Gluten-Free Apple Tart
This delicious apple tart features an easy crust made with almond and oat flour. It's gluten free and easily made vegan/dairy free, too.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 10, 2019
Happy weekend! I hope you all are soaking up this glorious fall weather. Long walks and picnics at the park are just my speed, and it’s the perfect time of year for them. If you’re in the mood for a fall baking project, however, I have a fun one for you. I hope it doesn’t look too intimidating—trust me, if I can do it, you can, too.
Making standard pie crusts with butter at just the right temperature is not my idea of a good time, so I’m excited to be sharing this tart crust recipe with you. I developed it for my cookbook, but ended up cutting the recipes that used it.
The dough is super easy to make with almond flour, oat flour, melted butter or coconut oil, and a little maple syrup and salt. No kneading, no rolling, no fuss. Just press it in and poke it with a fork and it comes out of the oven looking so pretty.
If you haven’t worked with almond flour or oat flour yet, they are exactly what they sound like—flours made out of ground almonds and oats. I used Bob’s Red Mill’s super fine almond flour, which produced a dough that was easier to shape than the more coarse almond meals I have used in the past. I made my own oat flour in my blender (see recipe notes), but Bob’s Red Mill offers oat flour as well, if you’d rather just buy it.
The apple topping is slightly more involved, and I even tried an alternative version with homemade applesauce instead. But! The baked apple slice topping proved worthy in both the looks and flavor departments. I had to watch a few YouTube clips to figure out how to slice the apples properly (check this one out, but don’t forget to peel the apples first).
The end result is an impressive-looking apple tart with a nutty and tender, yet easily sliced crust. I hope you love it. Please let me know, as always, in the comments!
Gluten-Free Apple Tart
This delicious apple tart features an easy crust made with almond and oat flour. It’s gluten free and easily made vegan/dairy free, too (just use coconut oil instead of butter). Recipe yields one 9-inch tart, enough for 6 to 8 slices.
Ingredients
Almond-oat crust
- 1 cup (135 grams) firmly packed almond flour
- 1 cup (90 grams) oat flour* (certified gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup melted butter or coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Apple filling
- 2 large Honeycrisp or 3 medium Granny Smith apples (about 1 ¼ pounds)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting if you’d like
Instructions
- To prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a 9″ tart pan (even if your pan is non-stick). In a medium mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, oat flour and salt, and stir to combine. Drizzle in the butter and maple syrup, and stir until the mixture is moistened throughout.
- Dump the mixture onto the prepared tart pan. Press the mixture evenly across the base, then use the heel of your palm to press it up the sides as well. Use your fingers to try to make the dough along the sides even in height and depth (see photo). Prick the base of the crust all over with a fork to prevent it from bubbling up. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until it’s lightly firm to the touch and just starting to turn golden at the edges. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, to prepare the filling: Peel the apples (or don’t, for more color) and cut them into slices ⅛″ thick. Transfer the slices to a medium mixing bowl and add just 1 tablespoon of the maple syrup, and the lemon juice and cinnamon. Toss until the mixture is evenly distributed.
- Arrange the apple slices across the base however you’d like, overlapping them as much as possible (I tried to arrange mine like a rose and had a few apple slices left over). Reserve the maple syrup/lemon mixture at the bottom of the bowl for brushing the apples later.
- Bake the tart for 25 minutes, then pull it out of the oven and gently brush the remaining maple syrup/lemon mixture over the apples (it’s fine if you push some of the slices down in the process). Return the tart to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the apples are very tender and the crust is deeply golden around the edges. While the tart is still hot, gently brush the remaining 2 tablespoons maple syrup over the apples.
- Let the tart cool for at least 15 minutes. If you’d like, sift or sprinkle a little extra cinnamon over the top. If you used a tart pan with a removable bottom, remove the sides. Use a sharp chef’s nice to slice the tart into even wedges and serve.
