Vegan Apple Crumble (Gluten-Free)
Apple crumble—one of those classic dessert dishes (and probably the oldest) that you can find. With so many variations of it out there, I wanted to keep it simple, tasty, vegan (of course) gluten-free, and healthy(ish)!
You can jazz it up with some nuts, raisins, or other fruits in the filling but I sometimes love to keep it simple and use spices to make it interesting. You can certainly opt out of some of them, but they add a beautifully diverse range of flavours. Ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon are a great combination.
I love using the oven for recipes, especially with desserts. This vegan apple crumble turned out perfectly the first time I tested it. I love that the top adds a lovely crunch but doesn’t overpower the apples. They work as a great combination to balance each other out. The apples themselves are rich, soft, and gooey.
What is the difference between an apple crumble and an apple crisp?
When I first started writing this post, I wanted to see what else was out there. I came across quite a few recipes that were apple crisps rather than apple crumbles.
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Being an Aussie, I’d never heard of a crisp before so I had to do a bit of searching for working out what the difference is. Wonder the same thing yourself?
Well, they are quite similar, but the main difference is that apple crisps contain oats, yet apparently, crumbles don’t. Well, I’ve seen many apple crumble recipes in my time and most of them seem to use oats in their topping.
Not to say that you can’t call it an apple crumble, it’s just the main difference that has been talked about out there. I’m still choosing to call mine an apple crumble because I would have regardless if I knew this information or not. I guess now you know what the difference is if you ever come across an apple crisp recipe out there.
Why use Granny Smith apples for an apple crumble over other varieties?
The base of this crumble is basic, and you’re likely to have the ingredients in your house already. I usually don’t eat granny smith apples on their own, but they are perfect for a recipe like this!
Granny Smiths tend to hold their shape together compared to many other varieties of apples out there. They’re also slightly tart, which balances out the flavour and makes the crumble topping the perfect addition.
I have a great recipe for Nut and Date Stuffed Apples that uses Granny Smith apples.
You can, of course, use any variety if that is all you have handy. Just keep in mind that it will be sweeter and that the apples may not hold their shape.
This vegan apple crumble is best served warm and ideally with a generous scoop of ice cream. Let it melt a little and enjoy the beautiful combination of flavours and textures.
It makes a generous amount of crumble and can be eaten over a couple of days or served to your family and guests. I’m confident that it will be a hit with vegans and non-vegans!
Love the idea of apple cake instead? Why not try my Easy Apple and Almond Cake recipe!
Other great vegan and gluten-free dessert recipes:
- Vegan Pear and Almond Crumble (Gluten-Free)
- Vegan Lumberjack Cake (Gluten-Free)
- Naked Sacher Torte (Vegan & GF)
- Vegan Chocolate and Pear Loaf Cake
- Vegan Tufahije Recipe (Bosnian Walnut Stuffed Poached Apples)
- Easy Vegan Rhubarb Crisp (Crumble)
If you try this recipe, let me know! I would love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.Â
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Vegan Apple Crumble (Gluten-Free)
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
Description
This vegan apple crumble is a wonderful balance of flavours and textures. It is gluten-free, however, doesn’t compromise on taste. A perfect family favourite!
Ingredients
Filling:
- 6 large / 1 kilo / 2.2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into cubes
- ½ cup / 80g coconut sugar
- ¼ cup / 30g arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1 cup / 100g almond meal
- 1 cup / 140g all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 cup / 120g gluten-free rolled oats
- ½ cup / 60g walnuts, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup / 120g coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup / 100g + 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (measured while solid)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius (355 degrees Fahrenheit).
- In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients plus two tablespoons of water, ensuring that all the apples are coated well.
- Spread the apples evenly in an approximately 31cm x 21cm (12.2 inches x 8.27 inches) baking dish and set aside.
- For the crumble topping, reusing the bowl from the apples, combine all the topping ingredients plus two tablespoons of water, mixing well with a spatula. If you feel like it isn’t mixed in well enough evenly, I like to get in with my hands.
- Crumb the topping over the apples evenly and put in the oven to bake for around 45-50 minutes.
- Serve warm with some vegan ice cream, coconut cream, or yoghurt.
- Diet: Vegan
Hi ! Planning on making this for a dinner party on Saturday – it looks divine. Do you think I could use oat flour in lieu of the GF flour blend?
Hi Sarah! How fun 🙂 I haven’t tried it so it may be a little denser but it should work okay. Let me know how you go!
This does look delicious however oats are out of my diet. I have Coeliac disease and Coeliac Australia warns against all oats, even those marked gluten free. They have their reasons and being ‘glutened’ is absolute agony for all Coeliac sufferers. Some say oats don’t affect them and that may be true but it can be doing damage they are unaware of.
My son wants Apple Crumble for Christmas. I have the apple filling figured out but I’m still looking for the crumble recipe we can all eat.
Merry Christmas, have a lovely day and a safe and Happy New Year!
I make this all the time and love it!
Sooooo delicious and easy to make!
This recipe was such a hit!! So flavorful my whole family loved it. I used Fuji apples in it, also didn’t have arrowroot so I used cornstarch. I used buckwheat flour as the gf flour and it complemented the dish so well. This was so easy to make and had me going back for second and thirds! 11 out of 10 stars!
How long would this last in the fridge? Otherwise would it still be good from frozen?
It would keep in the fridge for 3-4 days easy. Frozen should be fine as well! I haven’t done it, but I would imagine it would freeze really well 🙂
Do you think I could sub mixed berries for the apple? I’ve made this before with apple and LOVED it, but I’m looking for a berry crumble recipe and wondering if I can use this as a starting point. Thanks!
Hi Rebecca, you sure can! Funnily enough, I’m currently working on another crumble recipe with berries in it 🙂
Tried this recipe yesterday and me and my friends loved it! It’s super easy to make and we loved the flavour and crunch of the crumble 🙂
So happy to hear that you loved it, Marleen 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely beautiful!
I swapped 1 of the apples for a drained 425g tin of boysenberries and it was just devine 🙂
I would love to try your recipe but I can’t eat oats. What would you suggest I replace it with?
Use the crumble recipe from my pear crumble instead! https://heartfultable.com/vegan-pear-crumble/
Very delicious. My dad (gf) and I (vegan) loved it ! He won’t stop talking about it. It kinda turned everything into caramel.
Not to tell you how to do your job cuz this recipe was perfect! But just based on my own preferences, I think the next time I make it (there will be a next time) I will add more of the apple mixture (not double but like half as much more) because I like a lot of apples to my crumble ratio, and this made a lot of crumble and slightly less apples in my experience. Although could have been the size of apples I used. Anyway, Thanks a million! I will share on my socials.
So glad you and your dad enjoyed it, Jennifer! Not at all, thanks for the feedback. I personally found that the ratio worked for me, but it is a personal choice. And yes, it could have also been the size of your apples 🙂 Hope you enjoy it next time that little bit more!
Another great recipie, have you considered putting your recipies on pintrest? it would be really helpful
I’m glad you enjoyed the crumble, Jake! Yup, we share all of our recipes on Pinterest, just search for Heartful Table 🙂
Amazing!
This was the biggest hit at our family dinner last night!! Thank you so much!
Great recipe
SO glad you like it, Anita! 🙂
Made this last night and it was delicious! So easy to make as well. Thank you guys! Hope your doing well overseas xoxo
Glad you enjoyed it, Charmaine 🙂
O.M.G. It was so good! My husband, who apparently doesn’t like apple crumble, ate half of it before dinner! Will definitely be making again! Thank you 🙂
haha that’s gold! So glad you both enjoyed it 😉