I know it’s basically the holiday season at this point and all but I still have to tell you this fabulous story about why I absolutely HAD to make this gluten-free vegan apple crisp on Halloween. We have some pretty amazing friends in our life right now and John and I LOVE getting together with them often to chat and laugh and eat delicious food. Well, two out of the six of our group are gluten-free eaters and another two of us are borderline vegan eaters (guilty as charged), but you just can’t go without apple crisp in the fall. You just can’t. Am I right? So I buckled down and did some research (and snagged some gluten-free flour from my friend Rebecca’s pantry) and came up with a delicious way to satisfy everyone’s appetites and dietary needs with one warm, sweet apple crispy dish.
Ta-da!
This apple crisp is about as simple and basic as they come, and though it’s vegan and gluten-free it’s just as delicious as any traditional version I’ve tried. Armed with non-dairy butter (Earth Balance, how I love thee), it’s totally dairy-free. And thanks to almond meal, gluten-free oats, and a gluten-free flour blend, it’s also void of the glutens. Good riddance, food allergies. Good riddance.
Wondering what it tastes like? Warm, sweet apples, plenty of warm spice from the cinnamon, and the crispy, crumbly oat topping is just the bee’s knees. Top it with some non-dairy ice cream (or dairy, if that’s your thang) and dig in. Fall has never been so darn delicious (or healthy), I’m convinced.
- 8 small-medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped (a variety of both sweet and tart - about 6 cups worth)
- dash lemon juice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- heaping 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- heaping 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend
- 1/2 cup gluten-free old fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1/3 cup (little more than 1/2 one stick) non-dairy butter melted, such as Earth Balance
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C) and lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish.
- Add apples to a large bowl or plastic bag and sprinkle with lemon juice. Toss to coat with granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt.
- Transfer to baking dish and set aside.
- Rinse and dry bowl and add brown sugar, flour, meal, oats, cinnamon, and salt and stir. Add melted butter and mix until it resembles wet sand.
- Sprinkle topping over the apples and bake until apples are soft and topping is golden brown (between 45 minutes to 1 hour).
- Let rest 10-15 minutes before serving. Is great with vanilla ice cream - caramel sauce is also a lovely addition.
roughly adapted from Barbara Bakes
Oh my gosh. That looks deadly. :)
Wow, this looks great! I love apple crumbles, gotta try this ASAP :)
If you are allergic to nuts, can this be made without almond meal? Do you have any suggestions for a substitute?
Yes! I would just suggest adding in more GF flour OR GF oats. Hope that helps!
I substituted ground flax seeds in place of the almond meal. Worked great!
I used coconut flour in replacement of tbe almond meal… was awesome! The only thing I would suggest is to cover the dish with aluminum foil for part of the time in ove as after about 35 kins in the oven, it burnt parts of the crust…otherwise amazing recipe! Will def re make soon!
Thanks! I have a bunch of coconut flour I want to use, and wondered if I could sub it!
I couldn’t get to my go-to GF apple crisp recipe so decided to find a new one. I think I over-mixed the topping so the texture could have been a bit better but the flavor was great and my husband (who I made it for) was very pleased with the results. (Oh, i didn’t have almond meal so used 1/8 cup more flour and 1/8 cup more oats and it worked fine. I would love to try it again with the almond meal though.)
Yum! Looks delicious and your pictures are beautiful!
Nothing short of a totally fantastic recipe; most GF folks have all of these ingredients on hand! I substituted arrowroot starch for the almond meal and added extra cinnamon, and everything turned out awesome.
I just made a peach blueberry crisp using this topping. Our gluten-free family liked it! I replaced the brown sugar with stevia (to make sugar-free) and had to quadruple the recipe to fit my 10×13 crisp pan. I don’t know but we like a lot more crisp to fruit ratio. Thanks for posting so we could have a fun dessert for our newly-minted gluten-free 8 year old!
Delicious! I doubled the topping because it was not enough to cover the fruit. I think next time I’ll cut the sugar by half. Thanks for inspiration.
Best apple crisp recipe I have EVER had. By far the best. Absolutely amazing, seriously. Thank you so much for shairing, vegan deserts are not always a success like this one!!! <3
I substituted a few items for similar ones I had in the pantry already. AMAZING! We had a family with 3 kids over (and they are not gluten/dairy free like we are). Kids asked for seconds! Thank you for the scrumptious fall dessert recipe!