Notes
*How to make your own oat flour: Simply pour at least 1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats into a food processor or blender and blend until it is a very fine flour.
Make it dairy free and vegan: Use coconut oil instead of butter.
If you love this recipe: Check out my healthy apple muffins and homemade applesauce.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This post was created in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Hi Kate! What an amazingly beautiful tart! I’m going to add this to my recipe list for Thanksgiving. Would this recipe work with regular gluten free flour (or some other flour) in place of almond flour? My boyfriend is allergic to nuts. Thank you!
Hey Sarah, thank you! I wish I could say for sure, but I think the almond flour might provide some necessary structure that you won’t get from a more powdery flour. If you give it a try, please let me know.
I have made this and it is lovely. I am Palestinian and want to make date stuffed mamoul and was wondering if this “crust” could be adapted to make a substitute. I think it will be okay, but need to replace the maple syrup with something. The shell of the date paste stuffed cookie is very buttery but not sweet. Could I use more butter? Or oil? Instead of the maple syrup? I also plan on adding sone ground anise seeds to the dough and orange blossom water, that should not affect it right? So maybe instead of the 3 T of maple syrup, add 2T butter and 1 T of orange bloosom water? And teaspoon anise seeds ground up.
Hi Eman, I’m so glad you enjoyed the tart. Thank you for letting me know! I have not made mamoul before, but your ideas sound like they just might work! I think you might actually want to keep a tablespoon of maple syrup in there, though, because the dough might not be quite as tender without it. Good luck!
Well, this is just beautiful! Thank you for sharing =)
Thank you, Sara!
This is gorgeous. I adore fruit tarts and I pinned it for later.
Thanks, Letty! Hope you enjoy an apple tart soon. :)
I love making crusts with Bob’s Red Mill almond flour. It’s seriously the tastiest. Yours looks gorgeous!
Thanks, Karen! I loved how the tart turned out with their almond flour.
This looks fantastic!!
Now this is an apple tart I can manage! And I love the idea of using different flours! So healthy! My daughter and I will have fun making this! Thanks Kate! ;)
Thanks, Donna! I hope you both love it!
I made this last night and it was divine!
So pretty!
Yeah! A gluten free crust to make that seems easier than others I have tried. I am making this tomorrow.
Tried the apple tart recipe – it turned out terrific! Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you so much for letting me know, Kathleen. I appreciate it!
This sounds like a really interesting tart Kate. I’ve never thought of making gluten free pastry like this before, usually ground almonds are so absorbent I would worry that it would get soggy from the apples. It’s good to know it works well.
Nope, the crust stays nice and crisp as long as it’s pre-baked! Hope you’ll give it a shot sometime.
I hate making pastry – thank you!
Me, too!
this looks amazing and looks so simple to do, this will be a great holidays treat for me! I´m so into creating new vegan foods, specially desserts. by the way i have 3 dogs that are always bothering me when I creating my vegan desserts in the kitchen but i love them :)
Hope you love it, Lina! Please tell your dogs hello from Cookie and Kate.
Dear Kate
Just made this apple tart today for my husband’s birthday and he loved it. It looks so-pretty, just like your picture and so easy to make.
next time I will make it a pear tart
Thank you
Teresa
Teresa, delighted to hear it! Thank you for letting me know, and happy belated birthday to your husband.
This is such a neat and simple recipe! A shame that it was cut from the cookbook but lucky for us readers, right now ;) Speaking of the cookbook, how is the progress going? When in 2017 might it be coming out? I simply cannot wait!
Thanks, Melanie! I wanted to keep my cookbook recipes nice and simple. :) The book will be available on May 16! Seems far away now, but I’m sure it will be here before we know it!!!
This is so beautiful. I’m going to have to make this- and keep your gluten-free tart dough in my back pocket for future desserts.
