This easy and delicious Apple Plum Crisp is the perfect transitional dessert from summer to fall. It marries the two seasons with beautiful fruit and the warmth of apple pie spice. Topped with a nutty and buttery pecan crisp crumble.
This delicious dessert gets its gorgeous color from the plums, but you can make it with any variety you can get your hands on. I went with my favorite Honeycrisp apples and bright purple plums. Serve your apple and plum crumble with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and you’ve got yourself the perfect dessert for any occasion.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Apples and plums work wonderfully together – And truly do help usher in the end of summer and the beginning of fall! The combination of sweet and tart fruit is a classic pairing that never fails to please.
- The varying textures add another unique touch – The soft and juicy fruit filling is complemented by the crunchy and flaky topping in the best way.
- Very easy to make – Apple plum crisp is simple enough to make for dessert for the week but impressive enough to bring to parties. Perfect for both experienced and novice bakers.
- It can be adjusted and made gluten-free – This recipe can easily be adapted to be gluten-free if you use GF flour in the topping. It’s a great option to bring to get-togethers — even those with certain dietary restrictions can enjoy a piece.
Tools you’ll need
You’ll need the following tools to make your apple plum crumble:
- Mixing bowls and a whisk to combine the topping ingredients.
- An apple corer, peeler, and sharp knife to prepare the fruit.
- An 8×8-inch square pan for baking.
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Apples – I use my favorite Honeycrisp apples for plum and apple crumble, but you can use any kind as long as you enjoy eating them in the first place. If you plan to use Granny Smiths, you may want to increase the amount of sugar in the recipe since they tend to be more tart.
- Plums – I use purple plums here as I love the color, but again you can use any kind. You could even substitute other stone fruits like peaches or nectarines if you wish.
- Lemon juice – Fresh or bottled lemon juice is fine. If you happen to only have lime, that will work too.
- Sugar – I like using brown sugar for its deeper flavor — both light or dark brown will work. In a pinch, you could also use granulated sugar if you ran out of brown.
- Salt – Essential to enhancing flavor, even in sweets! I use Morton’s kosher salt because that’s what we use daily. If you use table salt, reduce the amount by half.
- Apple pie spice – The perfect autumn spice for this apple and plum crumble. I use my own homemade apple pie spice. It’s super easy to make and you may already have all of the ingredients in your spice cabinet. And if you don’t, just use the ones you do have.
- Tapioca flour – Used to thicken the fruit filling. I don’t add too much as I like it to be a little bit runny. If you want yours thicker, you can double the amount of tapioca flour used.
- All-purpose flour – For the topping. You can use your preferred gluten-free flour instead if needed.
- Rolled oats – You may be wondering the difference between a crisp and a crumble. Crumble toppings are usually made without any oats, while crisp toppings include them. I use the terms interchangeably here because I like to add oats for an extra touch of crispiness.
- Pecans – Added to the topping for even more crunch and texture, plus a little nutty flavor. You can substitute other nuts if you wish, or omit them completely if allergies are a concern.
- Butter – Finally, you’ll need unsalted butter for the topping as well.
How to make apple plum crisp
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Make the crispy crumble topping
Add the all-purpose flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, salt, and apple pie spice to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the cubed cold butter to the bowl and combine with your hands until the mixture looks like wet sand. Toss in the chopped pecans.
Tip: Use your (clean!) hands to incorporate the butter into the flour and sugar mixture. You’ll have better control, and you want there to be larger chunks of flattened butter throughout — they’ll turn into a light, crispy, and flaky topping when baked.
Prepare the fruit filling
Add the brown sugar, salt, apple pie spice, and tapioca flour to a small bowl and mix to combine. Add the bite-sized apple and plum pieces to a large mixing bowl and toss with lemon juice. Incorporate the sugar mixture with the fruit mixture until evenly combined.
Note: Washing, peeling, and cutting the fruit before you get started on your apple and plum crisp will save you time.
