Apple crumble is a great classic dessert. I feel like every single person likes apple crumble. BUT APPLE CRUMBLE WITH A BROWNIE UNDERNEATH.
10/10 if I do say so myself.
This was just an experiment to be honest. I wasn’t fully sure if it was going to work out….it ended up AMAZING. I am never going back to a regular apple crumble again.
Video Tutorial
How many apples are needed for the filling?
So this brownie essentially has 3 layers. The brownie, the apple filling and then the crumble.
The first thing you’re going to make is the brownie batter, but it’s just your basic brownie recipe. I have nothing to say about this.
The next thing you’re going to make is the apple filling.
For this I used around 450g of apples. This measurement is after I had chopped and peeled them.
For me this was 8 apples, my apples were a little small though, so if you’re using bigger apples you might not need as many.
If after you’ve chopped and peeled the apples, you don’t have 450g. That fine, it doesn’t need to be exactly 450g, you can give or take 50g.
Make sure to remove any extra juice from the apple filling
After you’ve made the apple filling, you’re gonna set this aside, whiles you make the crumble.
During this time, the apples will release some juice.
When you add this filling on top of the brownie batter, make sure to not add the extra juices. You only want to add the pieces of apple.
Typically for apple crumble, you would want these juices, but for this, you don’t. It will just add a lot of extra liquid to the brownie batter, which will cause problems when baking.
Baking this brownie
This brownie takes much longer to bake than a regular brownie would.
This is mainly because of the fact that the brownie is covered by a lot of things. But then also, the juices from the apple filling also makes it take longer to bake.
It should take around 1 hour 20 minutes. To test if it is done, insert a toothpick into the centre. If the toothpick has a few crumbs on it, it is done. It might also be a little wet from the apple juices, that’s ok.
However, if you see wet brownie batter on the toothpick, then you need to leave it in the oven for longer.
Because of the longer baking time, after about an hour, add some tinfoil on top of the tin. This will just stop the crumble topping from getting too dark.
Why do I have to leave the brownie in the fridge?
After the brownie has baked, you want to leave it to cool completely. Then put it into the fridge for at least 1 hour.
I know I’ve talked a lot about the apple juices in this blog post. I apologise. I don’t even really like apple juice that much, I would always choose orange.
Anyway, you need to give the brownie time to chill so that all the juices have time to set.
I just like to leave it in the fridge overnight, but 1 hour is good.
The reason why you want it to set, is so that you can cut the brownie into slices. If you take it out of the tin and cut it too early, just like most desserts, it will just fall apart.
HOWEVER, this is if you are slicing it. If you wanted to eat it the way you would eat an actual apple crumble. And by that I mean, by just scooping spoonfuls of it out of the tin. Then yes, you don’t really have to leave it to set in the fridge. So you could absolutely do this, I won’t judge.
Also side note, the reason why you need to let it cool first before putting it into the fridge is because the crumble on top can go soggy if you put it into the fridge whiles it’s warm!
Apple Crumble Brownies
Ingredients
- For the brownie:
140g unsalted butter
85g dark chocolate
3 eggs
120g granulated sugar
120g brown sugar
60g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
- For the apple filling:
450g apples, chopped and peeled (this was around 8 apples for me)
40g corn flour
50g brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- For the crumble:
150g plain flour
120g oats
100g brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
90g butter
Directions
- Making the brownie:
- Pre-heat your oven to 180c/350f. Also grease and line an 8 inch square cake tin.
- Add your butter and chocolate into a bowl and place this into your microwave. Heat until melted and smooth. Leave aside to cool down.
- In a large bowl, add the eggs and both sugars. Whip these together until they lighten in colour and almost double in volume.
- Whisk the melted butter and chocolate into this. Then add the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk just until you get a smooth batter.
- Pour this into your prepared tin, smooth the batter out, then leave this aside.
- Making the apple filling:
- Add your peeled and chopped apples into a bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients for the apple filling.
- Mix until the apples are fully coated with the other ingredients. Leave this aside too.
- Making the crumble:
- In a bowl, add the flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon. Mix these together.
- Melt your butter, then add this into the bowl too. Mix until you get a crumbly mixture.
- Putting everything together:
- Add the apple filling into the tin, on top of the brownie batter. There will be a lot of juice from the apples in the bowl, try not to add this into the tin. You only want to add the apple pieces.
- Now on top of the apples, add the crumble. Whiles sprinkling the crumble over the apples, I like to kind of squeeze it in my hands, just to get bigger clumps of crumble.
- Baking the brownie:
- Once everything is in the tin, you can now bake it.
- Bake for around 1 hour 20 minutes. It's done when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out mostly clean. The toothpick will have the juices form the apples on it, and crumbs of brownie on it, that is fine. But if you see wet brownie batter, it needs to be baked for longer.
- After 1 hour, I like to cover the top of the tin with some tin foil just so that the crumble doesn't brown too much
- Once baked, leave to cool completely. Then chill it in your fridge for at least an hour, the longer the better.
- Cut into it and then enjoy, they taste best warmed up a little!!
What exactly is corn flour? And can you do without it or have a substitute for it? Thank you
Author
You might know it as corn starch! If you wanted too you could substitute it with plain/all purpose flour
ash,, i made this last night and now (afternoon) they’re all gone lol literally disappeared into my family 🙂 they loved it sm! it’s not as sweet as i thought it might be (which is a good thing) and the measurements + instructions worked out perfectly ! next time i make it i’ll use green apples (didn’t have any this time around) and i bet it’ll taste even better 🙂 ty
Author
Ahh I’m so glad you and your family liked it!!