This is definitely the best vegan apple crumble. A million times better than the classic version, and it's naturally gluten-free and dairy-free!
Oh... hello fall season! I'm super excited to start the baking season all over again, and the first recipe that jumped in mind was this delicious vegan apple crumble.
I've been making this crumble for YEARS, and the family still can't get enough!
This recipe has been tested, improved and approved exhaustively, to bring you the BEST apple crisp you'll ever make.
I'm a massive apple fan, and right now the farmer's market is PACKED with the most delicious varieties out there.
From the tart Granny Smith to the sweet Honeycrisp, there's a different apple for every day of the year, and even more *there are actually more than 7000 apple varieties in the world*.
And as much as I love biting into a juicy apple, this crumble, served warm with some ice cream on top, is definitely my favourite way to make the most of apple season.
This vegan crumble features a nutritious crisp topping of toasted hazelnut and almond flour and a deliciously warm spiced apple and cranberry filling.
It's my kind of dessert. FULL of flavour, with a perfectly balanced combination of sweet, tart, crunchy and spice flavours.
Plus, the dairy-free crumble topping with almond flour and added nuts, turns it into an energy-packed treat to easily fuel you up during the cold season!
Here are a few reasons why you should love this dessert:
- vegan
- gluten-free
- only 2 steps required
- ready in less than 40 minutes
- made with simple ingredients
All You Need Is Simple Ingredients
This is the easiest crumble recipe you can possibly make, and requires less than 10 ingredients:
- apples
- cranberries
- coconut oil
- demerara sugar
- almond flour
- hazelnuts
- a few favourite spices (I use a combination of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg).
Traditional crumble recipes call for tons of sugar, flour and butter, but this apple crumble has a reduced amount of sugar and no flour or butter in sight.
I like to use dark or light demerara sugar, but you can also use regular brown sugar if you like.
Avoid white sugar and caster sugar, as I find they're both overly sweet and they don't add the subtle but lovely caramel note as the other mentioned sugars.
For the crumble topping:
I use a combination of almond flour, toasted chopped hazelnuts, a pinch of sea salt, demerara sugar and coconut oil, and the result is totally amazing!
For the apple filling:
You can use your favourite apples, as long as you choose the ones with a firm and crisp texture.
I usually go for a mix of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp (or Braeburn) apples when making this delicious crumble. They have a firm texture and a nice mix of tart and sweet flavour, which goes very well with sweet cranberries.
Step-by-step recipe
Ok, I've said it before, but allow me to say it again, this recipe is SO EASY.
And requires the minimum amount of tools, in fact, one bowl and an ovenproof dish is all you need.
First thing, peel, core and slice the apples and place them in a large bowl (you can do this in advance and drizzle a little lemon juice on top to avoid them browning).
Then add cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger powder, and mix everything together.
Distribute the mixture evenly into a medium baking dish.
For the crumble topping, place about 1/2 cup of almond flour, toasted chopped hazelnuts, melted coconut oil (or vegan butter), sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt, in the same bowl you used for mixing the topping.
Mix everything together until the mixture you have resembles breadcrumbs. If it's a little too wet, add some extra almond flour.
Distribute the crumble mixture evenly over the apple filling. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake at 180C for 30 minutes.
Note: For a super crunchy texture some pastry chefs suggest to preheat the oven to 200 C, then place the crumble in the oven and reduce to 180 C.
After 30 minutes, your kitchen will smell amazing, and your apple crisp should be nicely golden and crunchy on top, and deliciously soft on the inside.
It's time to take it out from the oven and allow it to cool slightly.
Then, serve your crumble with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy every bit of it.
Tips and tricks
- - You can easily make a large cake-sized version as featured here, or mini individual portions for a more sophisticated dessert.
- -This crumble freezes super well. After baking it, store in freezer-friendly containers for up to 1 month.
- -If you don't like cranberries, substitute with chopped dried figs, or chopped pear.
- -If you can't have hazelnuts or almonds, substitute with walnuts, cashew nuts, pecans or pistachios.
This apple crumble tastes incredible, is loaded with flavour, made with simple ingredients, and it's just way better than the classic version.
Plus, it's totally allergy-friendly (peanut-free, egg-free, dairy-free & gluten-free), so it would make a great dessert for the upcoming Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner parties.
If you're looking for a heart-warming dessert to make all season long, look no further.
This is the ultimate apple dessert you should be baking until spring!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Please let me know how you liked it! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thepetitecook! Looking at your pictures always makes me smile *and super hungry*!
The BEST Vegan Apple Crumble
Ingredients
Filling:
- 2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 2 Honeycrisp apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp dried cranberries softened, chopped
- 1 tsp demerara sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
Topping:
- 115 gr hazelnuts toasted and roughly chopped
- 120 gr almond flour
- 1 tbsp rice flour optional
- 4 tbsp demerara sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp coconut butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.
- In a large bowl, mix sliced apples, cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger powder. Distribute the mixture evenly in a medium baking dish.
- In the bowl previously used, mix together chopped hazelnuts, almond flour, rice flour, demerara sugar, cinnamon, salt and coconut butter. If the mixture looks too wet add in 1 tbsp of rice flour.
- Distribute the topping mixture evenly all over the apple filling.
