Healthy Eating

Vegan Apple Crisp | The Picky Eater

September 28, 2023

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Vegan apple crisp is made with sweet cinnamon apples, and then topped with a nutty oat crisp! It’s easy to make, naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, family-friendly, and makes the entire house smell amazing!

This gluten-free vegan apple crisp is gooey and sweet on the inside and the crisp topping is made with oats, sugar, nuts, and oil which creates a crunchy texture that’s irresistible. This vegan dessert is made with healthy ingredients and has only 5 grams of added sugar per serving! It’s one of my favorite feel-good vegan apple desserts.

While apple picking is a traditional fall activity, I love that you can enjoy apples all year round! I love making a vegan apple cobbler for a special occasion, during the holidays, or even in the summertime served with ice cream.

Between the warm apple compote and the delicious smells that fill my kitchen when it’s baking, this is a great recipe I find myself returning to again and again! It’s less work than a vegan apple pie, but packs in lots of cinnamon apple flavor!

👩🏽‍🍳 Why You’ll Love This Vegan Apple Crisp

Wholesome Ingredients: This dairy-free apple crisp recipe uses fresh apples, whole grains, coconut oil, and warm fall spices for a dessert that is free from artificial sweeteners and artificial flavors. This apple crisp has no butter and just a small amount of brown sugar, so one serving of this recipe is only 206 calories!
Perfect for Apple Season: When I have an abundance of sweet apples from a trip to the apple orchard, I love using them for a variety of recipes. This perfect Fall dessert is one of the best ways to use freshly picked apples, and you can use any type of apple.
Kid-Friendly: The whole family will love the comforting and classic flavors of this dessert. Apples are always a kid-favorite and parents will love that there’s less added sugar than in most baked apple treats.
Crustless: This recipe captures the taste of classic apple pie but without the pie crust! Crustless apple crisp is lower-calorie and easier to make than traditional apple pie.

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🥘 Ingredients

This easy vegan apple crumble recipe is made with simple ingredients. You probably have most of them in your pantry! For the full recipe and nutritional information, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Apple Filling Ingredients

Apples: I used a combination of Gala apples and Fuji apples, peeled and cut into ¼ – ½ inch cubes. Cutting the apples into a mix of small and larger pieces will add variety to the texture of this crisp. I like cubing the apples vs. cutting them into apple slices as I find that gives the filling a better texture.
Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds sweetness to the natural sweetness of the fruit in this vegan apple dessert, unpacked.
Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon adds a warm, comforting fall flavor to the apple mixture.
Nutmeg: The nutty, earthy taste of nutmeg is a fruit-crisp classic.
Cornstarch: A small amount of cornstarch thickens the apple mixture and prevents it from being soupy. Cornstarch is a great thickener for vegan baking.
Lemon Juice: The juice of one lemon adds the perfect citrus notes and prevents the apples from browning.
Salt: A pinch of salt brings out the sweetness in this easy vegan apple crisp recipe.

Vegan Crisp Topping Ingredients

Brown Sugar: Brown sugar has a sweet molasses flavor perfect for combining with apples, light brown or dark brown varieties work in this delicious dessert.
Rolled Oats: Gluten-free oats are the key to this vegan crumble topping! I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oats. You could use quick oats as well, since you’re grinding them up – they could also work in this vegan apple recipe.
Baking Powder: Helps the topping to have a bit of lift for a topping that is crisp but tender.
Vanilla Extract: For a warm and familiar flavor.
Chopped Pecans or Walnuts: Nuts add more texture and crispiness to the topping. I used a combination of chopped pecans and chopped walnuts for a nice mix of flavors.
Coconut Oil: Helps hold the topping together without butter, melted.

🍲 Ingredient Substitutions

Granny Smith Or Honeycrisp Apples: This healthy vegan apple crumble recipe would be delicious with Granny Smith apples or Honeycrisp apples, but can be made with any variety of apples. Tart apples with firm flesh are the best apples for baking.
Spices: Change up the cinnamon and nutmeg with pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cloves, cardamom, or ginger. Any combination of warm fall spices works!
Apple Juice: If you don’t have lemon juice, you can use apple juice instead.
Arrowroot Powder: Use arrowroot powder in place of the cornstarch. Arrowroot will thicken the apple mixture and is gluten-free.
Almonds or Hazelnuts: Use chopped almonds or hazelnuts for a different flavor and texture in the crisp topping.
Coconut Sugar: For a crisp that is refined sugar-free, use coconut sugar in place of brown sugar.
Vegan Butter: Substitute the coconut oil for melted vegan butter like Earth Balance.

🔪 How To Make Vegan Apple Crisp

You can make this apple dessert in just a few simple steps! Here’s how to make my vegan apple crisp:

Spray Baking Dish: Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and grease a 9×13 baking dish or casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Make Apple Filling: In a medium bowl, toss the apples with cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, salt, and cornstarch. Add one tablespoon of the sugar to the apples. Toss well to coat.

Blend Oats: Blend 1 ¼ cups of the oats in a food processor or high-speed blender until the oats resemble flour.

Make The Streusel Topping: Add the oat flour to a large bowl and mix with the remaining oats, brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract, nuts, and melted coconut oil.

oats and topping ingredients in a mixing bowl

Place Apples In Baking Dish: Dump the apple layer into the baking dish and spread it around evenly with a spatula.

