Simple Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
This wholesome, honey-sweetened apple crisp is covered in an irresistible oat, almond meal and pecan topping. Everyone will love this dessert!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Whatโs better than apple pie and a whole lot easier to make? Apple crisp! This apple crisp recipe is gooey on the inside, and tender but crisp on top. Itโs made with wholesome ingredients, like old-fashioned oats, almond meal, pecans, honey, and of course, lots of fresh apples.
On a cool fall day, thereโs nothing better the smell of this apple crisp baking in the oven. This homemade dessert would also be the perfect ending to your Thanksgiving supper.
This is my favorite apple crisp recipe, and it just happens to be gluten free and healthier than the rest. This recipe is made with significantly less sugar than most apple crisps, but tastes just as good. In fact, Iโd say itโs even better!
This crisp turned out great for me when I made it a few years ago, but I heard that it didnโt turn out as well for some of you. This stuff keeps me up at night.
Iโve retested and tweaked this recipe, and itโs now better than ever. Iโm so pleased to hear that with these updates, this crisp has been turning out perfectly in your kitchens.
How to Make the Best Apple Crisp
Apples take a long time to release their moisture, so my original crisp recipe was a little dry. To remedy this, I switched from using 1-inch chunks of apple to thinly sliced, which take less time to get juicy and cook through. I also added some liquid to the filling to the get the ball rolling, and reduced the amount of starch.
To ensure that the topping doesnโt get too crisp, youโre going to bake the apples for 20 minutes and then add the topping. This is actually pretty convenient, because it means that your crisp can start baking while you are still mixing together the topping.
Thatโs it! Youโve just made an apple dessert that rivals apple pie in flavor and comfort-food factor, but itโs so much easier.
Watch How to Make Apple Crisp
Healthy Apple Crisp Ingredients
The recipe is flexible. You can easily make it dairy free, vegan or nut free. See the recipe notes for details.
- Granny Smith Apples: Fresh and thinly sliced. No need to peel your applesโthe skin softens up so much in the oven, youโll hardly notice itโs there. You could also use Honeycrisp apples, or a combination of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp.
- Old-Fashioned Oats: Oats form the base of the topping. Once baked, they are perfectly crisp-tender. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats for gluten-free apple crisp.
- Almond Meal or Almond Flour: Almond meal (or flour) lends some irresistible richness and flavor. You can use regular flour in place of the almond meal, if you prefer (see nut-free recipe note).
- Pecans or Walnuts: Chopped pecans or walnuts are technically optional in the filling, but I never leave them out. I love those little bites of nutty goodness.
- Honey or Maple Syrup: Weโll use one of these natural sweeteners in the filling instead of plain sugar. As a bonus, they impart some additional flavor that tastes so nice.
- Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar: Weโll use some sugar in the topping, since liquid sweeteners would interfere with the texture. I like to use coconut sugar since itโs less refined, but brown sugar works just as well.
- Butter: This topping calls for a reasonable amount of melted butter, and I promise, you wonโt regret it.
- Greek Yogurt: Weโll use some Greek yogurt in place of some additional butter (though you can totally go all in on the butter if youโd like). I love that the yogurt imparts a subtle tang.
- Liquid (Water, Bourbon, Apple Cider, Etc.): A little bit of liquid helps the apples break down. Additional options include brandy or apple juice.ย I love to use equal parts water and bourbon so the bourbon flavor is subtle. I think itโs just right!
- Lemon Juice: A squeeze of lemon juice brightens up the flavor of the filling.
- Starch: You can use arrowroot starch or cornstarch. The starch helps the filling come together so itโs not watery.
- Cinnamon and Allspice: No apple crisp recipe would be complete without some warming spices.
The Best Apples for Apple Crisp
Granny Smith apples are the perfect apple for crisps. They retain their shape but become wonderfully tender in the oven, whereas other apple varieties turn to mush. Their tart flavor mellows and sweetens in the oven, but doesnโt turn overtly sweet. Some contrast is key!
Another great option, albeit more expensive, would be Honeycrisp apples. They possess similar qualities and have become widely available in recent years. You could even use a combination of the two!
More Apple Recipes to Enjoy
Craving more apple deliciousness? Check out these recipes:
- Applesauce
- Apple Steel-Cut Oatmeal
- Favorite Green Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Pepitas
- Gluten-Free Apple Tart
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Homemade Bircher Muesli
Please let me know how this crisp turns out for you in the comments! I hope itโs your new favorite fall dessert.
Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
This wholesome, honey-sweetened apple crisp is covered in an irresistible oat, almond meal and pecan topping. This dessert is perfect for the holidays! This recipe yields about 8 modest servings.