Just made this recipe……………………..AWSOME! I did add some frozen blueberries.
I’ve been baking apple crisp for 35 years and recently had to look for a gluten-free recipe for my daughter who’s just begun a gluten-free diet. Hands down, this is the best apple crisp recipe I’ve ever eaten. I think the local fresh Macoun apples help….but I will NEVER go back! Thanks so much. It’s absolutely delicious!
Yay! So glad you liked it, Kathleen.
Great recipe. I may eat it all up in one sitting.
I made this recipe last night for a large family gathing. I used this instead of a family recipe since we now have quite a few gluten free and wheat free folks in the family. Couldnt find almond paste in the store, so I put a half cup of almonds in the coffee grinder ;-) Everyone really loved it. Oh and I tripled the recipe with no problems at all.
So glad to hear! Thanks for sharing, Ben!
We loved this! I added chopped toasted pecans and it was awesome. I was a little heavy-handed with the cinnamon and the almond meal and it was great. I also only put about 1TB of sugar in with the apples.
This was just what I have been craving! Thanks so much it was and is fantastic!
Thank you! I tried this recipe today and it turned out gorgeous. I accidentally used coconut flour instead of almond flour and that worked really well. I am definitely going to make this again.
Just made this, SO DELICIOUS!
cannot get enough!
Great recipe. I substituted gluten-free cornbread mix for the meal and flour, cut back on the sugar, and added nutmeg and cardamom. Yummy!
Lovely idea! Glad you enjoyed it, Joanna!
Thank you for posting this. Our apples are just days from being ready to pick. (*Just a side note if you want to make a truly vegan dish be careful of the sugar you select.
I made this for a BBQ tomorrow. Is it ok to leave out or does it need to go in the fridge?
Thanks.
I’d say it’s OK to leave out. But if you’d rather refrigerate it, you can do so and then just reheat the whole thing at 350 degrees until warm before serving. Hope that helps!
Everyone LOVED this!!! So easy too. I didn’t peel the apples.
I just made it and I loved it! I only added almond flour and oats as I didnt have the rest of the flours but it turned out very good. Next time I would add less sugar or use honey instead. Thank you!!!
What if you can’t have oats??? I am still allergic to the gluten free oats. Any suggestions?
Sub more almond meal and gluten free flour blend! + some raw pecans.
So good. So easy. Vegan and GF. Awesome. Of course I cooked it in a cast iron skillet.
Had my vegan gluten free friends over for dinner and this was a huge hit even for my meat and dairy loving husband! Like others, I doubled the topping because it’s our favorite part and added pumpkin pie spice because I love that flavor. Addicting!
I’m bringing the desert to a dinner party tomorrow and two of us are gluten free. Just got a big old bag of apples from the orchard and can’t wait to put them to good use! Thanks for the recipe :)
Could I substitute coconut oil for the Earth Balance in the topping?
Yes!
Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe! It turned out amazingly and my friends all loved it. I substituted more GF flour for almond meal as I couldn’t find it, and it worked very well.
This recipe is amazing! Thank you! My husband and I ate the whole thing in about 20 minutes (blush)!
Whoop! Thanks for sharing :D
Just made this last night – it was amazing!! Even better than regular (non-GF) apple crisp! Delicious – thank you!!
I just made a double recipe of this. I used my Vitamix dry blade to grind up the almonds into almond meal…that took 8 seconds! I agree that you should make almost double the topping mix, though, in order to cover all the apples. I used quite a bit more cinnamon and more lemon juice, too. Awesome recipe, yum!!
This was delicious! I live overseas and can’t get my hands on vegan butter of any sort… Tried making it with canola oil and it was tasty but too greasy, but a redo with a combo of ground flaxseed and about 2 Tbsp of oil, plus enough water to hold it all together, was perfect. The crisp ended up crisp-chewy in a really delightful way and it tasted so great we devoured it all before it even had the chance to cool completely! Thank you!
Made this tonight for company-with coconut vanilla cream. Was a MAJOR hit! Thank you.
Lovely! Glad you all enjoyed it, Nora!