Add Crumble Topping: Top the apple mixture with the oat crumble mix and evenly spread it over the apples.

topping added to apple crisp in a baking dish

Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until you have a golden brown crispy topping. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve this healthy vegan apple crisp warm with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream!

baked apple pie crisp in a casserole dish

💭 Expert Tips

Use oat flour if you don’t have a blender. If you don’t have a food processor or high-speed blender, you can use 1 cup of oat flour in place of the blended oats.
Coat the cut apples with lemon juice. Adding the lemon juice to the cut apples immediately will help keep them from browning as you prepare the other ingredients and topping.
Serve warm. This vegan gluten-free apple crisp is best served warm, so plan to make it just before serving or reheat it for a few minutes in the oven.
Melt coconut oil. Be sure to melt the coconut oil before combining it with the other crisp ingredients. Melted coconut oil will mix easily with the dry ingredients for a topping that is tender and crisp without butter.
Double the recipe during apple season. If you have lots of apples, make two or more crisps and freeze them for later. This vegan apple bake can be frozen before or after baking.

📖 Variations

Almond Apple Crumble: Use ½ cup of almond flour and reduce the rolled oats by ¼ cup, use almond extract in place of the vanilla extract, and use chopped almonds as the nuts.
Coconut Crumble: Instead of nuts, use unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut in the topping and replace the brown sugar with coconut sugar.
Pear Crisp: Swap out the apples for pears or use half apples and half pears for a mixed fruit crumble! The best pears to use for baking are Bosc, D’Anjou, Bartlett, Forelle, and Concorde pears.
Lower Calories: Make this vegan gluten free crumble lower in calories and skip the topping. The spices and warm apples will still taste like apple pie!

🍽 Serving Suggestions

Serve this delicious vegan dessert with homemade whipped cream or a scoop of vegan ice cream like this tofu ice cream or caramel nice cream. You can also serve this with vegan caramel sauce or a drizzle of chocolate sauce or melted nut butter. For a festive appearance, you can add candied nuts or a dusting of powdered sugar to the crisp.

I like serving this vegan gluten-free apple crumble in a small deep bowl with a glass of hot apple cider, spiced tea, or this oat milk hot chocolate. Leftover apple crisp is also delicious as a topping on coconut milk yogurt or a bowl of oatmeal!

🙌 Dietary Adaptations

Adapt my delicious apple crisp and make it nut-free, sugar-free, or come up with your own!

Nut-Free: For a nut-free apple crisp, omit the chopped walnuts and pecans.
Sugar-Free: For sugar-free vegan apple crisp, use 1 teaspoon of monk fruit sweetener in the apple filling and 2 teaspoons of monk fruit sweetener in the topping in place of the brown sugar.

🫙 Storage Directions

Storing: Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Reheat this vegan gluten-free crisp in a preheated oven at 350° Fahrenheit until the top is crisp and the apples are hot.
Freezing: Leftovers can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Cool the crisp completely and transfer to a freezer-safe container before freezing. Defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating. Unbaked apple crisp can be frozen for up to 2 months. Defrost in the freezer overnight and then bake according to instructions.

❓Recipe FAQs

Do you peel apples for apple crisp?

This all depends on personal preference. Apple skins don’t break down and bake completely, so it changes the texture of the crisp. If you want a creamier crisp, I recommend peeling the apples first, because the apples will cook down more. If you want a heartier dessert with a little more texture, leave the apple skin on or use a combination of peeled and unpeeled apples.

What is the difference between apple crisp and apple crumble?

Both are dishes with baked fresh fruit, with a streusel-like topping made from butter or oil, sugar, and some sort of grain. A crisp topping typically includes oats and is less dense, while a crumble will use flour, butter, sugar, and nuts, for a denser topping. This vegan apple dessert is sort of in between a crumble and a crisp because it uses both flour and oats.

How can I make my apple crisp crispy?

For the best apple crisp, but careful not to use too much fat and to bake the crisp at the right temperature. Excess fat from butter or oil will make the topping soggy. Be patient with the bake time, low and slow is the way to go here. Using a thickener such as cornstarch is also essential! The cornstarch acts both as a binder and absorbs some of the juice the apples release when they are cooked.

Is vegan apple crisp healthy?

It depends on how you make it! This healthy recipe for vegan apple crisp has about 200 calories and 5 grams of added sugar for a hefty portion. A typical serving of apple crisp or crumble has 250 to 350 calories, and upwards of 28 grams of sugar!

Here are some of the healthy swaps I made to lighten up this gluten-free dessert recipe but keep all of the decadence of the traditional version!

Whole Grains: This plant-based apple crisp uses rolled oats for the fruit crisp topping which are high in fiber, low-glycemic, and gluten-free.
Less Added Sugar: Fruit is already naturally sweet so there’s no need to add tons of sugar to the filling.
Healthy Fats: Walnuts and pecans in the crisp topping are both rich in antioxidants and healthy omega-3 fats.

Overhead shot of a plate of vegan apple crisp with a scoop of ice cream.

🍨 More Delicious Apple Dessert Recipes!

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