This gluten free apple crumble recipe is loaded with the season’s best apples and topped with crisp chunks of apple spiced goodness. Make it with or without oats!
All summer long, I dream of the crispness of the first real fall days, when I can layer up with warm sweaters and dig out my LL Bean fuzzy slippers. If we can squeeze in a trip to the apple orchard, in between softball games, track meets and homework, I’m in leaf-kicking heaven.
Of course, it goes without saying that baking gluten free with apples is a favorite pastime around here. Somehow, though, we’ve never made a gluten free apple crumble together. The differences between a crisp, a crumble, a cobbler, a pie and a galette are sometimes more than I can possibly bear. Not that it’s so difficult, but there just doesn’t really seem to be a general consensus.
And really the most important thing is that we have your favorite baking apples, the right fall spices, and something warm and buttery. This apple crumble ticks all the boxes.
There’s so much ground cinnamon in the rich and buttery crumble topping that the raw crumble almost looks like it’s already browned in the oven. Luckily, you don’t need to see the topping browning to know that it’s done.
Once the apple filling is bubbling and fragrant, you’ll know that it’s ready. I like to cover the baking dish covered with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes of baking. That way, the topping doesn’t burn before the apples are super tender.
You can make the crumble topping ahead of time, then chill it, break it into chunks and store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Then, when you’re feeling like a bit of gluten free apple crumble, peel, core and slice the apples and bake it to dreamy fall perfection.
Like any baking recipe that contains warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, feel free to customize the spice to suit your tastes. If you like cinnamon, but think the amount I specify in the filling or topping might be too much for you, cut it back. If you love nutmeg but are afraid not everyone does, leave it out of the topping and just sprinkle some on top of your portion before serving.
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, unless I specifically indicate otherwise, I haven’t tried this recipe with any substitutions. But here are my best-educated guesses!
Dairy-Free: Instead of 12 tablespoons (168 g) of butter, use 14 tablespoons (168 g) butter-flavored Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening.
Oat-Free: When properly sourced, oats are in fact gluten free. But if you need or want to avoid them, try replacing the 1/2 cup (50 g) of certified gluten free old-fashioned rolled oats with quinoa flakes, or 1/4 cup (35 g) all purpose gluten free flour.
Nut-Free: Just leave out the nuts! I’ve made this recipe both with and without the nuts, and all you miss when leaving out the nuts … is the taste of nuts. :)
Push Play ▶️ To Watch Me Make This Gluten Free Apple Crumble
For the visual learners among us, here’s a video of my two hands making this amazing fall dessert. Push play to watch, then it’s your turn!
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!
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I halved the recipe and changed it up a bit to make it fit my budget better: left out the xanthan gum entirely, used white sugar instead of brown, used lard instead of butter, walnuts instead of almonds, rice flour instead of fancy flour. It was really good! I think all of my substitutions worked well enough and it was really yummy, but I think brown sugar is much nicer than white sugar and is the only substitution I regret.
left off the most important bit: Thank you for the recipe! It was really easy and quick to make and the instructions were very clear.
I’m glad you found something that worked for you! For others’ benefit, that’s essentially a new recipe and I don’t recommend all those substitutions.
Excellent recipe as usual! Thank you for coming up with gluten free recipes that are tasty and allow us to not be left out when others are eating the gluten version. :)
Thank you so much for the kind words, Robyn. And I’m so glad you liked the crumble!!
Can this apple crisp be frozen? I’m overloaded with apples and would love to throw together a few crisps to freeze for winter. If so, what would be the process? I am a gluten free cooking/baking newbie. So I dare not change a thing without asking. ;)
That’s a good practice, Denise, to follow a recipe religiously! :) Yes, it can definitely be frozen. You could assemble the whole thing and then freeze it in the 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan. Then, defrost at room temperature and then bake as directed. Or, you could make the topping and freeze just that in a sealed, freezer-safe container. Then prepare the filling, top and bake.
Thanks Nicole, I baked this with my daughter tonight and it was a huge hit. We did the no oats version (I can’t get GF oats in Australia) and just added some shredded coconut, which worked really well.
Awesome, Vic!!
This looks very good. In the south most crisp are made with oatmeal and flour where as crumbles are just flour. Our cobblers usually have a thin/thick crust and the fruit has lots of juice in the filling.
Thanks for all your hard work.
This will not allow me to leave my name. I will just add it here.
Charlotte Moore
Going to give it a try. I’ll probably use coconut oil. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Sounds delicious!
I think this sounds absolutely delicious and I am going to try it!! Thanks for sharing!
can i Use oil instead of butter in the crumble recipe?
Please see the post for substitution information, Eitan!
Nicole, I always make this dish with just apples and cinnamon in the bottom layer! I think bakes up great! Although, a suit of lemon juice over the apples before topping with the crumble adds a nice tang to it!:)
Hey Nicole,
We really appreciate all your hard work and your great recipes.
We have 4 coeliacs in our family, they also cannot have oats or legumes so your recipes are fantastic for us. However most of your sweet recipes are way too sweet for Australian palates and work just fine when the sugar is reduced by about a 1/3 , as you say that’s a variation we are happy to try and we haven’t had any failures yet.
Many thank for sharing
It matters not, what sugar you use: Coconut sugar, Maple sugar, “raw” sugar are all simply “sugar” to your body. Some have a lower glycemic index, but are also less sweet and more must be used to achieve desired level of sweetness- kind of negating the “low glycemic” part. Your body responds to the carbohydrate by releasing an appropriate amount of insulin to help you metabolize it. No such thing as a “healthier sugar”. 😄
This is a great crumble topping, and you can always leave the sugar out of the filling if you want it more sharp. Nutmeg isn’t something we’d normally put in crumble topping here in UK, but it’s a great addition and it’ll be a useful topping to keep in the fridge for making a quick pud with any fruit. I’m following Nicole so I can cook fo my other half who is not just gluten free, but low FODMAP too which kicks out of the window the lovely autumnal fruits like apples pears or plums you’d usually top with crumble at this time of year and two years ago before I found the GFOAS blog had me tearing my hair out. But now with I just substitute pineapple or blueberries which taste almost as good. A thin layer of lemon/lime marmalade, topped with satsumas and then this crumble is also a good low FODMAP variation. Thank you so much, Nicole for all the work you put into these recipes!
You cannot leave the sugar out of the filling, Franni, as it’s necessary for more than just sweetness. Sugar is a tenderizer in baking.
What do you use to grease a baking dish.
Hi, Mike, you can use any sort of fat. I either use room temperature unsalted butter, or a neutral cooking oil spray.
I am sitting at my desk at work salivating right now! I love that it is apple baking season (I am not a pumpkin fan at all)!
I am surprised to that you are not substituting COCONUT SUGAR for both the brown sugar and white sugar. A dash to taste of REAL maple syrup adds a good flavor as well. Many of your gluten free recipes have Way too much processed sugar to be healthy Raw honey Real maple syrup And coconut sugar are all delicious and healthier options
Ellie, Nicole’s blog is a gluten free blog. She does do some paleo recipes and lighter recipes, but her blog’s focus is gluten free. She encourages your own experimentation and substitutions. If you do so, please report back with what you substituted and how it came out.
Ellie, this isn’t a “healthy” food blog. And baking requires precise amounts of ingredients, not a dash to taste.
Just make sure it’s pure maple syrup as Carmel color contains gluten!
Actually, caramel color in the U.S. is only a problem if the label says so, Gail!: https://www.glutenfreeliving.com/gluten-free-foods/ingredients/top-10-ingredients-you-really-dont-need-to-worry-about/