This Healthy Apple Crisp recipe is gluten/dairy free, and sweetened with just maple syrup. Naturally sweet & delicious it’s the perfect healthy dessert!
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This Healthy Apple Crisp is hands down my favorite healthy fall dessert. In addition to being SO delicious, this comes together in under 30 minutes, is naturally gluten and dairy free, has only eight ingredients and is sweetened with just a touch of maple syrup.
It’s seriously the best way to use up any apples you have lying around.
(P.S. If you’re looking for other ways to use up apples – check out these Healthy Apple Recipes!)
I’ve always been a fan of ‘crisps’ when it comes to dessert. They’re much lighter than pie (which is also super delicious!) and crumble (which typically has more butter, sugar and flour in it).
This Healthy Blueberry Crisp is one of my favorite desserts!
I’ve gotten this question before, so you might be wondering..
What makes this Homemade Apple Crisp healthy?
Traditional apple crisp is made with lots of butter and sugar. This recipe is much better for you! Here’s why:
- Whole Grains – We use old fashioned oats instead of refined flour for the crisp topping
- Low sugar – Rather than using regular sugar, we use just a little bit of maple syrup and allow the sweetness of the apples to come through
- No butter – Instead of using butter, we’re using coconut oil which is more nutritious!
Homemade Apple Crisp Ingredients
To make this recipe you’ll need:
- apples
- old fashioned oats
- pecans
- cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg
- coconut oil
- maple syrup
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
What are the best apples for Apple Crisp?
This post goes in depth on the best apples for baking. I like to bake with Pink Lady apples. They’re a little sweet and a little tart so I find them perfect in desserts!
Braeburn or Honeycrisp are also delicious and hold up well. Really – any apple will work in this recipe!
We don’t recommend using Granny Smith or other tart apples in this recipe.
Gluten Free Apple Crisp substitutions and additions
This is a pretty versatile recipe. Here are some substitutions you can make!
Nut Free – To make this nut free you can omit pecans. If you’d like to add in some crunch you could sub in sunflower seeds.
Oil – You can sub coconut oil with olive oil or avocado oil. Vegetable oil will also work.
Other fruit – This recipe will work great by adding other berries like blueberries, raspberries and strawberries! (We also have a healthy blueberry crisp and Healthy Peach Crisp recipe!) Dried raisins or craisins would also be a yummy add in!
Apples: We recommend using honeycrisp apples in this recipe. We don’t recommend using Granny Smith or other tart apples in this recipe.
Maple Syrup – You can sub maple syrup with honey
To make lower calorie- Omitting pecans
Oats – You can not substitute steel cut oats for old fashioned oats. It will now work. Quick cook oats will work.
How to make apple crisp:
Making apple crisp literally couldn’t be easier. Here’s what to do:
- Peel + slice your apples (You can also leave the skin on if you like!
- Once peeled, toss your apples with coconut oil/spices.
- Set aside. In a small bowl – mix together your crisp topping.
- Lay your apples in a baking dish, top with crisp.. and bake!
- 30 minutes in the oven and you’ve got warm, delicious healthy apple crisp ready to enjoy!
Topping it with vanilla ice cream pretty much is a must. It’s SO good.
How to cut apples for Apple Crisp
The best way to cut apples for this recipe is:
- Peel the apples.
- Slice the flesh of the apple away from the core in 4 large chunks.
- Place the apple slices flat slide down and slice the apples into 1/8-1/4 inch thick slices
How long to bake Apple Crisp
Every oven is a little bit different but this crisp is best baked for about 30 minutes at 350.
What is the difference between Apple Crisp and Apple Crumble?
Crisps are typically made with oats as the base, while crumbles typically have a flour/butter based topping. I added some chopped pecans for crunch, healthy fats, and flavor!
How to store Apple Crisp
Storing: This apple crisp will stay in the fridge for 3-4 days
Freezing: We haven’t tried freezing this recipe but we don’t think it would freeze well. The topping would lose it’s crisp.
