Easy Crockpot Apple Cobbler Recipe

A while back, one of my favorite Instagram friends posted a 3 ingredient crockpot peach cobbler recipe.  It was divine!  I’m not sure which was more fantastic, the taste or the simplicity of this recipe.  I tried it with pineapple too.  The pineapple was super sweet.  I need to try that one again with minor adjustments to reduce the sweet factor.  When my friend Juliet of A Loverly Life decided to host a blog hop called Apple Picking, my mind immediately wandered to that simple cobbler recipe.  Why not try it with apples?  What could be better than an easy crockpot apple cobbler recipe?

So I headed to Pinterest and checked out a few recipes.  Many recipes use canned apple pie filling.  But I wanted to use fresh apples.  I mean, we want a truly authentic fall feel, right?  So here is my first try a Easy Crockpot Apple Cobbler!

Getting Started

The recipe card with ingredients is at the end of the post.  I’ve always loved delicious red apples.  My kids are granny smith fans.  I’ve had gala and fuji and apparently there are countless more varieties of apples.  Growing up in Philadelphia in the 70’s and being the daughter of a Depression Era born fiercely Irish father (Pop) with 7 sibilings, we ate plain old traditional red apples. 

Did the Acme in Roxborough even carry Granny Smith, Gala or Fuji back then?  What would have been the response in the produce aisle if Mrs. Boyce (fiercely Italian) had spotted a Cotton Candy apple??  Our only spices on our eye roast, chicken, pork chops or ham was salt, pepper, and the occasional Shake-N-Bake.  The only Chinese food Pop would eat was Chicken Chow Mein.  Mom loved eggrolls but I never saw Pop touch one.  I never had Mexican food until the Taco Bell opened (sorry Andrea).  My Dad had his first breakfast burrito circa 2018.  It was quite memorable.  

So Many Apples!

Where was I?  Oh, so of course, in the produce aisle I grabbed red apples.  But none of the recipes that I had viewed called specifically for Delicious Red apples.  Of course I grabbed 5 Delicious Red because I am nothing if not a woman of tradition.  Then I grabbed a bag of Fuji as they were very small.  And of course 5 Gala apples were loaded into my cart.  Why not experiment?  All of the apples! I remembered buying a Pampered Chef Apple slicer years ago.  It was probably when we first moved to Alabama.  I remember using it once and thinking…that’s too much work.  Guess what?  I found it in the coat closet which is where I put it almost 20 years ago!  This time, I absolutely love it!  

Step by Step

I took 1 tablespoon from my stick of butter and put it into the crockpot to melt while I prepped the apples.

Wash, peel and slice the apples.  This gadget does both at the same time.  Now I remember why I wanted one!  I sat the apples in a bowl of warm water after peeling so that they would not brown.  I don’t know if it matters if your apples are brown but it creeps me out so into the bath they went.   Add the apples along with the water (about 1.5 cups) into the crock pot and then all of the other ingredients except the cake mix and stick of butter, stirring to mix everything together.   Make certain the crockpot is on low and sprinkle the cake mix on top of the apple mixture and lay the stick of butter on top.  Replace the lid and walked away for 90 minutes.  After 90 minutes, remove the lid and gently mix only the cake mix and butter that are sitting on top of the apples.  Set the timer for another 90 minutes.  At this point my masterpiece seemed ready, though the cake on top was little gooey. 

Give a Girl Some Tips

When I added the apples from the water bath, I dumped the water (approx. 1 cup) in as well.  In retrospect, I believe the slow cooking creates it’s own moisture.  Next time perhaps I will omit the water and uses a white cake mix.  This batch almost looked over-cooked.  But maybe that was because of the brown Coconut Palm sugar?  I do feel like dark sugar will take over all of the colors.  But who knows?  Seriously…give me some tips as I’m new at investigative baking.  Why is it wet?  How to fix this or that?  What would happen if…? My husband loves gooey home-cooking, so he was thrilled with this dish.  I will be trying this again but will alter some steps to attempt to make that cake on top a little more visibly pleasing.

A Great Baking Tip

Here’s a great tip for you if you are going to do any baking or experimental cooking…limit your tasks to a time when your taste and smell are in prime condition!  I had Covid back in January.  It was very mild, thankfully.  But I still haven’t completely regained my senses of taste or smell.  It’s really strange.  Some days I can smell and taste a good bit.  Sometime nada.  I can usually taste sweet.  But not always.  So why not test a few recipes???  Because that totally makes perfect sense???!!!  Join a blog hop to bake apple recipes!  The funny part is that I still proceed through my days and tasks like it isn’t an issue.  I buy the Coconut Palm Sugar to try to lower the carbs in a recipe and am knee deep in the project before the light bulb goes on…Will I be able to taste this?? 

Well, while I couldn’t enjoy the sweet aroma of the baking apples, I could smell them slightly.  And although I could not get a true taste of the coconut palm sugar, I could tell that it was sweet but not overly sweet.  I call that a win.  And, Mr. Blu loved it so BOOM! 

Seems I have a few more test runs to make.  I think I will wait until my taste and smell are completely restored.  I am rather impatient though…so who knows! 

Check out all of the apple recipes and crafts below as part of the Apple Picking Blog Hop!  If you have similar posts, feel free to add them to the Inlinkz collection at the end.  Here are the posts from my wonderfully, creative and talented friends…

Happy Apple Picking!