Gluten Free Apple Crisp

This gluten free apple crisp has warm spices, brown sugar, and big chunks of fork tender apples and an extra nubby crisp topping for all the texture of apple pie in every bite.

How to prepare the apples

This apple recipe calls for chopping your peeled and cored apples into chunks. That way, the apples in the filling remain chunky and don't turn into applesauce.

To ensure that no one bites into a crispy piece of apple, and that all the apple chunks are perfectly fork-tender, we begin by baking the filling alone in the baking dish. During this step the baking dish is covered with foil to capture the steam the apples give off, which helps them cook quickly but still gently (stirring once after 15 minutes, to make use of the liquid that forms on the bottom of the baking dish).

When the crisp topping is added, the apples are about halfway to being fork-tender. When you return the apple crisp to the oven without the foil cover, the crisp topping bakes and browns beautifully in just the time it takes for the apples to finish baking and make a delicious, caramel-style sauce.

If you'd prefer to slice the apples into 1/4-inch thick slices, you can follow the instructions for preparing the filling in our recipe for gluten free apple crumble.

How to make different gluten free fruit desserts

Gluten free apple crisp is one thing, but not all gluten free fruit dessert recipes follow the same rules. If you'd prefer to make a fruit dessert with berries, for example, you'd need a different recipe, like our master fruit crumble recipe, which can be made with any berry or combination of berries.

Not only do berries bake differently than apples and stone fruits, but their flavor profiles are different. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and even blackberries begin to break down as soon as you apply heat on the stovetop or in the oven.

Stone fruits, like peaches and nectarines, and to a lesser extent apricots and plums, are more fibrous than berries. Apples are much more fibrous than other fruits, so they must be baked longer and often differently (like this apple crisp recipe, where we parbake them first for 30 minutes without the crisp topping).

Although all the warm spices, like cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon, are perfect for apples and even stone fruits, berries are best with a touch of sugar and salt alone.

Topping ingredients

A crisp is a crustless fruit-based dessert with a warm, brown sugar topping that “crisps” really well in the oven. We don't want the topping to hold its shape during baking.

If you see any large clumps of topping when it’s raw, break them up! That's why we don't refrigerate the topping unless the butter was too hot and the topping is really really loose.

In this topping recipe, you'll find the simplest ingredients. They are:

• Gluten free flour, for structure
• Granulated sugar for crispness and sweetness
• Light brown sugar for sweetness, caramelization, and aroma
• Butter, for fat, crispness, and flavor
• Oats, for texture (but they can be replaced if you can't have oats)
• Warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, for aroma and warmth
• A touch of salt, to brighten the flavors

Other easy gluten free apple desserts

I used to consider baking with apples to be something best reserved for the chill of fall weather, when apples are in season, especially here in my home state of New York. After all, I only buy summer fruits like fresh berries and watermelon when they're in season.

But apples are like bananas these days: always available in every grocery store, and always just as good as they'll ever be. In apple season, there are more varieties available, but you'll almost always find Granny Smith apples and they're ideal for using in this recipe, and these other easy gf apple desserts:

• Gluten Free Apple Pie
• Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts
• Gluten Free Apple Fritters
• Miniature Handheld Gluten Free Apple Pies

How to make crisp without oats

It is possible to make a gluten free apple crisp without oats. When properly sourced, certified gluten free oats are gluten free. However, you may still need or want to avoid them. In this recipe, making a substitute for oats is quite simple:

To replace the ½ cup (50 g) of certified gluten free old-fashioned rolled oats in the gf apple crisp topping recipe here, please use one of the following:

• an equal amount, by weight, of quinoa flakes (buckwheat flakes would also work, but they’re not easily available in the U.S.); or
• ¼ cup (36 g) additional all purpose gluten free flour blend. Just use more of the gf flour blend you’re already using.

Ingredients substitutions

Dairy free

The only dairy used  in this recipe is the butter in the topping. Since we're melting the butter, and we want it to brown, I think nearly any butter substitute would work well here.

If you use Earth Balance buttery sticks or another margarine-type dairy free butter alternative, you may have to reduce the second baking time, so just watch it carefully for browning. If you're using vegan butter, like Melt brand or Miyoko's Kitchen brand, there shouldn't be any difference in baking.

Oat free

In brief, if you can't have or would prefer to avoid even certified gluten free oats, try replacing them with 50 grams of quinoa flakes, or an additional ¼ cup (36 g) of your all purpose gluten free flour blend. For a more complete discussion of making gluten free apple crisp without oats, please see that heading above.

Storage instructions

Leftovers of keep well, although the topping will soften as it sits on top of the wet filling. Place leftovers in a sealed storage container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Before serving, warm it in a heat-safe dish in the toaster oven at 300°F until heated through. This should also help crisp the topping, but it won't be like it was fresh out of the oven.

You can make the filling ahead of time either in the oven or on the stovetop. Cool it completely, then store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Then, proceed with the recipe as written from the start, ignoring the instructions to cook the apple filling until fork tender.

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