Apple Betty

Today is National Apple Betty Day, and what a perfect day for this absolutely delicious dessert! Here in Utah, the temperatures have been dropping, the skies turning cloudy, and fall is definitely in the air. What better way to get warm and cozy than with a delicious spiced apple and crumb dessert?


Apple betty (also called apple brown betty) is a simple dessert featuring apples and a crumb topping. It is thought to date back to Colonial times. So you know it's pretty good if it's stuck around for that long. I found this wonderfully simple and easy recipe on allrecipes.com, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it as our after-lunch treat. I wish we had some ice cream, it would have been super fabulous. But even by itself it was fantastic. I did make a couple changes, using brown sugar for half of the white, and adding some cloves and allspice.


Apple Betty
4 cups thinly sliced apples (peeled if you want, I didn't bother)
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash each cloves and allspice
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie plate.

Mound sliced apples in the pie plate. Sprinkle with orange juice.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugars, spices, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Scatter over the apples.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Serve warm.


This was so delicious. The topping was crisp, and the apple filling was gooey and caramel-y. The spices went wonderfully together; the whole dessert was just so deliciously warm and comforting, the perfect fall dessert.