Apple Betty

This post may contain affiliate links, and I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read our privacy policy.

An Apple Betty is a delicious baked dessert with buttery crumbs topping layers of fresh apples. It’s in the same dessert family as crisps and cobblers.

October 5th is National Apple Betty Day! Celebrate this day by using our recipe to make your own Apple Betty. It’s not a dessert you see often in a restaurant, and it’s easy enough to bake at home. Share your Apple Betty on social media today using the hashtags #NationalAppleBettyDay, #AppleBettyDay and #RecipesForHolidays.

Be sure to follow my October Food Holidays page so you never miss a food holiday in the month of October!

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I’d still plant my apple tree.”

-Martin Luther

The History of Betty Desserts:

Betties are an English pudding dessert that is closely related to the French apple charlotte. The Betty was a popular baked pudding made during the colonial times in America. At that time, the crumb topping was made with stale, day-old bread.

According to The Oxford Companion to Food, Apple Betty gets its name from its creator- an African American woman named Betty. The “brown” is said to denote her skin color. Though I’ve read other accounts that the brown refers to brown sugar.

The first appearance of “brown betty” in print was in the Yale Literary Magazine of 1864.

In 1877, cracker crumbs and applesauce were used to make a brown betty.

In 1890, a Brown Betty recipe won a prize from the American Public Health Association.

A Brown Betty Pudding recipe was include in “The Original Picayune Creole Cookbook” in 1901.

Ingredients needed:

• Granny Smith apples
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
• all purpose flour
• white sugar and brown sugar (or you can use all brown sugar)
• oats (optional!)
• ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and salt
• salted butter
• vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving

How to make an Apple Betty:

The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick spray (or rub with butter).

Add the apples to the pie plate. Sprinkle the lemon juice evenly over the apples.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, oats (if using), cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Use a pastry blender (or two knives) to cut the butter into the flour mixture (you’re looking for the consistency of coarse crumbs). Sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the apples.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Cover the top of the apple betty with a piece of foil (to avoid excessive browning), and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Spoon out individual servings. The apples will be sweet and soft (just like a good apple pie), and the topping is buttery and delicious.

You can certainly eat this fabulous apple dessert without any topping. It’s best when eaten warm.

But it’s rather delicious when topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!

Fun Facts About the Apple Betty:

• A Betty is typically made with any kind of fall fruit. Try adding persimmons, pears or dried fruit.
• The Apple Brown Betty was a favorite dessert of the Reagan family when they lived in the White House.
• Another classic topping for the Brown Betty is lemon sauce.
• The Apple Betty is in the same family as crisps and cobblers. A Betty does not typically use oats in the topping.
• A Brown Betty is made with all brown sugar.