Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin tin to prevent your apple crisp cups from sticking after baking.

In a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Add the diced apples, 1/3 cup brown sugar, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and 3 tablespoons of water. Cook for 4-6 minutes until the apples begin to soften slightly. In a small dish, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water to form a slurry. Pour this mixture into the pan, stirring continuously. Continue to cook the apples until they’re tender and the filling has thickened, about 4-5 more minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, rolled oats, and 3/4 cup packed brown sugar. Cut in 12 tablespoons of softened butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. This will serve as both the crust and crumb topping. I like to use chilled butter for this to get a crispier texture in the crust.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the oat crumble mixture into each mini muffin cup. Press the mixture gently but firmly along the bottoms and sides to form a small cup shape. Reserve the remaining crumble mixture for topping.

Divide the cooked apple filling among the crust cups, placing about 1 tablespoon in each. For extra flavor and texture, you can also use canned apple pie filling in place of or in addition to your homemade filling. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the reserved oat crumble mixture over the top of each filled cup.

Bake the assembled cups in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then use a knife to gently loosen and pop them out of the muffin tin. I find they come out more easily if you run the knife all the way around the edge first.

Once the apple crisp cups have cooled and been removed from the tin, drizzle caramel topping over the top before serving. Enjoy!