This healthy apple crisp is naturally sweetened with maple syrup and features a crunchy oatmeal pecan topping. It’s gluten-free, vegan, easy to make and the perfect healthy fall dessert!
Why You’ll Love This Apple CrispIngredients NeededFillingCrumble ToppingRecipe SubstitutionsHow to Make Healthy Apple CrispBrittany’s Tips!How to Serve Apple CrispCan You Make This Apple Crisp Ahead of Time?OPTION 1: BAKE AND THEN REHEAT BEFORE SERVINGOPTION 2: PREP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT BAKINGHow to Store LeftoversFrequently Asked QuestionsMore Apple Recipes
Riddle me this — what do you do when you have four big bags of fresh apples sitting in your kitchen after a fun day of apple picking?! You make this healthy apple crisp!
This recipe has been a go-to of mine for years! I love making it as a simple weeknight dessert during the fall months, but it’s also my favorite dessert to serve up at Thanksgiving dinner along with my delicious pecan pie.
The apples in this crisp are baked to caramel-y perfection while the oatmeal topping gives the crisp a crunchy texture. I love the apples, but the oatmeal pecan topping is totally what makes the dish, IMO!
PS: If you’re looking for more ways to use up all your fresh apples this fall I highly recommend making these healthy apple muffins, apple nachos or apple cinnamon baked oatmeal.
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Why You’ll Love This Apple Crisp
- Healthier – The great thing about this apple crisp is that it’s relatively healthy in comparison to traditional apple crisp recipes. We’re using maple syrup and coconut sugar instead of white sugar, coconut oil instead of butter, almond flour instead of white flour and there’s rolled oats and nuts for some extra nutrition!
- Easy to Make – This is one of those desserts that looks impressive but is actually super simple to throw together. It’s perfect for when you want something homemade without spending hours in the kitchen.
- Dietary friendly – It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and refined sugar-free making it the perfect dessert for most everyone!
- Delicious – The crunchy oat pecan topping paired with the sweet baked cinnamon apples = chef’s kiss! Serve it warm with a scoop of your favorite ice cream for the ultimate fall dessert!
Ingredients Needed
Filling
- apples – the star of the show here! I like using a combination of tart and sweet apples. My favorite varieties are Pink Lady and Honeycrisp apples!
- arrowroot powder – helps thicken the apple mixture. Cornstarch works as well.
- maple syrup – just a little bit of added natural sweetness for the apple mixture.
- lemon juice – helps prevent the apples from browning and brings out the flavors in the dish!
- seasonings and spices – cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt.
Crumble Topping
- coconut sugar – I love using coconut sugar because of the unique caramel taste it has and because it’s naturally low on the glycemic index.
- old-fashioned rolled oats – oats are naturally gluten-free but are often cross-contaminated during processing, so if you need this crisp to be gluten-free, make sure you look for oats that say “gluten-free” on the package. I like using Bob’s Red Mill gluten free old fashioned rolled oats.
- almond flour – we’re using almond flour to keep this recipe gluten-free.
- chopped nuts – I prefer using pecans or walnuts, but you can definitely sub in another nut like almonds.
- coconut oil – keep the coconut oil in solid form to help make the topping more crumb-like.
Recipe Substitutions
- Almond flour: I haven’t tested this crisp with a different flour, but I have a feeling that oat flour, all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour will work just fine for the topping. If you try it, please let me know in the comments.
- Arrowroot powder: Cornstarch will work as a substitute.
- Coconut oil: You can swap the coconut oil with vegan butter or regular butter if you don’t need this recipe to be vegan.
- Sweeteners: Swap the maple syrup for any liquid sweetener like honey or agave and you can use brown sugar instead of coconut sugar if that’s what you have on hand.
- Make it nut-free: If you need this recipe to be nut-free just swap the nuts for additional oats and the almond flour for all-purpose flour or oat flour.
- Want to make it lower in sugar? If you’d like for the crisp to be less sweet, feel free to cut the sugar in the topping back to 1/2 -3/4 cup instead of 1 cup!
- Other fruit: If you’d like to swap the apples with another fruit pears would be a good substitute. You could also make this cherry crisp, peach crisp or blueberry crumble instead!