- Place the apple crisp in the oven, and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the apple filling is soft and the topping is crunchy and golden-brown. If the top browns too quickly, cover with foil and continue to bake.
- Once ready, remove the apple crumble from the oven and allow to cool before serving.
Notes
- You can choose any apple variety, as long as it has a firm and crisp texture, and a slightly tart flavour. I like to use a combination of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples
- You may use only hazelnuts or substitute half the amount with almond flakes, pecan nuts, walnuts or pistachio.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Originally published in December 2014, updated with new words in post, new photos and more helpful info.
Hi i love this recipe, just one question, do you have to add water to the apple ingredients or just cook without liquid
Hey Jess! I'm so glad to hear you like the recipe! I don't add water, I did try a different version of this recipe where the filling was briefly cooked over the hob and I did add some water in the mixture, however the filling comes out a bit soggy, so I went back to this original version where the filling is not cooked beforehand and the result is so much better!
Hi Esther, there was a bit of a mixed up with the recipe when I updated the post, it's all sorted now and the old recipe (triple tested just to make sure) is back on!
Sorry to disturb Andrea... but I don’t seem to find that old version of the recipe ? Could you please send on this thread?
Hi Esther, no disturb at all, I'm always here for you guys 🙂 The recipe has been updated so what you see on this page is the actual old&true version of the recipe! Let me know if you need anything else!
Thank you very much ?
Oh how delicious this looks. I absolutely love apple crumble. It's one of my favorite Fall treat really. Can't wait to give your version a try. Sounds very flavorful and sooooo good.
Now this is the way to my heart, crumble truly is my love language - and this one is amazing!
This looks SO delicious and I love that it's vegan. I also love your addition of cranberries. I bet their flavor blend perfectly with the apples.
I absolutely love this vegan apple crumble! I am also the dessert provider for just about every Holiday! I have vegan, dairy free, gluten-free, etc. I am always looking for delicious desserts! I love the flavors and the crumble is perfect!
My neighbor brought over apples yesterday and I made some caramel apples but now I need more recipes to use them up soon. I love apple crisp but I haven't made an apple crumble. It has all the same flavors I love the most and I know it'll taste great with ice cream.
This Apple Crumble is calling my name! I would love a big bowl with some vanilla frozen yogurt. I've really been wanting to make a dessert with apples with all of the varieties in the stores right now. This will be perfect!
Oh! A topping without oats! I made an apple cranberry crumble recipe for years, using oats as the topping - and now I've discovered that I cross react to them, but I haven't gotten around to adapting the recipe. I"d just gotten to the time of year when I think "I really need to figure that out..." and look - you did it for me!. And the whole recipe looks delicious...
Thank you for Sharing vegan version. Recipe looks so flavorful. Can' t wait to try these.
This looks so good - I bet I wouldn't even miss the butter. I love the combo of apples you chose. Yum!
The combination of spices is fantastic, just right to my taste. We dont do a lot of vegan recipes at home , hopefully will start with your apple crumble!
I love that you've added cranberries to this to kick the flavor up even more! I bet the coconut butter is fantastic in this!
Wow! What a beautiful apple crumble! I love the addition of the cranberries here and I really love that the recipe is vegan. This is perfect for Fall!
This looks amazing! I found your blog via the #bibs shortlist - good luck!
Thank you so much Tina! All fingers crossed for the #bibs2018 :)!
Hello Petite, I tried this recipe with enthusiasm. Well it really didn't turn out right for me but I'm eager to find out why maybe you could help: I used coconut flour instead of almond flour, I used walnuts and pecan instead of hazelnut but I don't think that should have mattered. I also think I made too much topping and the apples were overcooked. The main issue though was that the topping did not stick together, it was so powdery that a few times it dried the back of the throat and we nearly choked lol. Could that be the coconut flour ??
Hi Nat, I'm so sorry to hear the apple crumble didn't turn out quite right, I've had a similar issue not long time ago. I used coconut flour instead of almond flour and it came out crumbly and sandy and not holding together, so I recommend you try it with almond flour next time (I also suggest to add 2 tbsp of rice flour for a more compact result). I love your walnuts and pecan topping by the way, I can't wait to give it a go myself!
I struggle with coconut flour, i think its because it absorbs a huge amount of moisture it does seem to dry recipies out x
The topping was deliciously nutty and sweet and did not burn but mine did not become crunchy as a good crumble should. Perhaps some flour would help - gluten free if necessary.
Perfect for the holidays! Thanks for sharing.
I got a great result from the recipe! Best crumble I have ever eaten actually. Not usually a fan. So sorry Judit, think this problem is down to you 🙂
Hi Phil, thank you SO much for your feedback 🙂 It really makes my day reading comments like yours!
Hi. I am sorry, but your recipe doesn't quite work as it should. I find that the ingredients for the topping weren't enough and it is way to much sugar in it, which results in burning the top after 20 minutes in the oven.
Hi Judit, thank you for letting me know. I'm a bit puzzled as it did work perfectly for me as you can see from the picture, maybe you can reduce the sugar if you think is too much and cover the crumble with foil while it cooks. But ingredients proportions are very similar to BBC apple crumble recipe ( although their version is not vegan).