This recipe looks promising. Can you suggest adjustments I might make if I choose to use raw agave instead of sugar? The photos are beautiful, too. Thanks.
That should work!
Can I freeze this dessert?
I made this for a dinner party last week and my guests and I were amazed at how tasty it was, especially as it’s vegan AND gluten free. It’s every bit as good as a ‘normal’ one.
I’m also obsessed with your summer corn soup. I went vegan 4 months ago and this blog has been a great resource for delicious recipes that don’t have overwhelming ingredient lists. Thank you!
This recipe is fantastic! I made it for Thanksgiving yesterday and got rave reviews. I added cranberries, 2 TBS of orange juice and orange zest. I also doubled the topping which was perfect for a 8×11 pan.
Thank you so much, I can’t wait to make it again!
Thank you for this great recipe! I made this crisp yesterday for Thanksgiving and couldn’t have been more pleased. I was especially impressed that it stayed crispy (because by the time we got around to dessert it was pretty late and I was totally mentally prepared to be serving apple oatmeal). I’ve been enjoying left-overs microwaved, with almond milk ice cream. :)
The dinner rolls look amazing, I’ve been vegeterian most of my life, vegan for a few years, also have to be gluten free. GF, vegan bread of any kind is just nasty, at least that is my experience. Will the rolls look that good and taste good if GF flour is used cup for cup?
Thanks,
Linda
This looks amazing! I would love to make this for a dinner party that I’m throwing! Do you think I could substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar?
I used coconut sugar and it was great. I cut the amount of sugar in half; we don’t like anything too sweet. I also tripled the crumb recipe… It’s the best part ?
what sugar did you use to coat the apples in? i’m thinking of using coconut sugar for the crumble but not sure what ‘healthier’ sugar substitute i could use for the coating of the apples?
Coconut sugar would work!
This recipe is delicious and it was hard for me not to eat the whole batch in one sitting! Thanks for sharing.
ha! That’s when you know it’s a winner! Thanks for sharing, Seth!
This was THE BEST apple crisp I’ve ever made. I made some slight alterations, based on what I had available in my house: instead of the 8 apples, I used 5 small apples (with peel left on) + 1/2 – 1 Cup frozen blueberries (natural, unsweetened), and instead of the lemon juice, I used pineapple juice. I also threw in about 1-2 tsp vanilla (so good!), and used some almond oat granola I had lying around for about half of the oats called for the in the crispy top. I was so surprised at how much fruit I ended up having, that I decided to double the topping! It turned out PERFECTLY, cooked for 45-50 minutes, and my non-veg housemates loved it, too. Thanks for a winner of a recipe! <3
what can I substitute the sugar AND brown sugar for? Could I substitute the brown sugar for coconut sugar and the sugar for honey? What would you suggest?
Winner recipe! Was a big hit with my guests who were fasting for Orthodox Easter. I doubled the topping, to cover the apples. Worked well subbing all-purpose flour and coconut oil in the crust. Just watch the oven since it did get a little black along the edges before 45mins (but it might have been the oven’s fault)
First recipe I’ve tried from this site after browsing through it for the past few weeks! I have to say I was worried when I mixed up the topping – I followed the recipe pretty much exactly (only subbing butter for the vegan fat) and the consistency of it was about that of wet muffin batter. Definitely not a consistency you can “sprinkle” like the directions say – so I added about 1/3 cup more oat flour and it was still not sprinklable at all. Also I only had 5 medium-ish apples and put the in a square 9×9 pan, and the batter was not enough to fully cover them. So yeah..I was not sure! But in the end it baked up pretty nicely into a sort of firm oatmeal cookie-like top, with enough topping for 5 apples. I’d definitely think about doubling the topping if I were using 8 apples like the recipe says.
Lastly – I left out the sugar that is supposed to be mixed in with the apples, and I found it plenty sweet!
Mind that the light brown sugar is often coloured with caramel sirup, which is a derivate from wheat. So then it is NOT glutenfree!!
I don’t use sugar either and Stevia doesn’t come in “Brown” :)
Use coconut sugar. It’s vegan and light brown in color.
I love the flavor of these cookies, but every time I make them, they crumble. Can’t make them stick together. Any idea what I may be doing wrong?