Ingredients
Apple filling
- 2 ยผ pounds Granny Smith apples (about 5 large or 7 small), cored and sliced into ยผโ thick wedges
- โ cup honey or maple syrup
- ยผ cup water, or bourbon or brandy, or apple cider or apple juice (I like 2 tablespoons bourbon and 2 tablespoons water)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot starch or 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ยฝ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ยผ teaspoon ground allspice or nutmeg
Oat, almond meal and pecan topping
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (use certified gluten-free oats for a gluten-free crisp)
- ยฝ cup firmly packed almond meal or almond flour
- ยฝ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional but recommended)
- โ cup lightly packed coconut sugar or brown sugar
- ยผ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ยผ cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular)
Donโt forget vanilla ice cream, for serving!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the sliced apples in a 9-inch square baking dish. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey and water until combined. Add the lemon juice, starch, cinnamon and allspice, and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture over the apples and toss to combine. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oats, almond meal, pecans, coconut sugar and salt. Mix in the melted butter and the yogurt. Stir until all of the flour is incorporated and the mixture is moistened throughout.
- Once the apples have baked for 20 minutes, give them a stir and redistribute them evenly in the baker. Dollop small spoonfuls of the oat mixture evenly over the filling (see photos; no need to pack it down). Return the baker to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 more minutes, until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the top is nice and golden.
- Let the crisp rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream, I insist. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 5 days.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my pear cranberry crisp.
Make it nut free: To make this recipe nut free, omit the walnuts and use ยพ cup whole wheat flour and ยพ cup oats instead of the almond meal and oats specified above. It will no longer be gluten free. If you want to keep it gluten free, I suspect that you could replace the almond meal with certified gluten-free oat flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Make it vegan: In the topping, use non-dairy yogurt and coconut oil in place of the butter. In the filling, use maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it dairy free: Use non-dairy yogurt and coconut oil in place of the butter.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I have made this recipe several times, and it is always delicious! Iโve used a variety of apples, and I have added other fruit I wanted to use up- pears and blueberries. I made it last weekend and served it at my birthday party, a long with a bakery cake. The entire crisp was eaten and enjoyed. I still have half of the cake left!!
This is the first year I am gluten free during apple season! Thank you for making the transition so easy with this DELICIOUS recipe. Iโve made it 5 times this season already! Thank you!
Great to hear, Elizabeth!
Dear Cookies and Kate,
This recipe is a WINNER! Iโve made is several times as written. This morning I started to make it and realized I had NO GF flour of any kind. Also NO yogurt. Instead of running to the store, I used oat flour which I made from oatmeal in my food processor and almond milk. It turn out amazing.
Thanks for this and many other recipes
Carol
Great to hear! Thank you for sharing, Carol.
We have just started our spring in OZ. I made this with berries strawbs blueberries and blackberries instead of apples. Same topping tho. Delicious and smells divine..
If you need to make it dairy free, what are the proportions of the non-dairy yogurt and coconut oil?
You can try to replace it as a 1:1. Let me know what you think!
I made with half Granny Smith, half evercrisp apples, pecans, maple syrup, and half brandy, half water. It had the most tasty cider flavor to it. My apples still had a bite (I cut them wrong) but I like them with a little texture! I just love your recipes. So good!
Love this recipe! I have tons of persimmons on my tree this year, so instead of making the recipe fully apple, I did half persimmon and half apple. It turned out absolutely delicious, definitely a crowd pleaser :)
Thatโs great to hear, Sarah!
I am making this recipe for the 2nd time using fresh mostly Gala apples from our daughterโs trees, but this time I added a couple Granny Smiths from a friendโs tree. I improvised by adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the liquid mixture. Delicious! Wonderful recipe! Thank you, C and K!
Youโre welcome, Maryann!
Why do you label it GF when you include Bourbon? Bourbon is Whiskey which is made from Wheat. I realize you say Bourbon on Brandy, but someone not familiar with Bourbon may not realize that it is Not GF
Margaret
Hi Margaret, you donโt have to use the Bourbon. Bourbon is gluten-free because the process of distillation removes gluten proteins. I hope this helps!
Love this recipe! It is our go-to over apple pie. I have typically doubled the topping since we prefer a thicker crumble layer.
Great to hear!
Have you ever frozen the apple crisped uncooked for a later date. I love your apple crisp recipe, and would love to use are perfectly ripe apples from are orchard to prepare crisps for the holidays and as gifts. Would you have any insight on how to bake your recipe from frozen? I did read that if freezing the apple crisp, itโs best to freeze it before cooking.
Thank you!
I havenโt, sorry!
I love, love, love this recipe! To accommodate my son, who is allergic to wheat and dairy, I swap out the butter and yogurt for vegan versions. I do not change anything else in this recipe as I find it perfect as is, as does my son and husband. This dessert rarely lasts more than two days in our house, itโs that good.
Wonderful recipe. I have made it several times, vegan and non-vegan version. Always a favourite.
I love that! Thank you for your review, Carole.
Hi Kate,
This is by far my absolutely favorite apple crisp!! Iโve made it twice and loved it each time. Delicious, not overly sweet, all the right textures. I could eat the whole thing in one sitting!
Thank you!