How to Make Healthy Apple Crisp
Step 1: In a medium bowl combine the sugar, rolled oats, almond flour and nuts. Add butter or coconut oil and combine until topping is crumb-like. Set aside.
Step 2: Add apple slices to a large bowl with maple syrup, lemon juice, arrowroot powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Gently toss until all apple slices are coated.
Step 3: Transfer apple mixture to greased 8×8 square baking pan or a 9-inch round pie pan. Sprinkle crisp topping over apple mixture.
Step 4: Place baking dish in preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the apple filling is bubbly and the top is golden brown.
Brittany’s Tips!
- Use softened coconut oil: To get that perfect apple crisp topping, make sure your coconut oil is solid but not rock hard. If your kitchen is warm and the coconut oil is too soft, just pop it in the fridge for a few minutes before mixing!
- Use your hands: I like to use my hands to work the coconut oil into the dry ingredients until it forms pea-sized clumps. This gives you a deliciously crumbly topping that turns golden and crispy in the oven.
- Cover with foil: If you notice that your topping is browning too quickly in the oven you can cover it with tin foil to prevent it from burning!
How to Serve Apple Crisp
Served warm, this apple crisp is absolutely delicious on its own, but if you really want the full experience I recommend serving it with some toppings. Here are some ideas:
- Ice cream – I love eating it with Halo Top Creamery vanilla ice cream, which is a low cal/low sugar ice cream that actually tastes pretty darn good!
- Yogurt – add creaminess and protein by adding yogurt as a topping! Pro tip: whip the yogurt in a food processor for a light and airy texture.
- Whipped cream – can’t go wrong with classic whipped cream!
- Coconut whip – looking for a dairy-free option? I love topping this apple crisp with coconut whipped cream!
- Caramel sauce – want more caramel-y flavor? Drizzle my date caramel sauce over top!
Can You Make This Apple Crisp Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can totally make this apple crisp recipe ahead of time, which is perfect if you’re serving it for Thanksgiving dessert and have a ton of other dishes to make. There are a couple of options that work really well.
OPTION 1: BAKE AND THEN REHEAT BEFORE SERVING
Prepare your crisp as the recipe suggests. Once baked, let it cool, cover the baking dish and place it in the fridge. You can do this 1-2 days in advance. When ready to serve, take your crisp out from the fridge, cover with foil and reheat in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes.
OPTION 2: PREP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT BAKING
Simply prepare your crisp as the recipe suggests without baking it. Cover your dish with foil, place it in the fridge and then bake it as directed below before you’re ready to serve.
How to Store Leftovers
At room temperature: Leftovers will store well at room temperature for about 2 days.
In the fridge: For longer storage, store this apple crisp in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
In the freezer: I don’t recommend freezing leftovers because I don’t think the crisp topping will hold up.
Reheating: This crisp is delicious warm, at room temperature or cold straight from the fridge, but if you want to reheat leftovers I recommend reheating it in the oven or a toaster oven for the best results. The microwave will work for reheating, but it will, but it will make the crumble topping soggy and not as crisp!
Frequently Asked Questions
Depending on where you live, apple crisp and apple crumble may mean the same thing! In the United States, they are slightly different dishes. Apple crisp is baked apples topped with a mixture of oats, nuts, sugar and spices. Apple crumble is also baked apples but is topped with more of a streusel mixture of flour, sugar and butter. No matter what you call it, they’re both delicious!
No! This is totally a personal preference. I’ve made these muffins with both peeled and unpeeled apples and both are delicious! If the skin doesn’t bother you then you can totally skip peeling the apples, which will save time! Once the apples are cooked the skin will soften so it’s hardly noticeable.
I haven’t tried it, but it should work just fine to double the recipe and make it in a 9×13 pan. When it comes to the bake time the crisp might need a few more minutes, so I’d just keep an eye on it.
Not all apples are great for baking. When choosing apples for baking you want apples that are firm and keep their structure under heat and don’t turn into mush after baking. The crisp and firm Granny Smith and Honeycrisp varieties are the most popular when it comes to baking. Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Fuji, Cortland and Jonagold are also great options. Feel free to use just one variety or use an assortment of varieties. I like to use both sweet and tart apples in this crisp!
More Apple Recipes
Be sure to check out all of my apple recipes as well as the full collection of dessert recipes here on EBF!
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