and ended up enjoying the apple crisp more with the nuggets than with nuts.

Pro Tip: Chopped walnuts or pecans can be used in place of the Grapenuts Nuggets to get that nice crunch.

 

Difference Between a Crisp, a Crumble and a Cobbler

• All three start with a fruit base and are baked with some type of topping.
• They contain flour, butter and sugar, but the proportions will vary depending on the type of fruit dessert.

Crisp

• A crisp is basically a streusel topping, and usually oats is one of the ingredients. Various spices can be mixed in for flavoring. The topping will crisp up during baking and it is not as dense as a crumble.

Crumble

• A crumble also starts out as a streusel topping but in different proportions, so that the topping will be more de. The crumble may include nuts, but generally does not include oats, like a crisp. The crumble is more cakey and dense than a crisp.

 

Cobbler

• Another baked fruit dessert with topping is called a cobbler. The topping on a cobbler starts with flour, sugar and butter too, but, it is more of a batter or biscuit like dough and is dropped by spoonful right on top of the fruit mixture. As the cobbler cooks, the batter puffs up and looks like cobblestone streets. This dessert got its name because back in the 1850’s the paved streets were mostly cobblestone. A cobbler close cousin would be a pie.

I’ll tell you about Betties, Grunts, Slumps, Buckles and Pandowdys in another recipe post.

With my slow cooker apple crisp recipe, the lid is vented for about 30 minutes after cooking, which allows the top of the crisp to harden. With this Instant Pot Apple Crisp recipe the crisp is ready to eat right away.

Pro Tip: While you can eat apple crisp right away, it is best to let it cool for about 10 minutes, so that the filling firms up.

However if you want a very crispy topping, this is what you can do. Pop your crisping lid right on top of the apple crisp and set the temp to 350 and the time to 4-5 minutes.

That will remove the rest of the moisture from the top and nicely crisp up the streusel. Frankly, we love the texture of the topping as is as it is a bit chewy and a bit crunchy!

Instant Pot Crisping Lid and Mealthy CrispLid

• Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Mealthy) / Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Amazon)
• Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Instant Pot) / Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Amazon)

Watch the video below as I walk you through every step and detail of this recipe. I’ve given you a ton of information above, but sometimes a live visual of the process helps so you can follow along. I have my own cooking show on my YouTube Channel, so be sure to check it out and subscribe!

Watch my video and then scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe card.

Tips and Tricks for Instant Pot Apple Crisp

1. Use frozen butter in the topping and keep it in the freezer until ready to use.
2. Let the apples sit in the sugar for 10 minutes to allow some juice to release.
3. Allow the top to harden by waiting 10 minutes with the lid off before serving.

 

So, I know it looks like my hair is right on the plate, but it is not. There is not depth of perception here and my body and hair is not touching the plate at all. I promise.

 

A scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of my Simple Dulce de Leche Recipe {Pressure or Slow Cooker} recipe is fantastic on top of the apple crisp.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as we do. As I said above, this is Ed’s favorite dessert and I’ve been making it for him for over 10 years. He can’t get enough.

More Instant Pot Fall Apple Recipes to Make:

• Apple Pie Enchiladas with Caramel Sauce
• Pressure Cooker Dannon Dutch Apple Yogurt Compote {Instant Pot}
• Pressure Cooker Balsamic Spiced Apple Pork Tenderloin
• Pressure Cooker Pumpkin Apple Butter

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
• Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Mealthy) / Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Amazon)
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
• Microplane Artisan Ribbon Grater

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Here is the handy printable recipe:

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