Stacy
Youโre welcome, Stacy!
The recipe was fine but the instructions were not. My standard Pyrex baking dishes are 2 inches deep, so thereโs no way all these apples fit in 9ร9, I had to use 9ร13. And itโs way more than 8 โmodestโ servings, maybe more than 12 servings.
Baking the apples 20 minutes did not soften them enough for my taste, and baking the topping too long leads to excessive browning. If I made it again, Iโd bake the apples longer before adding the topping. I used brandy and water, which was tasty. I like the combination of butter and Greek yogurt. I wish you could provide nutrition facts for this dish.
Hi Kathryne, Iโm sorry to hear that. I appreciate your feedback. The nutritional information is below the notes section of the recipe.
We have made this apple crisp several times now, and it always turns out beautifully. Weโve made it using different varieties of apples including Granny Smith, honey crisp, Rome beauties, and all were very good.
We made it originally because my granddaughter is gluten free. Though I am not, Iโll never go back to another crisp topping.
Instead of brandy in the filling I used grandmarnier because thatโs what I had. Iโll continue using that as well.
Im Aussies and was on the hunt for something delicious to use up apples during our autumn/fall. Perfect recipe! Made some adjustments because I didnโt have any dairy free yoghurt- so used soy milk and also no walnuts but plenty of almonds in my pantryโฆabsolutely delicious.
Hi Marisa, can you share how much soy milk you used for the recipe. Unfortunately, I canโt eat any kind of yogurt here in the states, because thereโs something in the ingredients that causes problems for me.
Iโve done it two ways and the results were both delicious. I have eyeballed it and also tried just 1/4 cup of soy milk or 3 Tablespoons :)
Delicious! Met my GF needs and everyone else loved it as well. Thank you, Kate! Now that it is summer I plan to try your peach crisp version.
This looks really good.Can I omit the yogurt? Someone commented that they replaced it with soy milk. Just wondering how much.
This is best as written. Use non-dairy yogurt and coconut oil in place of the butter.
Hi, do you peel the apples? I love your recipes! Thank you.
Jenny
No need to peel the apples.
This was good. But I left the yogurt out, I thought it was a very odd addition and not needed.
Hi there! Iโm so excited to try this recipe! We are not a gluten-free family, but we do try to stay away from refined sugars, so Iโm so excited to try this! Quick question, if you have a moment. It says 2 1/4 pounds of apples โ is that 2 1/4 pounds of *prepared* apples (meaning that the 2 1/4 lbs includes the weight of the cores), or 2 1/4 lbs of whole apples, so a little less once cores/bruises/etc are taken out?
Thanks so much!!
Hi Kelsey! You will weigh the apples before cutting. I hope that helps.
I made this crisp and we really enjoyed it. I had no almond flour, so I substituted a little less than 1/4 cup of coconut flour, which worked well. When I make it again, I think I will cut the agave on the apples from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup and cut the brown sugar to 2 1/2 tablespoons. Weโre trying to eat low sugar but I wanted to see if I could do about 1/2 the recommended amount in this recipe and I think that cutting both sugars in half will be ideal.
LOVE this! Just made it tonight after a long work day for my husbandโs birthday as a quick and easy dessert and it was soooo yummy! I added some fresh cranberries for a little tartness and that was soooo good! Always look forward to the โwhat to cook this monthโ emails and this delivered! We have made almost everything in your cookbook (I have that too) and love everything! My daughters love it all too! Thank you!
Hi, I made your gluten free apple crisp with the yogurt in the topping and it turned out great. I am really enjoying it and will make it again for sure.
This is my go-to apple crisp recipe! Itโs so good and itโs one that my 2 teen boys ask for often and devour everytime! They especially love it for breakfast with plain yogurt. :D I change up the fruit for what I have on hand- usually a combo of apples and pears and when they are in season- persimmons, yum!
Excellent dessert! Only modification was increasing cinnamon flavorโdoubling cinnamon in apples, and adding another 1/4 tsp cinnamon to topping to increase warm spices. Absolutely delicious and my new favorite crisp recipe.
Hi, I used to make your apple crisp for my family and B&B guests so frequently that I had the recipe memorized. Itโs been a while and this recipe doesnโt seem at all the same. Has the original recipe been changed? (Maybe I just made changes to it previously). If it has changed, is it possible to receive a copy of the original recipe? My guests **always** said it was the best they had ever tasted, and I agreed!
Iโm slightly embarrassed to even say how many times Iโve made thisโฆ Incredibly delicious!
Hello Kate. I have made this Apple Crisp recipe twice now, as written, and it is delicious. It turned out perfectly both times. I think the addition of the yogurt helps to make the topping come together better plus it makes some nice little clusters of delicious topping. I will definatly be making it again and maybe even changing up the filling but keeping the topping. Thanks for a tasty recipe.
Hi,
Has anyone made this recipe with an alternative for oats? Maybe desiccated coconut? Any suggestions. Thanks