Desserts · Air fryer adaptation

Jamie Oliver Christmas Apple Crumble (Air Fryer)

Jamie's got a cheeky shortcut that'll save your Christmas: a jar of cranberry sauce does the heavy lifting, bringing both fruit and festive flavour in one go. Eating apples and pears keep their shape, clementine zest brightens everything up, and a crumbled mince pie stirred into the topping is the kind of hack that makes you wonder why you didn't think of it first.

R By Richard · Adapted from Jamie Oliver · Published 10 June 2026
👁 629.5k source views ❤️ 13.2k source likes
⏱Prep 20 min
🌡Temp 170°C
⏲Air fry 20 min
🍽Serves 6
Christmas Apple Crumble | Jamie Oliver

Source video by Jamie Oliver on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Jamie Oliver's Christmas crumble uses a mix of eating apples and pears softened with cranberry sauce, clementine zest and juice, and a splash of sherry. The topping is a classic butter, flour, almond and sugar rub finished with crumbled mince pies for a proper festive flavour. Originally baked at 190°C in the oven, this version is adapted for the air fryer so you get the same golden, sticky top with a fraction of the cooking time. Serve hot with custard, ice cream, or both.

Air fryer notes: Source recipe baked at 190°C for 30 minutes in a conventional oven. Adapted to 170°C for around 20 minutes in the air fryer because air fryers run hotter and the fan circulates heat more aggressively, so the topping browns faster. The fruit is also pre-cooked on the hob for 10 minutes as per the source, so the air fryer stage is really about crisping the topping and warming through. Use a heatproof dish that fits your basket; you may need to make one smaller crumble rather than two large ones depending on your air fryer size.

Ingredients

Fruit filling
  • 750 geating apples, mixed varieties, cored and chopped
  • 750 gpears, cored and chopped
  • 100 gcranberry sauce
  • 1 wholeclementine, fine zest and juice
  • 1 tbspsherry
  • nutmeg, freshly grated
  • ground cinnamon
Crumble topping
  • 100 gplain flour
  • 50 gunsalted butter, cold, cubed
  • 50 gflaked almonds
  • 50 gsugar
  • 2 wholemince pies, crumbled by hand (add late)
To serve
  • custard (add late)
  • vanilla ice cream (add late)

Method

  1. Core and chop the apples and pears into bite-sized chunks. Use eating apples, not cooking apples, and mix the varieties for colour and flavour.

    ~10 min

  2. Put the apples and pears into a large pan with the cranberry sauce, the fine zest and juice of the clementine, the sherry, and a little grated nutmeg or pinch of cinnamon if using. Mix together, cover with a lid and cook gently on the hob for about 10 minutes until just tender.

    ~10 min

  3. Meanwhile, make the topping. Rub the cold butter into the plain flour with your fingertips until it looks like rough breadcrumbs. Stir in the flaked almonds and sugar.

    ~5 min

  4. Crumble the mince pies into the topping mixture with your hands and toss through. The colour and texture will change as the mincemeat works in.

    ~2 min

  5. Spoon the cooked fruit into an air-fryer-safe baking dish that fits your basket. If you have more fruit than dish, freeze the second batch for another day.

    ~2 min

  6. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit, concentrating most of it in the middle and leaving the edges a little lighter so the fruit can bubble through.

    ~2 min

  7. Preheat the air fryer to 170°C. Place the crumble inside and cook for 18-22 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling at the edges.

    ~20 min

  8. Rest for a couple of minutes, then serve hot with custard, ice cream, or both.

    ~2 min

Frequently asked

Can I use cooking apples instead of eating apples?
Jamie specifically uses eating apples because they hold their shape and don't need extra sugar. Cooking apples will collapse into a pulp and need more sweetening. Stick with a mix of eating apple varieties for the best texture.
Do I need to preheat my air fryer?
Yes, give it 2-3 minutes at 170°C. A preheated basket helps the topping crisp up from the moment the crumble goes in rather than slowly drying out.
What dish should I use in the air fryer?
Any heatproof ceramic, glass or metal dish that fits inside your basket with at least 2cm clearance on the sides for air circulation. A small lasagne-style dish or a round cake tin both work well.
Can I freeze the crumble?
Yes. Jamie makes two at a time and freezes one. Assemble the crumble fully (fruit plus topping), wrap well and freeze. Cook from frozen in the air fryer at 160°C for around 30-35 minutes, covering with foil if the top browns before the middle is hot.
Can I make this without the mince pies?
Yes, the crumble still works as a classic apple and pear crumble. The mince pies are the festive twist that adds extra spice, dried fruit and a richer colour to the topping.
Extraction notes (transparency): Source is an oven recipe (190°C, 30 min) adapted to air fryer. Quantities of nutmeg, cinnamon and sherry not specified in transcript (described as 'a little', 'a tiny pinch', 'a nice little lug'); marked as optional with approximate amounts. Number of mince pies given as a range (1-3) per source. Serving size inferred from 1.5kg fruit yielding two crumbles; defaulted to 6 per crumble. Air fryer suitability good for a single dish but check your basket size. | Second-pass critique flagged 11 fabricated and 1 quantified issues. See critique.issues for detail.