Name: Spiced Apple Crumble
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 175 g Plain flour; 45 g Plain wholemeal flour; 115 g Butter or baking spread (cold); 100 g Light brown soft sugar; 5 Medium apples ((about 650g before peeling/coring)); 75 g Sultanas (or raisins); 75 g Light brown soft sugar; 1 tsp Cornflour ((cornstarch)); 1 tsp Cinnamon; 1/2 tsp Mixed spice; 1/4 tsp Nutmeg

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This Spiced Apple Crumble is the ultimate comfort food for cold weather. Soft apples and juicy sultanas, infused with warming spices, and a layer of crunchy buttery crumble - just add some warm custard and you're in heaven! I adore all the spices that are prevelant during the colder months and I wanted to add them to this crumble to make it extra cosy and delicious. This apple crumble is so easy to make too, once assembled it's just a matter of snuggling under a blanket and waiting for it to bake!

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Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information

You can use either unsalted butter or a baking spread for the crumble topping.
Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger. If you can't get hold of it, use a mix of these spices or use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead.
I really recommend using light brown soft sugar if you can, as it gives the crumble a lovely caramel flavour. But if you can't get hold of it, you can use golden caster sugar or regular caster sugar (superfine sugar) instead.
I like to add a bit of wholemeal flour into my crumble mix for texture and goodness, you could replace it with porridge oats, ground almonds, or the same amount of regular plain flour.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Spiced Apple Crumble

For the crumble, stir the light brown sugar, plain wholemeal flour and plain flour together. Add butter and rub it in with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs. You can also use a fork or a food processor to do this.

Peel and core the apples, and chop them into small pieces. Mix them together with sultanas, light brown sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg and cornflour. Add the apple mix to a baking dish, then spread the crumble topping over the fruit and bake it for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbling, and the apple is soft.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

What can you serve apple crumble with?

Custard - either warm or cold!
Ice cream, ideally a good quality vanilla one
Creme fraiche
Whipped cream
Natural yoghurt

What are the best apples to use for apple crumble?

It's best to use either cooking apples, which are the very large and bulbous apples you'll find in the shop. Or, use an apple variety that is both crisp and tart, for example Granny Smith, Jazz or Pink Lady. Golden Delicious will also work well. Or if it's apple season and you have an apple tree, it's a great way to use some of them up!

Do you need to peel the apples?

I definitely recommend at minimum coring apples for apple crumble, however peeling them is not necessary if you are in a rush. Although, I do much prefer them peeled and it's more enjoyable to eat the crumble without apple peel, especially if the apple variety you use has a tougher skin.

What size dish can you make this apple crumble in?

The dish I used was 32.5 x 19 x 8 cm. It didn't reach the very top of my dish so you can use a slightly smaller one. I wouldn't recommend using a much bigger one as your layers of apple and crumble will be thinner, and the crumble may brown too much on top before the apples are cooked through.

Can this recipe be made gluten or dairy free?

Yes, for a gluten free version replace the plain flour and plain wholemeal flour with a gluten free plain flour blend. Cornflour (also known as cornstarch) is naturally gluten free, however please do check the packaging in case of cross contamination. For a dairy free version, replace the butter with a dairy free butter. This recipe is already egg free. Please do check the labels for everything you use to make this recipe if you are serving it to someone with an allergy or intolerance.

More tips for making the Spiced Apple Crumble:

You can make the crumble topping by hand or using a food processor, just make sure if you are using a food processor not to over mix it.
You can freeze the uncooked crumble mix in a ziploc bag, you can also freeze the baked apple crumble in the freezer in sealed tubs. I recommend portioning it out before freezing.
The sultanas are optional, so if you're not a fan then leave them out.

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!

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