Thank you, Allyson! It’s a good dough recipe to keep handy. :)
Delicious! I made mine with ground hazelnuts rather than almonds (almonds, weirdly enough, give me acne), and it came out great. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks Kate.
Thanks, Philippa! Bet your hazelnut version was delicious.
Thought this was just ok. Certainly easy, but nothing special.
I’m sorry you didn’t love it. I appreciate your feedback, Sharon.
Oh this looks wonderful! The apples look gorgeous as does the PERFECT tart crust!
Just wanted to thank you for your recipes! They are really great and offer something for all degrees of this-or-that-free! I found your blog when I was first diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago and was looking for gluten free and dairy free and sugar free food. I am a pastry chef trained in France and NYC and it has been a harder adjustment to deal with no wheat flour and sugar than cancer! Sounds nuts, but that was my life! I will make the crust into short cookies.
You rock!
In gratitude,
Justina
Justina, thank you for your note. I hope you are feeling well and enjoy the recipe!
I have been avoiding dairy lately and this is a perfect vegan dessert. I made it for a party last weekend with your chai coconut ice cream. It was divine! Thank you for all of your terrific recipes. I love that you always include ways to adapt them!
Thank you sooo much for this very yummy recipe. We are in love with the apples alone :) Thank you! Good way to use apples that we bought too many of too, makes a delicious treat.
My husband and I love all of your recipes! Thank you so much for sharing them, it makes our lives healthier and happier :)
Made this tonight and the flavour was awesome, really tasty. However it fell apart, based wasn’t sTring enough to serve like your photo, it just crumbled. I’m no baker so I probably made a rookie mistake…any suggestions on what I did wrong or should do different? I’m keen to get this right, rather excited that I have found a tasty GF DF apple tart!
Probably needed a thicker base and a longer pre bake to make it more structurally sound :)
This sounds delicious! Think this could be made a day in advance?
It could! I enjoyed leftovers. However, it’s a little prettier the day of (you could brush extra maple on top just before serving to counteract that issue).
I made this last night and WOW, it’s delicious!! My husband went back for thirds! Thanks for a perfect recipe!
Very good recipe.
The crust was very tastey!
Thank you for making the healthiest easier delicious apple tart ever!! That dough is fantastic, will never buy pre made again!!
It’s seriously the tastiest. Yours looks gorgeous!
Hello Kate! I’m lactose intolerant and this recipe sounds perfect! However, can I use whole wheat or all-purpose flour instead of almond flour? I don’t have any access to almond flour. Or if you have any other suggestions? Thank you:)
Hey RK, I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you for sure but almond flour isn’t really interchangeable with other flours. You can actually make almond flour yourself if you blend whole almonds in a high quality food processor (fair warning, it’s really loud).
I made these as individual mini tarts, with finely diced apple for the filling. They turned out great! Thanks!
Those sound so cute and delicious, Jen!
Hey! Wonderful recipe. But maybe I could convert it to 11″inch tart? How could I do that?
Hi Beatrice, I’m not 100% sure, but I imagine you could increase the crust ingredients by about 25% and end up with plenty of dough. Might need an extra apple, too.
Thank you! Will definitely try it!
I’ve made this tart 3 times. My whole family, including two picky kids, love it! It is my go to dessert. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Hi Kate, I’m about to make this recipe for a graduation party tomorrow and I was wondering if I could use coconut flour in place of the oat flour(that I do not have in my pantry). Also, can I use this crust with a more liquid, flan-like filling? Thanks, and Happy Memorial Day,
Hi, Barbara. I wish I could be of more help with this! I general don’t recommend using coconut flour in recipes that don’t specifically call for it– it just doesn’t behave the same way that oat or wheat flours behave in recipes. Second, I’ve never tried this with a more liquid filling, so I wouldn’t want to say yes and then leave you with a wet mess!
Hi Kate! I’m planning on making this beautiful tart and I was wondering whether I could add some berries – blueberries, maybe raspberries? – to make it a little more ‘summer-y’. Do you think that will work, or would berries make the tart too soggy?
