I can’t think of a better dessert than this perfectly sweet apple crisp made from heaps of delicious local apples … easily adapted to be vegan to boot!
I make apple crisp ALL the time, but for some reason I’ve never posted my recipe! Apparently the same goes for my biscuits (my cousin Jillian forwarded a bunch of people to the blog for the recipe but silly me I haven’t ever posted it… I’m on it!). Truth be told my apple crisp recipe has really evolved over the years. The original version that was passed down to me was super sweet and had a thick layer of oat mixture on top. And while nobody was complaining, I figured I would switch it up a bit and overhaul one of our all-time classic fall desserts to make it more up my alley.
I doubled the apples to yield a dietitian-approved apple:oat mixture ratio and cut out the gluten, using oat flour instead. I have NOTHING against gluten personally, and don’t make it a routine to cut it out of my diet as I have no problems tolerating it, but I really like the nutritional profile of oat flour (high in soluble fibre, just like the apples) and love the fact that when my aunt Mary or my cousins Steph or Sam pop by for tea (not nearly often enough, love those ladies!), that they too can enjoy it since they have Celiac disease. Whenever you make something for a person who truly can’t tolerate gluten be sure to use ingredients that are labelled “certified gluten free“.
Soluble fibre is the type of fibre that acts like a sponge in your gut, helping with gut motility (you need to make sure you have lots of water in your diet for this to work properly, which I recommend anyway), helps reduce LDL cholesterol and nourishes your healthy gut bacteria. The old fashioned oats are less processed than quick oats if you’re ever staring at the oats in the cereal aisle scratching your head: they are my first choice along with steel cut oats (also a good choice, just not for this recipe). Apples are also a great source of soluble fibre!
This apple crisp is so so easy to make, is perfectly balanced and almost healthy enough for breakfast (you could cut the sugar back even more if you wanted to… I would try 1/3 or 1/2 cup if you want to make it suitable for breakfast, it still needs a bit of sweetness). Use vegan butter to make it vegan of course!
Happy baking my friends!
xo
Tori
Apple Crisp (Gluten Free & Vegan Option)
This apple-heavy and not-too-sweet no-fail version of apple crisp also happens to be gluten free and vegan-izable. Perfect for those fall cozy days when the apple buckets are over-flowing!
Ingredients
- 10 cups 1/2" diced peeled apples* (about a dozen apples)
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (gluten free)
- 3/4 cup oat flour (gluten free)
- 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup melted butter or vegan butter
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish. Place the apples in a large bowl.
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In a large bowl, combine the oats, oat flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix to combine. Stir in the melted butter or vegan butter to combine.
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Stir 1/2 cup of the oat mixture into the apples and stir to combine. Transfer the apples to the baking dish and spread evenly with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the oat mixture evenly over the apples.
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Bake until the top is golden brown, around 1 hour. Serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla 'nice cream' or ice cream.
Recipe Notes
*gala or spartan apples work well here
Tori – I went to a dinner party where one of the guests had celiac disease so I made this dessert and it was AMAZING. Everyone loved it. A keeper recipe!
Amazing!!! Thanks for the feedback Wendy! So nice to hear from you! xx
Hi Tori, I’m just wondering if there’s a vegan butter you would recommend? I just found out I need to be dairy free, and I know nothing about vegan options…I live in Victoria, so preferably something I could buy from a store here. Thank you 🙂
Hi Ashley! I like the Earth Balance for one that resembles the texture of butter and Becel makes a good spread-able one!
Hi Tori, do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Hi Tanya I usually use salted even though the gold standard is unsalted!
Soooo delicious!! Made the vegan / gf version tonight and it was absolutely DELIGHTFUL!! Thanks Tori!
Thanks Kristen!!
Made this last night and turned out beautifully! Thank you for sharing all these lovely recipes. I’ve been using all your apple ones to use up all the apples from our tree. Delicious!
Hi Tori,
I am planning to make this recipe for Christmas eve and was wondering if it could be made ahead of time? I don’t want to take away from enjoying the party and was hoping I could do all the prep beforehand, then all I have to do is bake it when it’s time for desert. I’m not sure how this will hold up or how I would do it, avoiding the apples to brown.Any suggestions?
Hi Sara,
I find it’s best when made just before serving but it should be ok if you make it a couple hours before guests arrive (and bake when ready to eat)
Hi Tori,
Is there another alternative to oat flour such a regular all purpose or whole wheat flour?
Hi Mary,
Yes you can use regular flour or whole wheat flour no problem!
All the Best,
Tori
I grind the oats to make oat flour. We love crisps of all kinds.
Brilliant!
Is there an alternative to brown sugar?
Hi Vanessa you can use coconut sugar if you wish – I think maple syrup would work too but I haven’t tried with this specific recipe!
Hi Tori, we live in Europe and ingredients here are sometimes differently named. Is the brown sugar used in this recipe the kind of moist brown stuff or looks like regular white sugar but is brown (like cane sugar)?
If it is the moist sugar, can it be replaced by that “dry” regular white sugar or cane sugar?
Thanks for your help! I love to follow your posts and cooking, they make me smile 🙂
Hi Laura, yes it is the moist brown variety. You can replace it with regular sugar if needed! Warmest wishes and thanks for the note and for following along!
Tori
Hi Tori
Looking to make this recipe and want to use up some frozen apples that I have … would the frozen apples work and would I need to thaw them first?