Great recipe! As others have said, highly recommend doubling the Topping. I also left the apple skins on and turned out fabulously.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Love this! I substituted coconut flour for the almond meal, and used a (sort of odd) mixture of brown sugar, maple syrup, and honey as well in the topping. Can’t wait to devour with some ice cream I brought home from work. :)
this is fantastic inspiration, though much like a few other reviewers, i found that i have to triple the amounts of crisp that the recipe calls for. nice for peaches as well. it’s a wonderful dish to share at home or bring to get-togethers with vegans & omnivores alike – this dish is even more proof that indulgence and responsible eating are not mutually exclusive!
Cannot wait to try this recipe out!!!
It looks amazing!
What do you recommend as a substitute for almond meal in this recipe? My daughter can’t do nuts.
More oats!
If you don’t need it to be gluten free can you just use the same amount of regular flour that the recipe calls for GF flour?
Yes!
Super yummy!! Left out the almond meal and added a little more GF flour. Everyone including the gluten lovers gobbled it up. I made it in an 8×8 dish and worried there wasn’t enough topping but there was plenty! This will be a go to recipe from now on!
This recipe is AMAZING! A great substitute for almond meal (if you can’t find it) is to throw raw almonds in a food processor. It’s great with soy ice cream and Vermont maple syrup.
The food blog world is interesting to me. It’s become as necessary to me as my gps. I don’t dare think about preparing a meal or dessert with out looking at my favorite food blogs. Yours and cookie and kate are my go-to blogs. I see you two refer to each other from time to time. I love that! This apple crisp recipe was truly amazing. I read commenters say it was their favorite and I was like, ‘C’mon, apple crisp recipes are all the same’ but this one truly was better than any other! I think the almond flour in the topping added a huge flavor boost. And we made your vanilla ice cream to go with it. And your coconut whipped cream. It is wonderful to have so many delicious dairy-free options as dairy-sensitive folk.
I searched your site for a salted caramel cupcake recipe and couldn’t find one, but I did find your funfetti cupcakes and your salted caramel truffles recipes, which I’m sure will be a huge hit. Thanks, Dana!
So kind! Thanks Lisa!
This is a delicious recipe!! Can you tell me how to make the topping crispy without using the quantity of margarine or butter asked for?
No almond meal? I just ground up some almonds in my blender.. worked perfectly!
I can’t find the size of the baking dish- please help- am cooking it right now!
Can I freeze this dessert both topping and apple filling?
while the crisp was excellent, triple the topping for extra Apple-y goodness! The more crumble the better!
In all reality prep time is a good half hour. I just prepared it and I’m sure it will be delicious. I increased to 10 apples (cortland) and increased the other ingredients accordingly and placed in a rectangular glass dish. Found Earth Balance at Wegmans & using for the first time. Also I I did use 1/2 t vanilla and 1/2 t fresh lemon juice in topping.
Absolutely delicious. I brought this to Thanksgiving and left with an empty pan. Everyone loved it. They didn’t realize it was gf and vegan. I did a mix of pink ladys and honey crisps. I also used coconut palm sugar in place of the regular and brown sugar. This recipe is a keeper. Will definitely make it again.
This was amazing!! We had it for dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner. It is going to be a family favorite from now on!! Thank you for sharing:):)
Thanks Anne Marie! Beautiful name, btw.
I made this without the flour or almond meal (because I was lacking in both and was too lazy to go out *blushes*) and still turned out amazing! I also squeezed some lemon juice over the whole thing and sprinkled it with a bit more cinnamon and some nutmeg before baking it. Absolutely delicious with peanut butter nice cream, too! Can’t wait to make it again with the flour and almond meal!
I have made this a dozen times and each time it comes out perfect!! I recommend this to everyone. Even fooled my no vegan friends who have requested the recipe. Perfect for all.
This is a fantastic idea!! I have all these apples on a tree outside. I’m going to make this this weekend. Persimmons too… I’ll have to figure out something for that. Thanks for the inspiration, looks delish!!!
this recipe sounds amazing! going to make it for my non vegan family for christmas day! just wondering what ‘healthier sugar substitute i could use instead of regular sugar? and would it still work? thanks
Absolutely one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever made! Thank you for sharing!