Hi Kate. I can’t have oat flour. I had read separately that oat flour could be replaced by millet flour. Have you any experience with replacing oat with millet for baking?
Do you think this recipe would work if I used peaches or nectarines instead of apples? They are currently in season where I live so i want to take advantage of that.
Yes! I’ve used peaches, and it worked out beautifully.
Really enjoyed making and eating this!!! Turned out so pretty! A tad on the dry side but loved the wholesome ingredients and felt pretty good about eating it, even if it was dessert ;) Also, I think the apples I used were on the sweeter side, so may use a little more lemon next time. Thanks for this recipe! It’s a keeper!
Yum!! Your pictures are amazing!!
Thank you for sharing a gluten-free dessert, the taste was perfect with amazing texture and juicy apple toppings. My kids ask me to make this recipe daily for them, keep sharing such healthy desserts recipe.A huge thumbs up for step by step instructions along with images which makes the whole cooking process far easier.
This recipe is fantastic, and is by far the best gluten-free pie crust from scratch that I have ever made (and I have been trying For 5+ years now)! I had tried adding egg yolk as I had done to previous pie crusts, but it made the crust more “bready” than I liked. So, no adjusting the recipe here, it is perfect…
And smells heavenly in the oven!
So great to hear, Michelle!
Hi Kate, I was wondering how far in advance this pie crust can be made? I’m planning on making this on Thanksgiving and trying to make as much ahead as possible. Thanks so much!
Hey Rachael! I’m guessing 2 to 3 days would be fine.
I am really excited to try this recipe, do you know of something I could substitute oat flour with? My mum is allergic!
Hi Victoria, I’m really not sure. Perhaps a gluten-free all-purpose flour would work?
How long would you recommend baking the crust fully to be cooled and later used with an unbaked filling?
Hi Amy, I’d bake the unfilled tart crust for 12 to 14 minutes, until it’s firm to the touch and turning lightly golden at the edges. Place it on a cooling rack until cooled, about 30 minutes.
my son and i made pies using your pastry recipe. He made apple and I made the pumpkin. He was quite apprehensive about it. But it was an incredibly delectable pastry. We had an extra baked pastry with nothing to fill it. We broke it and ate it like cookies. It made delicious short bread.
Sounds like a fun thing to do together. Thank you for your review, Barbara!
Made this as my contribution to family Thanksgiving dinner. My daughter in law has many food issues, including to gluten sensitivity, can’t eat dairy and is vegetarian from birth. So this recipe was perfect. Some family members, who shy away from gluten free food, tried it and everyone who ate it loved it!
I am glad this was able to work for her! I am happy it was a hit for everyone. I appreciate the review, Ann.
Love this recipe – easy and delicious! I have made it 2x. The first time, I used maple syrup – yum! and the second time I used amber agave instead – Yum, Yum. Either way, this is now my goto desert. OK, I even have a slice for breakfast. Why not. The ingredients are clean and easy on my diet. And yes, I used cocnut oil instead of butter to keep it vegan. I am hooked on Katie’s recipes. They never fail me!
That’s great, Joe! I’m happy to hear you are a frequent go-er of the blog :) Thank you for your comment and review!
Well the blog got me to buy your book so it all works.
Thanks for doing what you do! Joe
Wouldn’t this also work with apple peels left on?
Probably so! I can’t remember if I tried it with the peels on. Granny Smiths tend to have thicker skin than most.
I don’t have a food processer, and I just bought both Red Mill wheat and soy free baking flour, and some coconut flour. Could either or both of those be use in the crust instead?
Unfortunately, those wouldn’t be good substitutes for this… Sorry!
Delicious and healthy! We loved it! Thanks Kate.
Great to hear, Marisa!
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond?
Unfortunately, they aren’t a 1:1 substitute. Coconut flour tends to soak up a lot of moisture.