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It’s tough to beat apple crisp for a low effort dessert that’s pure comfort.

It’s a dessert that’s like my favorite well-worn hoodie. It’s not flashy or particularly stylish, but when there’s a chill in the air it’s the first thing I reach for.

Everyone should have an apple crisp recipe or two in their back pocket, ready to pull out when autumn arrives.

This one will do nicely.

I am forever playing around with crisp and crumble toppings (there’s an oatmeal cookie-like topping on this strawberry rhubarb crisp, a hearty sprinkle of walnuts and cardamom in this raspberry plum crisp, orange and vanilla notes in this rhubarb crumble), but the topping on this apple crisp is an especially good one.

There’s flour and brown sugar and pecans—and no oats in sight. Not that there’s anything wrong with oats, but sometimes I think a simple streusel-like, big crumb texture is nice to have.

There’s a stick of melted butter, which you can brown if you like to play up the toasty, nutty flavors going on.

And then there’s a lovely mix of warm baking spices. There’s the expected cinnamon, of course, but there’s also a nice bit of ground ginger which plays nicely with the apples. And then in the background there’s a hint of cardamom and a whisper of coriander which take us somewhere into chai flavor territory.

It’s a blend of flavors that just works.

But the great thing about a crisp topping is that there’s hardly any work involved.

It’s just a dump-and-stir kind of process that doesn’t require any advanced knowledge.

And unlike the kind of baking that requires precision for, say rising appropriately or having structural integrity, making a crisp is more like cooking. You can taste and throw in a bit of a different spice, adjust the sugar, swap in a gluten free flour, skip the nuts and it will all still pretty much work.

The topping just has to bring in some complementary flavors and textures here. So feel free to play.

It’s good to make the topping to let it the flavors meld before you start on the apples.

As for the apples, any baking apples work well. I used Haralson apples here, but there are so many great baking apples out there that you should use whatever you like.

Granny Smith, Braeburn, and Mutsu apples are widely available apple options that would all work well in this crisp.

The apples get sliced—thin enough to get soft but thick enough to hold their shape—and tossed with lemon juice and a bit of brown sugar.

Then they go into a baking dish where they get sprinkled with big clumps of crisp topping.

Then the whole thing goes into the oven where the apples slump, the topping turns golden brown, and the whole kitchen smells amazing.

Then you need to let it cool enough that you can dish it out and top it with a scoop of ice cream (or not).

And then if you have any left you can eat it for breakfast tomorrow, which is honestly my favorite way to eat it.