My Gluten Free Apple Crumble without oats is the perfect, easy to make dessert for when you’re hosting a last minute get together with friends or family (because we don’t always have time to make apple pie). Or on any old night when the craving for something warm, crisp, soft, saucy and sweet hits you.
Made using almond flour, this apple crumble recipe (apple crisp recipe for my American friends) has all the flavour of a traditional apple crumble, without the gluten!
As the apples cook in the oven, the juices from the apples mix with the rapadura sugar and corn flour to make a caramel sauce. With the hot saucy cinnamon apples and crisp crumble topping, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this is hands down my favourite dessert of all time. Simple to make, delicious to eat and the best dessert for this apple season.
If you, like me, also love apple crumble then you might also like to try my granola stuffed baked apples. Or if you want to go out and serve two desserts then how about making my Gluten Free, Vegan Chocolate Tart?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you’re a fan of apple desserts then you are going to love this recipe. Here’s why:
- made using wholefood ingredients, this is a healthy apple crisp recipe.
- this easy recipe is gluten free with the option to make it dairy free also.
- healthy enough to eat for breakfast!
- you can’t go wrong with tender apple filling topped with a buttery crumble!
Ingredients Notes and Substitutions
This gluten-free apple crumble is easily made using a few fridge and pantry staples. You will need the following simple ingredients:
Topping ingredients:
- almond flour – also known as almond meal.
- rice flour – I have used white rice flour but you could also use brown rice flour.
- tapioca starch – this can be swapped for arrowroot starch or corn starch. Alternatively you can swap both the rice flour and tapioca for a gluten free flour blend.
- butter – this can be swapped for vegan butter to make a dairy free, vegan apple crumble. You could experiment with using coconut oil, however I haven’t tried this myself so can’t guarantee that it would work.
- rapadura sugar – brown sugar or coconut sugar can be used instead.
- ground cinnamon – if you don’t have ground cinnamon on hand you could also use mixed spice.
Apple filling ingredients:
- tart apples – the best apples to use in my opinion are granny smith apples which are a green apple with a tart flavour. Other apple varieties you could also use honeycrisp apples or pink lady. I like to dice the apples but you could also use thinly sliced apples if preferred.
- lemon juice – just a squeeze for a hint of lemony flavour. Lemon juice will stop the apples browning also.
- ground cinnamon – again, you can use mixed spice here in a pinch.
- rapadura sugar – again, brown sugar or coconut sugar can be used instead. You could also swap for pure maple syrup.
- corn starch – you can also use tapioca starch or arrowroot. You can omit this ingredient all-together if you like, it just means that the sauce wont thicken.
See ingredient quantities on the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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How to Make Gluten Free Apple Crumble
Making this gluten free apple crisp is so simple and requires very little effort. Here’s how.
Step 1: Make the crumble topping. Add the almond flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, cold butter, rapadura sugar and ground cinnamon to the drum of a food processor. Place the lid on and pulse until just combined and the mixture has a crumble like texture. Place the crumble mixture into the fridge to cool while creating the apple filling. Cooling the crumble mixture make it a lot easier to crumble over the apples.
Step 2: Make the apple mixture. Add the diced apples to a large bowl and coat with lemon juice. Add the cinnamon, rapadura sugar and corn starch and stir with a large spoon until the apples are evenly coated.
Step 3: Assemble the apple crumble. Pour the cinnamon apples into a prepared baking dish. I like to spread them out evenly with a spoon. Take the crumble mixture out of the fridge and use fingers to crumble across the top of the apples.
Step 4: Bake. Place a sheet of aluminium foil over the top of the crumble. This is so that the crumble topping doesn’t get burnt or overcooked. Bake the crumble, covered, for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.
Cooking Tips
- use cold butter to make the crumble topping. If you use room temperature of warm butter then your crumble mixture will just turn to mush, not ideal!
- refrigerate the crumble mixture while creating the apple mixture makes the mixture much easier to crumble.
- crumble the topping in an even layer over the apples so you can a little crisp with each bite!
- baking in an fan forced oven may require a reduced baking time, just keep an eye on it if this is the case!
Health Tips
- keep the skins on the apples instead of pealing them to increase pectin, which is an amazing soluble fibre that promotes good gut health.
- Swap the butter for ghee if lactose intolerant.
- If intolerant or allergic to cows milk protein, swap for a vegan butter.
Storage
You can absolutely store this apple crisp, covered in the fridge in the baking dish for up to 4 days. Or if you would like to freeze it, divide up between into individual servings in seperate airtight containers. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Gluten Free Apple Crumble Without Oats
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Chopping Board
- Large pie dish or other baking dish
- Mixing Spoon
- Aluminium foil
Ingredients
Topping
- 1 ½ cups almond flour, 160 grams
- 1/4 cup rice flour, 45 grams
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch , 30 grams
- ½ cup rapadura sugar, or brown sugar, 140 grams
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 6 grams
- 70 grams butter
Filling
- 6 large granny smith apples, peeled, cores removed and diced (approx. 1.1kg)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 6 grams
- 1 tablespoon corn flour , or tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoons rapadura sugar
To serve
- Vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- To a food processor add the almond flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Pulse to combine until a crumble like texture is formed. Don’t over blend!1 ½ cups almond flour 160 grams, 1/4 cup rice flour 45 grams, 1/4 cup tapioca starch 30 grams, ½ cup rapadura sugar or brown sugar, 140 grams, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 6 grams, 70 grams butter
- To a large bowl add the diced apples, cinnamon, corn flour and rapadura sugar. Stir with a spoon until the apples are evenly coated. Pour the apples into a large baking dish.6 large granny smith apples peeled, cores removed and diced (approx. 1.1kg), 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 6 grams, 1 tablespoon corn flour or tapioca starch, 2 tablespoons rapadura sugar
- Use fingers to crumble the crumble mixture over the top of the apples. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and continue to bake for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream.Vanilla ice cream
Notes
Storage
Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To freeze, divide into individual airtight containers and freeze for up to six months.Serving Suggestions
- dessert – serve with ice cream.
- breakfast – serve with a dollop of yoghurt and some fresh berries.
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