This Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Crisp (Apple Crumble) is made with tender, subtly spiced, caramel-flavoured apples and a chewy, crispy, nutty crumble topping. It’s also refined sugar free and is the best comforting dessert that can be enjoyed hot or cold.
You can use any type of apples you like. For best results, I recommend a crisp, slightly tart apple, or even a mixture of sweet and tart apples.
Cooking apples can be used too, but generally require a longer cooking time and require more sweetener.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down for the full recipe.
- Place the apples, coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a pan.
- Leave to cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes until soft.
Tip: Cooking time will depend on the type of apples you use – some varieties will require a shorter cooking time and others will require a longer cooking time. I’d recommend checking at 10-minute intervals and cooking until apple pieces are tender enough to gently pierce with a fork.
- Place the cooked apple mixture in a baking dish – I used one measuring 26 cm (10 inch) by 18 cm (7 inch) and 7 cm (2 ½ inch) tall.
- Mix together the ingredients for the crumble topping in a glass mixing bowl.
- Use your fingers to crumble the topping over the top until it is all used up and the apples are completely covered.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- The ground almonds (almond meal) can be replaced with ground walnuts.
- You can replace the gluten-free flour with rice flour.
- You can replace the gluten-free flour with plain flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds.
- You can use normal sugar or some other sweetener (like maple syrup) instead of the coconut sugar, but if using a liquid sweetener I’d recommend adding 1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch) to the uncooked apple mixture to make sure the apples aren’t too watery. Make sure to mix the cornflour into the apples completely to make sure the cornflour doesn’t clump up.
Flavour alternatives
- If you’re not into apples, you can use any type of fruit: pears, peaches, plums etc.
- You can top it with any type of chopped nuts before baking: pecan nuts, walnuts, pistachios, desiccated coconut, flaked coconut etc.
- For a different crumble topping recipe, try the one in my Blueberry Crisp recipe instead!
Serving suggestions
You can enjoy this Apple Crisp hot or cold. It tastes great with custard, ice cream or plant-based yogurt.
How long does this Apple Crisp keep for?
This Apple Crisp keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More gluten-free vegan apple dessert recipes
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Crisp (Apple Crumble)
Ingredients
For the apples:
- 900 g (32 oz) apples , cored, peeled finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 120 g (¾ cup) coconut sugar * (or sub any other sweetener – see recipe notes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the topping:
- 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil (or sub vegetable or olive oil)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other liquid sweetener)
- 75 g (⅔ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 75 g (⅔ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain all-purpose flour if not gluten-free)
- 25 g (¼ cup) rolled oats (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
For the apples:
- Place the apples, coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a pan with a lid.
- Leave to cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes*** until softened.
- Taste and add extra coconut sugar if necessary.
For the topping:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
- Add the maple syrup, ground almonds, gluten-free flour, oats and cinnamon and mix well – add a splash of any plant-based milk if it’s looking too dry to combine.
To assemble:
- Place the cooked apple mixture in a baking dish – I used one measuring 26 cm (10 inch) by 18 cm (7 inch) and 7 cm (2 ½ inch) tall.
- Use your fingers to crumble the topping over the top until it is all used up and the apples are completely covered.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.
- Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
- You can top it with any type of chopped nuts before baking: pecan nuts, walnuts, pistachios, desiccated coconut, flaked coconut etc.
- For a different crumble topping recipe, try the one in my Blueberry Crisp recipe instead!
- You can use any type of apples you like. For best results, I recommend a crisp, slightly tart apple, or even a mixture of sweet and tart apples.
- Cooking apples can be used too, but generally require a longer cooking time and require more coconut sugar (or other sweetener).
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of the products, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Natalie
Just made this recipe and it was delicious. Thank you very much!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Shelley Sprague
Do you hVe any substitute for the oatmeal?+
Rhian Williams
Quinoa flakes. Or you can omit it!
Julie Harkey
This is SOOOOOO good!!! I’ve made it several times for vegans and non-vegans and everyone loves it. So far I’ve tried the recipe with apples, peaches, and plums. You cannot go wrong with anyone of these fruits and this recipe.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!