Bake the crumble
Pour the fruit filling into your prepared baking pan then spread the crumble mixture evenly on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Enjoy!
More baker’s tips
- I used 2 medium apples and 4 large plums. If your plums are smaller, use more of them. You’ll want a total of 2 lbs of fruit.
- It’s very important to keep the butter cold when making the topping. Much like streusel on top of a banana bread, cold butter binds everything together here and prevents the topping from spreading or flattening too much when baked.
- The baking time can vary based on your specific oven. Keep a close eye on your plum and apple crumble and check it often to ensure it doesn’t brown too much.
- And if at any point your crumble does start to brown too much, you can tent the baking pan with a large piece of foil and continue baking until the filling is bubbly.
Storage
You can refrigerate leftover apple plum crisp for 3-5 days. Serve cold or warm them up in the microwave in 30-second bursts until heated through.
This recipe is also freezer-friendly, and you can freeze it for up to 3 months. I recommend portioning it out into individual serving containers and freezing separately. This way, when the mood strikes, you can warm up a single serving for yourself.
You could also freeze the entire apple and plum crisp. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and warm it up in the oven before serving if you wish to serve it warm.
The only issue I’ve found with freezing leftovers is that the crumble topping tends to get mixed into the fruits and become soggy. But otherwise, it’s still delicious.
FAQs
As I mentioned above, a crumble usually doesn’t include any oats in the topping while a crisp does, but I use the words interchangeably. Some others may get a little more technical about it, but I find that most people know what I mean whether I refer to this dish as an apple plum crisp or an apple plum crumble.
You certainly can! If you do, bake it in a 9×13-inch baking pan instead. You may need to increase the baking time by 10 minutes or so. Just watch for the bubbly filling and golden brown crumble as the cue that it’s done.
Yes, the crumble can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You could also prep the fruit in advance — it won’t go brown once you toss it in lemon, so it should be good for a couple of days in the fridge as well. When ready to bake, just toss the apples and plums with the sugar mixture, then top with the crumble and bake.
My favorite way to eat crumble is with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course. You could also simply add a drizzle of cream, serve it with custard, or swirl some whipped cream on top.
No, you don’t have to peel the plums to make apple and plum crumble. The skin is thin enough to not be a bother while also adding some nice texture.
I usually peel apples in apple pie for a more uniform texture so that’s what I did for this crumble recipe out of habit. But similar to the plums, if you don’t want to peel the apples, it should be just fine. It will add more texture to the filling.
More delicious apple and plum treats
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📖 Recipe card
Apple Plum Crisp
Equipment
- 8”x8” square baking pan
Ingredients
Crumble:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (68 g)
- ½ cup rolled oats (50 g)
- ½ cup brown sugar (107 g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
- 4 oz unsalted butter (cubed and cold)
- ½ cup pecans (roughly chopped, 55 g)
Apple and plum filling:
- 2 lbs of fruits (mix of apples and plums)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh squeezed or bottled)
- ½ cup brown sugar (107 g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour (7 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- First, make the crumble by mixing together the flour, rolled oat, brown sugar, salt and apple pie spice in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the cubed cold butter to the flour mixture and press the pieces with your fingers until all of the butter pieces are flattened and the mixture resembles slightly wet sand.
- Toss the chopped pecans into the crumble mixture and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Wash the fruits, peel and core the apples, remove the plum stones, and cut the fruits up into bite site pieces. Cut the plums into pieces slightly larger than the apples since they will soften faster when baked. Toss the cut up fruits with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, salt, apple pie spice and tapioca flour. Add the sugar mixture to the fruits and mixture to distribute evenly.
- Transfer the fruit filling to a square baking pan, spread the crumble over the top evenly.
- Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the crumble is golden.
Notes
- I used 2 medium apples and 4 large plums. If your plums are smaller, use more of them. You’ll want a total of 2 lbs of fruits.
- If at any point, your crumble starts to brown too much, you can tent the baking pan with a large piece of foil and continue baking.
Nutrition
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