I am generally not big on baked apple desserts, but when Ina Garten calls something a favorite, I pay attention. (As most of us would!) Her Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp just might have won me over in the baked apple arena – it’s the best apple crisp I’ve ever had, and I don’t say that lightly. The recipe first showed up in her 2001 cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, and it’s one of those recipes people pull out every single fall without fail. At first glance it looks like a regular apple crisp, and in the best way it is, but there’s a little something extra going on in the filling that makes it taste brighter than most. It is truly delicious and it will always have a place on my holiday table from here on out.

What Ingredients Do You Need for Ina Garten’s Apple Crisp?

• Apples. Ina calls for McIntosh or Macoun.
• An orange and a lemon. (You’ll use both the zest and the juice!)
• Granulated sugar and light brown sugar.
• Cinnamon and nutmeg.
• All-purpose flour.
• Oats.
• Kosher salt.
• Cold butter, two whole sticks.

What Makes Ina’s Apple Crisp Different?

It’s the citrus. A little orange and lemon (both the zest and the juice) goes right in with the apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It doesn’t make the crisp taste like oranges, it just wakes the apples up so the filling tastes fresh instead of flat. Once you’ve had it this way, you’ll never go back.

How Do You Make Ina Garten’s Apple Crisp?

Start by peeling and coring your apples and cutting them into big wedges. (Five pounds sounds like a lot, and it is, but they cook down a bit and this is meant to feed a crowd anyway.) Toss them with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices, then pour everything into a buttered oval baking dish.

For the topping, Ina uses a stand mixer, which I love because it keeps the butter cold and does all the work for you. Flour, both sugars, salt, oats, and diced cold butter go into the bowl, and you mix on low just until it’s crumbly and the butter is about the size of peas. No stand mixer? A pastry cutter or your fingertips will do the job too.

Scatter the topping over the apples, set the dish on a sheet pan (trust me, it bubbles), and bake for an hour until the top is nicely browned and the filling is bubbling up around the edges.

What Should I Serve With It?

Do it Ina’s way and serve it warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream. It feeds a crowd of 10, so it’s also a great pick for Thanksgiving if you want a break from pie. (Or something easier but still fall-forward.)