I can’t wait to make this, I have a ton of almond meal I need to use. What can I use in place of the cornstarch?
all purpose flour? Or gluten free flour.
Hi, do you have any thoughts on what I could substitute for almond flour? I LOVE this recipe and make it a lot but bringing it to a potluck and a friend has a nut allergy. Thanks!
I have made this 2 times. I made some changes, not because I believed it was needed but because of what I actually had laying around. Changes I made were to use 1 type of apple, tapioca flour, butter and sliced almonds. It is always eaten quickly and everyone likes it.
53 grams of sugar per serving?? Holy heck, no wonder it’s so popular, think of the endorphine overload! Looks delicious though.
Best apple crisp recipe ever! I made only minimal changes: cut back on the sugar a bit, used Fleishman’s Butter for a non-dairy person who prefers this butter, and thanks go previous comments, doubled the topping. Delicious!! Thank you for the recipe, Dana! I’m a new fan.
Thanks Shirley! Try this one next!
That sounds amazing! I will definitely give it a try, soon! Thank you, Dana ;).
Great recipe but always find it very disappointing when read gluten free oats. For people with Coeliac disease there is no such thing as gluten free oats.
From what I’ve researched personally, there is such thing as gluten free oats, it’s just that some people cannot tolerate oats. In any case, just leave out the oats and sub more GF flour and/or nuts.
This may be the yummiest thing I have ever eaten. I made a double batch for a potluck and people kept commenting on how delicious it was. I’m going to get more apples and make another one just for us! YUM!
This recipe is very good but way too sweet for us. Maybe it depends on the type of apples you’re using. I used half granny Smith and half Jonagold.
If I make it again I will decrease the sugar by half.
I made this yesterday for 4 people and it was soooooooooooo good. I made a few modificatios in terms of the toppings as I like more toppings on these type of desserts. I actually used double the ingredients and then added half again!
Super nice.
Sensational! I also doubled the topping ingredients and it was the perfect mixture of crispy and soft. So glad I found this before Thanksgiving. I think my in-laws will love it! Thanks.
I am not a cook by any means but tried this last night for some friends and everyone loved it! I only had a 10×10 baking dish which fit the apples fine but the topping looked too skimpy and didn’t fully cover the apples so I doubled the topping and it came out great! I couldn’t find almond meal so I used flax meal.
Yum, came out just right! Getting used to this no gliten thing and I didn’t have any gluten free flour so I replaced it with oat flour (by food processing a half cup of oats into flour consistency). Easy peasey!
I prefer not to use a butter substitute. Would coconut oil work?
That should work!
I would like to make this again for Thanksgiving but don’t have time to do the whole thing on Thanksgiving day. Can it be made a day or 2 before and then reheated or will the topping get mushy? What would you suggest?
Yeah! It will get a little more moist, but still delicious!
Would you suggest I make the filling part before and then the topping the day of?
Yes! Or at least leave it off until baking. Good luck, Diane!
Hello,
The recipe looks delicious! But I can’t have a butter. Can I substitute for ghee? Will is still come out crispy?
Hi! I have not tested it with ghee, but if you do, report back on how it goes!
I made the Apple Crisp last night with ghee and although it was not bad – it was not great either. The topping came out kind of hard and this morning its soggy. It did not stay crispy as some other reviewer suggested. But I have to admit that although the consistency is more of an oatmeal it still taste great.
Hi, I’m a bit intimidated by making the gluten free flour blend (and this would be the only recipe i use it for), trying to bake for a vegan friend. What could i simply use instead, could i use 1/4 cup of coconut flour for example in the flour blend’s place?
This was ah-mazing! I subbed peaches and used Swerve sweetener as I’m diabetic. I brought it to a potluck with friends and everyone raved about it! One friend asked how I got the brown sugar taste in it, I don’t know, must be the vegan butter and cinnamon. Great recipe!
As far as the streusel topping, instead of regular brown sugar would something work like date sugar or coconut sugar? I’m not a fan of refined sugar. I am just starting to use alternatives for the first time for health reasons and I haven’t really experimented with replacing real brown sugar in recipes with any other healthier sugars.
Hi Emily! Coconut sugar would work!
Hi! Can these be made into ramekins?
Hi Missy! That should work!