Baking for a vegan and gluten free crowd might sound hard. But hey: apple crumble to the rescue! Fruit crumbles and crisps are easy to make both vegan and gluten free: they don’t need gluten for structure and they don’t need butter for flavor. Basically, they’re the perfect dessert for feeding a crowd of different diets! This is really best apple crumble: cinnamon and fresh ginger make the filling irresistible. And, it makes a big cozy 9 x 13 pan! Alex made up this recipe and it’s become a favorite ever since.
How to make gluten free vegan apple crumble
This recipe is our family’s favorite apple crumble! Sometimes we make it with butter and all purpose flour, other times we use this plant based dessert version! Either way, it makes one seriously delicious huge pan of crumble. Our favorite part is the sweet tart apple filling: using fresh ginger makes for a total wow factor. There are a few simple tricks for making a gluten free and vegan apple crumble:
Use coconut oil. Coconut oil is a great vegan substitute for butter because it’s a solid fat: its texture is similar to butter and it works similarly in baked goods! While the flavor of butter is a bit more savory and rich, it’s only a slight difference. You will notice that with a vegan apple crumble using coconut oil, the crumble topping will be softer and less crisp that it would be with butter. But it still tastes amazing!Use almond flour. Now that gluten-free flours are easy to find, almond flour is perfect for gluten free fruit crumbles. Because a crumble doesn’t need the structure that gluten gives, it’s easy to substitute alternate flours. We like to use almond flour to keep it a little more crunchy, but you could also use something like oat flour. (Want more with almond flour? We’ve got 10 easy almond recipes for you to try.)
Best apples for apple crumble or crisp
What are the best apples to use in a vegan and gluten free apple crumble or apple crisp? Baking apples are crisp apples that hold their shape when baked: Alex and I prefer apples that are on the tart side, so we recommend a crisp sweet tart apple. Here are some of the apple varieties that make for the best apple crumble:
Jonathon or JonagoldIda Red HoneycrispGolden DeliciousGranny Smith
How to top vegan apple crumble
Of course, the classic topping for apple crumble is a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream? But what do you do for a vegan, plant based or dairy free diet when it comes to toppings? Here are a few suggestions:
Vegan / Dairy-Free Whipped Cream: Did you know you can make whipped cream out of coconut milk? The fat in cold coconut milk solidifies: take that portion and whip it with a little sugar. It whips into a fluffy topping that’s so close to the texture of whipped cream!Vegan Ice Cream: There are lots of great vegan ice cream brands out there these days. Our favorite type of vegan ice cream we’ve tried is made from oat milk, but there are lots of coconut and almond based ice creams too. Or, you could make homemade Cinnamon Vegan Ice Cream.
Other gluten free fruit crumbles and crisps
Because we love making vegan desserts and gluten free desserts (see both links for more), we’ve experimented quite a bit with fruit crumbles and crisps. Here are our favorite gluten free fruit crumbles and crisps, which all have vegan options as well.
Instant Pot Apple Crisp This gluten free and vegan apple crisp is made with granola and coconut oil: it cooks up in no time in a pressure cooker!Classic Strawberry Crumble or Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Knockout strawberry desserts! Use the almond flour option for gluten free.Easy Blueberry Crisp This one is a winner: the blueberries are barely sweetened and the crunchy crumble is flavored with a little lavender. Peach Crisp with Basil Here basil brings an herbaceous flair to this peach crumble.
Also try: our 25 Top Gluten Free Dairy Free Recipes!
This apple crumble recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free. No reviews
6 medium to large cooking apples 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger 2 tablespoons lemon juice Zest of 1/2 lemon ½ cup sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg 2 tablespoons cornstarch ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the crumble
¾ cup almond flour ¾ cup packed brown sugar 1 cup rolled gluten free oats ½ cup chopped walnuts ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon vanilla 8 tablespoons refined coconut oil (room temperature)
