Cozy up with a delicious and easy Gluten Free Apple Crisp. It mixes up quickly, freezes well, and adds just the right sweet ending to any meal. It makes a great addition to your stash of Holiday Freezer Meals.
Serve this Easy Apple Crisp with Maple Whipped Cream or scoops of Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. It’s the perfect recipe to try when you’re starting out in gluten-free baking.
With fresh apples available to us for several more months it’s time to enjoy them in all kinds of baked goods. Apple Cinnamon Muffins are delicious as is Slow Cooker Applesauce. But one of my favorite apple dishes is this Easy Gluten Free Apple Crisp.
Now that one of my kids has been diagnosed with possible celiac, I’ve had to pivot in the kitchen a bit. Prepping foods that everyone can eat safely has become one of my big goals.
I was so happy to see how easy it is make apple crisp gluten free!
Why Make This
It’s allergen-friendly. This Apple Crisp is already gluten- and nut-free, but it can easy be made vegan/dairy-free by a small swap in the type of butter you use.
It’s customizable for size. Different from a pie that can really only be made in an 8-serving size, you can use any baking dish you like for this Gluten Free Apple Crisp: pie plate, baking dish, or even small ramekins. If you use ramekins you can serve the crisp in their baking dishes and have fewer dishes to wash!
It’s easier to eat than other apple desserts. I do a couple things differently with this Gluten Free Apple Crisp. Instead of slicing the apples as for a pie, I cut them into bite-sized chunks. I don’t typically serve a crisp in slices with a fork and a plate, but in big scoops in a bowl to eat with a spoon. Cutting the apples into chunks makes eating easier and not so awkward.
You can freeze this Gluten Free Apple Crisp. Whether you make it full size or in single serve dishes, this recipe freezes beautifully, making it easy to keep a gluten-free dessert on hand all the time.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make Gluten Free Apple Crisp:
apples – You’ll need about 2 pounds of apples which works out to around 6 apples. Be sure to use apples that are good for baking.
granulated sugar – This sweetens the apples and thickens the juices. You can use brown sugar if you’re in a pinch. I chose not to sweeten the crumble top. There’s plenty of sugar in the apple mixture as well as in the whipped cream to serve alongside, so it’s a fairly low-sugar recipe.
lemon juice – Lemon juice prevents the apples from browning and adds a bit of tart to the filling.
ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg – You can use other apple pie spices, but cinnamon and nutmeg work really well to flavor the apples.
gluten free baking mix – This is a nice replacement for flour that might be in a traditional apple crisp. I tested this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free mix. You may have different results with an alternate baking mix.
butter – I use regular dairy butter in baked goods, but you can use margarine instead or a plant butter if you want to make this apple crisp gluten free and vegan as well.
rolled oats – Oats are what make this an apple crisp and not a crumble. Be sure they are marked gluten-free as oats are something that is easily cross-contaminated with wheat.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make this Gluten Free Apple Crisp:
Prep step – Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or 8 ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into the pie plate, spreading evenly, or spoon into the ramekins.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, place the baking mix and butter cubes. Pulse until pea-sized lumps form. Mix in the oats. Alternatively, you can do this in a small bowl and cut the butter into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender until crumbly.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apple filling. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until filling bubbles and topping is browned. Reduce baking time to 20 minutes for the ramekins.
If topping browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil until baking is complete. Allow to cool about an hour. Serve with whipped cream, whipped topping, or vanilla ice cream.
FAQs and Recipe Costs
You can omit the oats from apple crisp. Technically, it won’t be a crisp. It would be properly called an apple crumble.
Apple crisp is stopped with a Streusel Topping made of butter, flour, and oats or nuts. To make it gluten free, a gf baking mix can be used in place of the flour.
While apple peels are edible, they don’t get meltingly tender when baked like the apple filling does. For best texture, peel the apples for a crisp or pie.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- apples – $2.00
- sugar – $0.22
- lemon juice – $0.10
- spices – $0.05
- gluten free baking mix – $0.98
- butter – $0.50
- rolled oats – $0.08
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $3.93 for a Gluten Free Apple Crisp, about $0.49/serving.
More Great Gluten-Free Recipes
Gluten Free Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- 6 apple peeled, cored, and chopped (about 2 pounds)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 cup gluten free baking mix such as Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free mix
- ½ cup butter cut into cubes
- ¼ cup rolled oats be sure they are marked gluten-free
- whipped cream for topping the crisp or ice cream, if you prefer
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or 8 ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, place the baking mix and butter cubes. Pulse until pea-sized lumps form. Mix in the oats. Alternatively, you can do this in a small bowl and cut the butter into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender until crumbly.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into the pie plate, spreading evenly, or spoon into the ramekins.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apple filling. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until filling bubbles and topping is browned. Reduce baking time to 20 minutes for the ramekins. If topping browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil until baking is complete. Allow to cool about an hour. Serve with whipped cream, whipped topping, or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on March 6, 2016. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Jeanne
I was in intrigued by your recipe so thought I would share my apple crisp recipe that I have been making for 30 years –
Pretty similar to your recipe but with less flour and sugar. 4 cups sliced tart apples ( I use Granny Smith). 1/4 cup hot water, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon – Arrange apples in an 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish. Pour hot water over apples. Cut butter into flour/sugar/cinnamon mixture and sprinkle over apples. Bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes. Double recipe for 9 x 13 pan. Enjoy !
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Jeanne!
karen
We love apple crisp! I usually add a handful of frozen cranberries to the apples. YUM!
Jessica Fisher
Sounds great!
Melissa
Apple crisp is one of my favorite desserts. I had never thought about chopping the apples though. I’ll definitley try it next time! I like to make mine in layers of apples, crumb topping, apples, crumb topping.
Jessica Fisher
Was much easier to serve. Curious about your double layers. Does the bottom layer of crumb stay crisp?
Melissa
It doesn’t stay crisp as the top layer does but creates A sort of crust as the butter and liquid from the apples cook with the flour and oats.
Joshua Hampton
I didn’t know apples are a thing on St. Patrick’s Day. So happy to learn something new. And this apple crisp, I love how simple and homey it looks. It’s comfort dessert for me.
Jessica Fisher
Yep, same here.