This gluten-free apple crisp is vegan and date sweetened, and it’s the best thing that’s come out of my kitchen in a while. With only 10 ingredients, it comes together quickly and can be prepped in minutes. While this recipe uses hazelnut butter and meal, these can easily be substituted – see below for more on this.
For some more naturally sweetened seasonal fruit crisps, try my plum crisp with oatmeal streusel, gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp, and pear crisp with hazelnuts and chocolate.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Oats: quick cook oats are better here – if you don’t have any, just pulse rolled oats a few times in a food processor to chop them up a bit.
- Spices: add extra spices like cardamom and cloves if you like lots of spice.
- Coconut oil: another oil that’s solid at room temperature, or butter, can replace the coconut oil if preferred.
- Hazelnut meal: almond meal can be subbed for hazelnut, or use ground sunflower seeds. Make your own hazelnut meal by blending raw hazelnuts in a food processor until a fine meal forms.
- Hazelnut butter: substitute almond, or use sunflower seed butter if you need a nut-free option.
Recipe Notes
A few notes about the crumble – the topping can burn quite quickly if you leave it in the oven too long, as dates have a tendency to do that, so keep an eye on it. If it is browning too much, loosely cover with a sheet of parchment paper (don’t tuck it in, just lay it over the baking dish) and that should stop it.
I either mash dates with a fork if they’re soft (less dishes) or blend them up in a food processor. If your dates are too hard, soak them in hot water for 30 minutes beforehand.
How to Store
Storage: the crisp will keep for a day, covered, at room temperature. For longer storage, refrigerate in a sealed container for 3-4 days. Note that the topping will soften as it’s stored.
Freezing: transfer the fully cooled apple crisp into an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.
Newsletter
Expert Tips
- Add lemon: if the apples you have are very sweet, add the juice of half a lemon to the apple mixture. I suggest using more tart baking apples if they’re available.
- Sweeten to taste: the maple syrup in the apple filling is optional and I don’t usually add it. If you have a real sweet tooth, include it.
- Don’t skip the nut butter: this improves the texture and makes the topping rich and much more flavourful, very similar to a butter streusel but with a nutty twist.
More Apple Desserts
Vegan Apple Cake
Apple Crumble Cake
Apple Crumble Bars
Healthy Baked Apples
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Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram apples diced (about ten apples)
- 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup optional
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg*
Hazelnut Oat Crumble Topping
- 70 grams hazelnut meal
- 50 grams quick-cook oats**
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 100 grams soft dates mashed
- 60 grams solid coconut oil
- 50 grams hazelnut butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and set aside a baking dish (mine was about 30cmx20cm).
- Core and dice the apples and place them into the baking dish. Add the maple syrup (if using) and spices, and mix until the apples are coated.1 kilogram apples, 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*
- To make the crumble, mix the hazelnut meal, oats, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the mashed dates, coconut oil, and hazelnut butter, and use your hands to mix until a crumble forms.70 grams hazelnut meal, 50 grams quick-cook oats**, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 100 grams soft dates, 60 grams solid coconut oil, 50 grams hazelnut butter
- Top the apples with an even layer of crumble, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the apples are cooked and the topping is golden. Serve warm with a little non-dairy yogurt, coconut whipped cream, or ice cream.
Notes
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
MG says
It turned out great! Crumble was awesome with nice texture and delicate hazelnut flavor.
However, I found that 1 kg of apples was too much. I used an 8” by 8” baking dish and it was pretty much full with just over a pound of diced apples. Crumble was just enough to cover the apples.