Capture the taste of fall with this easy recipe for gluten free apple crumble. Apples tossed with sugar and cinnamon become soft and juicy as they bake. Combined with a gluten free streusel topping, this dessert is one you’ll return to each season!
Does baking a dessert with apples count as adding more fruit to your healthy diet? Well…maybe not but it is definitely worth a try! Apple crumble is often looked at as a short cut to baking apple pie, but I think it deserves more credit than that. Crumble is a dessert category of its own and more than worthy of its place on any dessert table.
Crumble Or Crisp? What’s The Difference?
I think of a crumble as a baked fruit dessert that is covered with a streusel topping made most often with butter, flour, sugar and sometimes nuts. A crisp is quite similar– still a baked fruit dessert but with a crunchier topping that may include oats.
The crumble shared in this recipe is gluten free. The base of the topping is almond flour, brown rice flour, and granulated sugar…and of course, butter, plenty of butter. When you serve this to your family and friends no one will know that the crumble is gluten free because it tastes just like a traditionally baked recipe which makes this my favorite kind of gluten free recipe– hooray! Another recipe I baked recently that wowed both gluten free and traditional dessert lovers is this upside down peach cake. May I have another slice please?
Video: How To Make Apple Crumble
Visuals are always super helpful so I made a video showing how to make this fantastic dessert!
How To Make Gluten Free Apple Crumble – Step By Step
Let’s get down to it! You’ll start by working on the crumble. Almond flour, brown rice flour, granulated sugar, unsalted butter plus a dash of salt all come together in a bowl. Work with a pastry blender or simply dive in with your hands which are always the best tool. Mix the ingredients together until large crumbs are consistent throughout.
Set the crumble aside in the freezer while you work on the apple filling. Yes, the freezer, don’t skip this step! The crumble bakes more consistently if the butter is brought back down to a cold temperature.
Moving on to the apple filling is your next step. Wash the apples and use a melon-baller to remove the core and seeds. The texture of the apple peel blends right in with the fruit during baking so it is not necessary to take the time or effort to peel it off. Slice the apples thinly. Next, toss the apples with brown sugar, lemon, cornstarch, and cinnamon then pour them into a buttered baking dish.
I like a square 8 x 8 baking dish but individual portions in ramekins are a nice option too. You’ll reduce the baking time slightly if baking individual servings. Add the cold crumble topping to the apples and press it down with your fingers.
After an hour in the oven this gluten free apple crumble will be lightly golden and the filling will be bubbling. Oh, another benefit of this dessert? Your house will smell so good! Apples and cinnamon are an aromatic combination.
Scoop servings into small dishes or bowls. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream is always welcome on top!
What Other Apple Recipes Can I Make?
Do you have more apples than you know what to do with? Let me help you with two more apple recipes.
- It doesn’t get any easier than this crock pot apple butter. Simple, straightforward and very little hands-on time in preparation.
- Another popular apple recipe on my blog is this traditional maple apple crisp. You could even get away with topping it with Greek yogurt and calling it breakfast!
Did you find this blog post and these step-by-step instructions helpful? If you’ve tried my Gluten Free Apple Crumble then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! I love hearing from you! You can also sign up for my newsletter on my website here and FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food I’m creating!
Gluten Free Apple Crumble
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes (1 stick)
- 4 apples Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or Gala
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (one small lemon)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar packed tightly
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (gluten free)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 glass baking dish with butter.
For the Crumble:
- Combine the almond flour, brown rice flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Whisk gently to combine.
- Use a pastry blender or your hands to mix the cold butter into the dry ingredients. Set the crumble aside in the freezer while you prepare the apple filling.
For the Apple Filling:
- Slice the apples in half, remove the cores. Slice thinly. Toss the apples with the lemon juice in a bowl to prevent browning.
- Add the brown sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon to the apples. Gently stir.
- Place the apple mixture in the prepared baking pan. Top with the cold crumble; press the crumble down with your fingers.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Optional: serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
Video
Nutrition
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We just got some lovely honeycrisp apples from out local farm stand. Definitely making this!
You certainly can’t beat a good crumble! Super intrigued by that brown rice flour (:
Hi Holly,
I was wondering… if I need this recipe to also be dairy free would I be able to replace the butter with hard, from the fridge, coconut oil. I would prefer not to use margarine as I believe it is not a healthy substitute…
Or, could you suggest something else I could use for the shortening, please?
I’ve never made it with coconut oil – but they do make a good vegan butter that is dairy free. Try that. I think the coconut oil would be really good though!! LEt me know how that turns out as I’m super interested to hear!!!