Gluten Free Apple Crisp.

Here’s a recipe for warm, gooey, brown sugar oat topped flourless apple crisp. This gluten free dessert exceeded my expectations; it’s AMAZING. And simple.

Philadelphia readers: I will be signing cookbooks at Fante’s Kitchen Shop tomorrow, Saturday November 15th 11am-1pm. I would love to meet you! Bring your copy (there will be some sold there) and come say hi, shop, and eat. I’ll have treats. Thank you so much for your support!

I’ve built up a ton of self control around desserts. I’ve had to with this type of job. Otherwise I’d be the size of a blimp with a mouthful of cavities waddling around the kitchen. I can make a batch of cookies and bring them all but one to a friend. Savoring just that one cookie. I think this is a gift? My mom’s the same way.

Note: I am absolutely not like this when it comes to honey wheat pretzels, buffalo chicken dip, CHEESE, guacamole, and sweet potato fries.

However, things took a major turn when I tasted this gluten free apple crisp recipe. After the first bite of this cinnamon apple gooey goodness, all my self control flew out the window. One taste turned into 3 tastes, which turned into a small bowl, then a big bowl. I actually had to tell myself, out loud, to stop. By the way, this nonsense and talking to myself happened at 9:30 in the morning after I ate breakfast.

This recipe is blissfully good. And not just “really good for a gluten free recipe.” It’s just plain REALLY GOOD. I did not expect it to be this tasty! From the nutty brown sugar oat topping to the soft and gooey apples… oh, and the pomegranate! The pops of fresh pomegranate contrasting with the warm, soulful goodness underneath is perfection.

I decided to make this apple crisp completely gluten free. I don’t have a gluten sensitivity, but I know plenty of you are intolerant or are choosing to live a gluten free lifestyle. And I want to deliver something that we can ALL enjoy this holiday season. The good news is that there are no strange, weird, crazy, unpronounceable, costly gluten free ingredients in this recipe. It’s naturally gluten free, provided your oats are certified GF.

The filling is a mix of your favorite apples. Tart granny smith and a sweeter variety like pink lady, honeycrisp, braeburn, etc. You’ll need 4 large apples, peeled and chopped. I chopped some apple pieces larger than others. Varied shapes and sizes make the filling a little more interesting; I’m a texture freak. Shower the apples with some cornstarch, cinnamon, sugar, pure maple syrup, lemon juice, and some vanilla.

For the topping? Oh that’s easy. Oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and almond meal. For anyone not familiar with almond meal, don’t freak out. Almond meal is just ground almonds– ground almonds before reaching the stage of almond butter. Almond meal takes the place of flour in the topping. Please note that I do not typically recommend replacing flour with almond meal in my recipes, especially those calling for more than 1/4 cup flour.

Almond meal (also known as almond flour, if using blanched almonds and grinding a little more fine) is so easy to make at home; cheaper than buying pre-made almond meal or almond flour, trust me.  It’s best to start with sliced or slivered almonds since they are already finely cut. Pulse them in a food processor until the almonds are pulverized. To avoid the almonds grinding into an oily almond butter due to the processor’s heat, pulse them with with 2 Tablespoons oats. I’ll note that in the recipe below.

The almond meal will be a little gritty and that’s ok for this apple crisp recipe. If you prefer a finer consistency, you can sift the homemade almond meal a few times to rid any larger pieces of almond. I don’t find that necessary here.

{here is the food processor I own.}

Top the apples with your nutty, crumbly filling and bake. Um, that’s about it. I’m not kidding; this gluten free apple crisp is so simple. Once brown, bubbly, and smelling mind-boggling fantastic, the crisp is done. The soft, yet still a bit firm-ish apples will be swimming in sugared cinnamon goodness and the buttery almond oat topping will be nice and toasty. This dish has so much texture and flavor.

Top with lil’ pom arils (or not– those things are so expensive and I have no clue how to peel a pomegranate without going insane and/or getting red everywhere) and vanilla ice cream. The ice cream is not optional. Common, you know you love ice cream and apple crisp together. It gets all melty on top of the warm crisp. H-E-A-V-E-N.

PS: I do not consider this dessert “healthy.” While there is no flour, there is still sugar and butter. I have never tested this recipe with any alternatives to these two ingredients and do not have suggestions besides maybe coconut oil for the butter? I think that would be tasty.

Let me know if you try it! Time for serving #3. I really cannot stop eating this.

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

Yield: serves 6

Here's a recipe for warm, gooey, brown sugar oat topped flourless apple crisp. This gluten free dessert exceeded my expectations; it's AMAZING. And simple.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

Filling

• 4 large apples, peeled, cored, and chopped¹


• 2 teaspoons lemon juice


• 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar


• 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup²


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping

• 1/3 cup (65g) packed light or dark brown sugar


• 3/4 cup (65g) old-fashioned rolled oats (certified GF)


• 1/2 cup (50g) almond meal³


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/8 teaspoon salt


• 1/3 cup (40g)unsalted butter, melted


• optional: 2 Tablespoons sliced or slivered almonds


• optional: vanilla ice cream (GF)


• optional: pomegranate arils

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.


2. In a large bowl, toss all of the filling ingredients together. Make sure the apples are evenly coated. Spoon into a 9-inch pie dish, cake pan, or square baking pan. Set aside.


3. For the topping, whisk the brown sugar, oats, and almond meal together. Make sure there aren't any huge chunks of brown sugar. Then, whisk in the cinnamon and salt. Once all combined, stir in the melted butter until combined. Sprinkle topping over the apples and finish with a few slivered or sliced almonds-- these extra almonds on top are optional.


4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the filing is bubbly, the apples are a little soft, and the topping is browned. If it looks like the topping is browning too quickly, cover the top loosely with aluminum foil. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Top with pomegranate arils and serve with vanilla ice cream. Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.


5. Make ahead tip: Follow steps 2 and 3 in the recipe then cover the crisp and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bake as directed.

Recipe Notes:

1. You want about 5-6 cups chopped apple pieces. Use different varieties, such as 2 tart Granny Smiths and 2 apples of a sweeter variety like Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Fuji etc. I like to chop them in varying sizes. Some thin, some thicker. It helps the filling have a little more texture.


2. Maple syrup gives so much flavor. And makes the apple filling extra juicy and gooey. Don't leave it out!


3. You can use store-bought almond meal or almond flour, or you can make your own. Start with 1/2 cup of slivered or sliced almonds. Pulse them, along with 2 Tablespoons of the 3/4 cup oats called for in this recipe, in a food processor until a crumbly meal has formed. Do not run the food processor continuously; you may end up with almond butter. Little pulses are best. You will end up with around 1/2 cup almond meal.

Adapted from Mixed Berry Fruit Crisp in Sally's Baking Addiction Cookbook

Did you make a recipe?

Tag @sallysbakeblog on Instagram and hashtag it #sallysbakingaddiction.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Here are more gluten free recipes.

Here are more apple recipes.

Here’s another recipe testing my self control recently. (chai cookies!)

Share this post