Apple Brown Betty

About This Recipe


October 5th is National Apple Betty Day. Similar to an apple crisp, crumble or cobbler, the American Apple Betty or sometimes called Brown Betty dates from colonial times. The recipe calls for a few ingredients of apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, flour and butter. It is comfort food at its best. Nothing brings back memories of my childhood than the sweet aroma of cinnamon and apples baking on a cool autumn day. After spending the afternoon raking and of course then jumping in the piles of leaves, we were treated to a bowl of warm Apple Brown Betty. This recipe is so simple to prepare and is a great dish to make with your little ones as helpers.

Ingredients & Instructions


  • 10-12 baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced

  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  • 1 ¼ cup flour

  • Brown sugar ¾ cup for crumble + ⅔ cup for the syrup

  • ¼ lb butter (1 stick) cubed and chilled

  • ½ cup apple cider heated


  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

  2. Arrange slices in the bottom of a lightly greased 12x9 pan

  3. Sprinkle with cinnamon

  4. Mix flour and ¾ cup brown sugar

  5. Cut in chilled butter until crumbly and set aside

  6. Combine syrup ingredients of apple cider and ⅔ cup of brown sugar and stir

  7. Drizzle half of the mixture over apples

  8. Cover with flour mix

  9. Pour remaining syrup over top of apples and crumb mixture

  10. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour



Tip: Tart, crisp apples are best for making Apple Betty like Granny Smith and Braeburn. They won’t be overly sweet.


Tip: For those wondering what the difference is between an apple betty, apple cobbler and apple crisp, all three desserts bring out the flavor of crisp tart apples but have different textures. An apple betty is topped with flour, butter and spices. Apple cobbler is topped with a cake like batter with baking soda to help make it rise. Apple crisp is most similar to apple betty but typically calls for oats in the topping.

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