Gluten Free Apple Crisp

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This Gluten Free Apple Crisp is a delicious fresh fruit compote topped with a healthy mixture of oats, nuts, and spices. Served warm, it’s naturally sweet and vegan-friendly. Perfect for a healthy dessert for the whole family!

Apples are one of my favorite things about fall. And I love making apple crisps during the holidays — between the warm apple compote and the delicious smells that fill my kitchen when it’s baking – I can’t get enough of it!

This gluten free apple crisp is seriously the best. It’s gooey and sweet on the inside, and the crust is tender and crumbly. It’s made with healthier ingredients and has only 5 grams of added sugar per serving, which makes it a dessert you can feel great about eating.

You can serve this crisp with homemade whipped cream, ice cream or without anything on top – honestly it tastes amazing all on its own. As an added bonus: it’s already gluten free and vegan if you need to accommodate multiple dietary restrictions!

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

• Baking Dish
• A set of mixing bowls
• A good chopping board
• A chef’s knife
• Gluten Free Oats

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

• Apples: I used a combination of Gala and Fuji apples, but you can use whichever apples are your favorite! Try chopping them in different sizes to get a variety of textures in your crisp.
• Spices: I used cinnamon and nutmeg, but any warm fall spices would taste great.
• Nuts: To add some more texture to the crisp topping, I used a combination of chopped pecans and walnuts.
• Oats: Gluten Free Oats are the key to making this dish gluten-free!

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, toss the apples with cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon, salt, and cornstarch. Add one tablespoon of the sugar to the apples. Toss to coat.

Step 2: Pour 1.25 cups of old fashioned oats into a blender and blend until finely ground.

Step 3: Add the blended flour to a large bowl and mix with remaining oats, brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract, nuts, and melted coconut oil.

Step 4: Add the apples to the baking dish.

Step 5: Top with the oat mixture.

Step 6: Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

What Makes this Gluten Free Apple Crisp Healthy?

A typical serving of apple crisp will run you anywhere from 250-350 calories, and upwards of 28g sugar! My version has only about 200 calories and 5 grams added sugar for a huge portion. Here are some of the healthy swaps I made to lighten up this recipe but keep all of the decadence of the traditional version!

• Whole Grains: This recipe uses rolled oats for the crumble topping – which are high in fiber, are low-glycemic, and gluten-free.
• Less Sugar: Fruit is already naturally very sweet! So there is no need to add tons of sugar to the filling of this apple crisp — the fruit takes care of the sweetness all on its own.
• Healthy Fats: Walnuts and pecans in the crumble topping are both rich in antioxidants and healthy omega 3 fats.
• Vitamins and Nutrients: Apples are high in fiber, antioxidants, Vitamin C, and Potassium.

Will Kids Enjoy This Apple Crisp?

I haven’t met a kid (yet) who doesn’t like dessert. If your kids are especially finicky about fruit, I’d recommend chopping up the apples in a super fine dice so your kids can’t really tell that they are whole fruits when they’re eating this treat. You can also serve it with a spoonful of ice cream or whipped cream for a bit more decadence!

Recipe FAQs

Recipe Variations and Serving Suggestions

• Serving Suggestions: Homemade whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, candied nuts sprinkled on top, fresh fruit on the side, powdered sugar sprinkled on top, or ground cinnamon sprinkled on top are some of our favorite ways to serve this gluten free apple crisp.
• Apple Variations: Try a combination of apples including — Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Pink Lady. Feel free to substitute in a totally different fruit like pear or peaches for a twist on the traditional apple crisp!
• Spices Variations: Try your favorite fall spices — nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, all spice, cloves, cardamom, and ginger
• Nuts: Try almonds or hazelnuts along with (or instead of) the pecans and walnuts. Or make it nut free and omit the nuts altogether.

Top Tips For Making this Gluten Free Apple Crisp

• Use Gluten Free Oats to make this gluten-free.
• Make sure to coat your baking dish with cooking spray.
• Be sure to serve this crisp warm! Top it with homemade whipped cream or ice cream for more decadence.
• This apple crisp will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
• Make sure the coconut oil is melted before you combine it with the topping – this will ensure it mixes well.

Check Out These Other Fruity Sweet Treats!

• Apple Cinnamon French Toast
• Baked Apples With Spiced Sprouted Quinoa
• Banana Chocolate Chunk Frozen Yogurt
• Chocolate Mousse With Raspberries
• Super Easy Healthy Baked Fruit Dessert by Kim’s Cravings
• Strawberry Oatmeal Bars by Well Plated

If you have tried this Gluten Free Apple Crisp, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!