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I made this last night and it’s a bit scary how easy this is to make! I might have to hide this recipe from myself or I’ll be making it way to often! 😉
Dessert today is brought to you by those end-of-fall sweet, juicy, ruby red apples that are just completely irresistible. Organic Honeycrisp, I’m looking at you.
Today these apples are coated in cinnamon sugar and conveniently topped with a healthy, wholesome crumble that is made with oats, pecans, whole wheat flour, and coconut oil. I don’t even like coconut oil. Except now I do (see also: this mind-blowing Blueberry Crisp!). FLIPPING OUT.
Five minutes to snacky apple deliciousness = five minutes to happiness in my house. I say house, but ohhh hi again. We’re still living in the basement. I wish we had an awesome video update for you this week – something like me knocking down (ahem, poking holes in) a wall or something – but the most exciting kitchen event this week was yesterday afternoon when the plumbing company dropped off the sink so it could sit in a cardboard box for another week. Countertop fairies, please sprinkle your speedy fast dust on our fabricators.
Annnnd you know you’re an adult when: you talk about countertop fabricators in normal conversation. Hi, Mom!
HOW TO MAKE OUR QUICK APPLE CRISP:
As you might recall, in the basement we are lacking that one magical food box called the oven. Sad face times one thousand. I miss it a lot. And I’m already dreaming of baked everything when the new oven comes in next week – T minus eight days, not that I’m literally counting days and hours and minutes or anything. Just get your party pants ready.
But the big, exciting news today is that I STILL MADE THIS WITHOUT AN OVEN. This five minute single serving apple crisp is a minimal commitment, low maintenance, ready super fast treat for all the Regular Days. And you probably already went there in your mind, but just in case you need some help, this super speedy apple crisp can serve as a snack, dessert, or breakfast –> I just said that.
Lezz break it down.
- Five Minute: Yes. These adorable minis are whipped up in two minutes and baked in three. And when I say baked, I mean more like gently warmed in the microwave. You guys. Mixed feelings. I don’t love microwaves. I sort of loved the purist approach we took in the Philippines when we chose not to have a microwave for a year. And purist is interchangeable with cheapskate. But seriously, I had always sort of hoped that there would be a time in my life when I wouldn’t have a microwave and CHECK! We took care of that one. Now we temporarily don’t have an oven, and as much as I dislike the idea of every warm thing I’m eating coming out of that black zapper box (it’s just one of those thingssss), it’s super super convenient and we would be sad and hungry without it. The microwave gives us the moment of crumbly bliss that is these five minute mini single serving apple crisps, and for that we say Major Thank You, Microwave.
- Single Serving: So I wrote the recipe to be enough for two servings, which sort of makes the title of single serving a little white lie, but here’s my rationale – if I was going to make this for a snack for one person (meeee) I might as well just make two of them so I could eat the second one in a few hours when the oats-and-apples-and-cinnamon-sugar craving strikes again. Also, I find it semi-annoying to measure teeny tiny amounts of things and making this for two helps that cause. And plus, the second leftover apple crisp is as good if not even better than the first. SERIOUS. It has time to sit and jive together with that coconut oil and cinnamon and get all soft and yummy and it gets to be baked twice. It is ten hundred percent cozy and delicious, and guess what? It’s already ready to eat since you made two of these to begin with. Awyeah. As you can see, I’m a BIG FAN of little single-serving treats.
- Apple Crisp: I am having a love affair with the crumbly topping, and even more so when it’s heaped over those bubbling cinnamon sugar apples. But what else is new? The topping here reminds me of the one we made for that blueberry crisp this summer. It’s simple and wholesome: oats and nuts and a tiny bit of whole wheat flour mixed with a little crunchy turbinado sugar, some spicy-warm cinnamon, and a scoop of coconut oil. The thing about coconut oil and me is, like, usually, just no thank you. But I tried this apple crisp several times side by side using butter and coconut oil, and my tastebuds betrayed my prejudices and fell more in love with the coconut oil one than with the butter one. No, I know. It’s blasphemous. But I speak only in truths, and I would not tell you to make it with coconut oil just to be Trendy Food Blogger, because let’s face the facts: trendy is not anywhere in my life’s vocabulary. I firmly believe in loving the food you eat, especially your sweet snacks, and LOVE might be an understatement for how I felt about the wholesome coconut oil, pecan, and oat topping on this joyful lil apple crisp.
But anyways.
I sort of feel like I should apologize for the random weirdness of this recipe, being that it’s made in the microwave and all, but no apologies needed, right? Because I truly loved this and the fact that it warmed me right to my toes and gave me a reason to take five minutes and sink a little deeper into my spot on the couch with a candle and a blanket, and I think you, in the middle of your busy, no-time-for-the-oven-days, will love it right along with me.
Sometimes one little individual serving size apple crisp just makes the day so much more manageable.
Go take five minutes and make this for yourself.
Remember what I said about breakfast? I wasn’t kidding.
Three More Delightful Small Batch Treats
5 Minute Single Serving Apple Crisp
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 single serving apple crisps 1x
Description
Five Minute Single Serving Apple Crisp with a wholesome oat, pecan, and coconut oil topping. Made super fast in the microwave! No oven required.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/4 cup quick oats
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 2 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour (divided)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons turbinado or brown sugar (divided)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (divided)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2–3 apples (about 2 cups chopped)
- honey for drizzling
Instructions
- Melt the coconut oil in the microwave. Stir in the oats, pecans, 2 tablespoons of the whole wheat flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the salt. Mix until well combined.
- Chop the apples and toss them with 1/2 tablespoon of the whole wheat flour, 1/2 tablespoon of the sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Layer a little spoonful of the oat mixture in the bottom of two 9 ounce ramekins or mugs. Top with about 1 cup of the chopped apples and heap the remaining oat mixture over the top. Microwave for 3 minutes and 30 seconds – the apples should be bubbling and the whole thing will reduce in size. Remove and let stand until cool enough to eat. Be careful because it’s going to be really hot at first! Also, the texture improves as it rests and cools. Drizzle with honey for an extra gooey kind of texture. Yum!
Notes
You can make both at the same time and then save the second one to reheat later. I just wrapped it with foil and left it on the counter for the next morning (any longer than 12 hours and I would put it in the fridge). I actually preferred the texture of the second one even though it’s “day old” because the oats are little softer.
- Prep Time: 5mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: apple crisp, microwave apple crisp, single serving apple crisp
My microwave recently died so will be using my oven to finish the bake. What size apple chunks would you recommend for the 15 minute time you estimated? Thank you.
I was a little sceptical about microwaving an apple crisp, but woah these turned out so great! I really wanted a last minute, quick apple dessert fix and this was it. Topped with a little vanilla ice cream, was delicious!
I was halfway through reading this, realized I didn’t have all the ingredients but my mind was already set 🙂
I used granny smith apples, butter instead of coconut oil, lightly salted pumpkin seeds instead of pecans, and old fashioned oats.
This was so good! Very fall and perfect for a quick dessert.
I thought about making an apple crisp in the air fryer, but this truly was so quick and easy I’m glad I did this instead. I didn’t have any nuts on hand so I omitted them, used oat flour that needed to be used, and accidentally added an extra 1/4 tsp of salt to the oat crumble that I will probably continue to do on purpose. Drizzled with coconut condensed milk. Thanks for another great recipe!
Too complicated. Too many ingredients.
Nice and easy. I wanted to love it, but the coconut oil ruined it for me. Just didnt taste right. Of course i could just make it again without it. 😉
when do I put the coconut oil in? And why are the ingredients measurements different in the recipe? This was confusing. I would recommend less salt. Left me disappointed and with one less apple☹️ thx for creating though
Hi there! The coconut oil is added in step 1 – hope this helps!
Hi! This looks and sounds delicious! I can’t wait to make it. I have however been trying to cut down on my sugar intake. I know there’s not a crazy amount in here but is there anything I can replace the sugar with?
I’ve made this many times! I prefer using air fryer/convection oven over microwave for a crisper crisp! Love it TY Quick, easy delicious
Wow! This was SO easy and a perfect last minute dessert for my fiancé and I 🙂
Great recipe! Takes me a little longer than 5 minutes, but not too much, and it’s so easy and nearly fool-proof. I’ve been using coconut oil and almond flour, and just eyeballing the measurements, and it’s delicious every time. Thanks so much!
I’ve made this twice now and it’s so yummy! I don’t use as much sugar as is called for and I always add more cinnamon because I love it. This recipe is easy and healthy.
I can’t believe these comments stopped at 2014! Summary: took me a half hour to make this 5 minute recipe the 1st time, if you include searching for ingredients, utensils, and stopping to explain to the kids what I’m doing. (well worth it!). Made w/ almost 1 apple and cut ingredients in half. Subbed walnuts and all purpose flour because that’s what we had in house. (Can’t believe we had coconut oil stashed in the pantry).
Story: Daughter asked for me to cut up an apple… she ate 1 piece and was over it. I searched for quick apple bake recipe and this one popped up. 5 minutes?! No problem! Half an hour later… eating this deliciousness out of the measuring cup I ‘baked’ it in… Nom Nom! Thanks for this recipe…. I’ll be making this again – very soon – probably tomorrow….
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This was absolutely delicious and really hit the spot! I used a mix of green and red apples, used oat flour as well as the oats, stevia instead of sugar, and halved the oil and used olive oil. After cooking, I frothed some vanilla almond milk and poured over the top with a drizzle of maple syrup. HEAVEN!
This is a great recipe. I baked ours for 45 mins at 350 because we don’t have a microwave. Also used almonds instead of pecans because that’s what I had on hand. Delicious!
This was really good! We used just 1 apple and replaced the coconut oil with canola oil. It was a bit too sweet, so we would use less sugar next time.
this was so good! i did the 4 minutes, but it burnt my oatmeal. So for batch two, I added a little milk to it and dropped the time down to 2min, and perfection!
I know you need this monetized, but there’s a point that borderlines in rudeness. Far too long. I recognize that you have much potential. That is why I am starting my advice with you.
Any suggestions on making this without a microwave? I don’t have one 😔
Hard to say since we haven’t made these any other way than in the microwave. Here’s a link to single serve apple crisps made in the oven! https://www.aheadofthyme.com/individual-apple-crisp/
Holy HEAVENS. This recipe is way too easy it’s DANGEROUS. So dangerous that I’ve made it every single day for the last 3 days. So dangerous that when I ask my boyfriend if he wants one, he says no, and proceeds to eat my entire mug-ful. So dangerous, that when I see apples at the grocery store now, I must look away, because I can’t resist the temptation to make this if I have apples in my house.
Truly the easiest, most delicious, quickest dessert! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
These are great! I think the sugar could be reduced quite a bit if desired.
We made this as a late night treat. It was quick and hit the spot! We added a dollop of whipped cream on top. Yum!
Yum! Great idea to put whipped cream on top!
Would I be able to use almond flour as a substitute for the whole wheat?
This looks so perfect right now and I have all except the flour
We haven’t tested this out using almond flour yet to know for sure, but it’s worth a shot. Let us know how this goes for you!
Delicious, fast recipe! Made it this morning. Just a couple questions- how small do you cut apples? Do you leave skins on? Do you microwave both servings at the same time? I peeled the apples and cut them very small to make sure they’d cook. I microwaved the servings together but added another minute as I didn’t see them bubbling. Then I tasted- you were right- very hot! Buy yummy 😋 As I’m gluten-free, I changed out the wheat flour for coconut flour. Worked fine. Next time I might try with blueberries 😊. Thanks again pinchofyum!
Hi, Tina! It sounds like you cut the apples into the right size, but you can check out our video here for how small we cut them too. You can leave the skin on as well. 😉 It kinda depends on the strength of your microwave if both can be microwaved at the same time, but generally it should work!
Unbelievably tasty, even with my many ingredient swaps (the whole recipe is about making do so that’s fair right?). I chopped up some rolled oats instead of instant, used lakanto golden instead of sugar and cassava flour instead of whole wheat all in the exact same proportions. I added a tiny splash of lemon juice because my apples were sweet and there was *literally* half a lemon from dinner sitting on the counter and I used toasted pecans instead of straight from the bag because I had some lying around. I whipped up some cream with my immersion blender whisk & stired in a splash of maple syrup to top. Seriously how does it still get a little crispy in the microwave? Nothing ever gets crispy in the microwave. It was so perfect and so easy. Like maybe I enjoyed this MORE than the oven baked crisps I’ve made?! Amazing!
Thanks for sharing, Emily!