How to reheat Apple Crisp
This crisp is best eaten right out of the oven, warm! If you are going to reheat, we recommend putting it in the toaster oven or oven. The microwave will work, but it will make the oats/topping soggy and not as crispy!
Serving Apple Crisp
Serving: We recommend serving this crisp with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. It’s also great with a scoop of vanilla yogurt.
Preparing in advance: You can prepare this recipe 3-4 hours in advance of baking it. Keep it in your refrigerator until you are ready to bake.
Healthy Apple Crisp FAQs
Apple crisp shouldn’t be watery. Different apples do have more liquid than others so it could be the apples you chose. It could also be that the apple crisp was covered too long.
If your apple crisp isn’t crispy, it could be because it isn’t finished cooking. You can broil the crisp for 1-2 minutes (be sure to watch carefully!) to help the top get crispier.
Other healthy apple recipes:
We LOVE apples, and making all the things with them. Here are some of our favorite healthy apple recipes! If you want more fall recipes get our free fall recipes ebook!
Healthy Apple Crisp Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups apples peeled + sliced in 1/4 inch thick pieces – about 1 lb – honeycrisp work best
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Crisp Topping
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup pecans chopped
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a greased 8×8 baking dish
- Peel + cut apple slices into ¼ inch thick slices.
- Melt coconut oil. Toss apples with coconut oil, cinnamon + ginger. Set aside.
- Mix together crisp topping.
- Pour apples into bottom of the baking dish. Layer crisp topping evenly on top of apples.
- Cover apple crisp with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 mins. After 20 minutes, remove cover and bake for another 10-20 minutes until apples are fork tender and crisp topping is golden brown.
Rachel says
This was so simple to make and tasted so good! I swapped the coconut oil for apple sauce and it was perfect.
Danielle Young says
Love the taste and simplicity. Eating clean is fun!
Jackie Thomas says
Have made this several times. Easy to make, and tastes so good. Much healthier than the usual recipes.
lucas brander says
I just tried and its so good and easy to make! thank you!!!
Amy says
I’d like to make this a single serve in a ramekin. Would you mind sending me a recipe for that?
The Clean Eating Couple says
Sorry but we don’t have the measurements – feel free to do the math on your own or use the slider under the servings to adjust the recipe accordingly! Not sure how it will come out 🙂
Therese Bishop says
Is there a reason why Granny Smith apples wouldn’t work? Thank you in advance❤️
The Clean Eating Couple says
they would work but we just don’t recommend them because they’re not the best apple for baking like this!
Linda says
I made this exactly as written. We did not care for it. Very dry. Apple filling was O.K. But topping is just oatmeal baked with no liquid .
Would not recommend this recipe. We did eat for breakfast and I added milk and my husband also added yogurt. Will not make this again unless I can figure our a liquid for the oatmeal topping. All I can think of is butter but then would eliminate the healthy aspect if this dish. Coconut oil maybe increase amount and melt then add to topping.
Ginger says
Why would it be 17 grams of sugar?
The Clean Eating Couple says
because apples naturally have sugar in them.
Gail says
Absolutely loved this! Disappeared in two days. I was rushed so used an apple corer that makes 8 slices and then just cubed those, and added 2 cups of frozen cranberries. It did need to bake longer but well worth the wait!
Lisette Teala says
This was such a an exciting recipe to try because I felt comfortable giving to my toddler too. It’s not easy to find apple crips recipes without flour and sugar. This was super easy to make and tastes delicious . It was nice to have all that natural apple flavor .
Cali says
This was so good! It had the perfect amount of sweetness, and the apples 🍎 were cooked perfectly, i love making healthy desserts, so this will be on repeat for me! ☺️
Cali says
This was so good! It had just the right amount of sweetness, and the apples 🍎 were perfectly cooked! I love making healthy desserts, and this is gonna be on repeat for me! ☺️
Megan says
This was super easy to make and tasted great. I was craving dessert yesterday but I didn’t want anything to heavy so I tried this and loved it. Healthier version of apple crisp, I’m all for it!
Marianna Truelove says
Absolutely delicious! Love the clean ingredients
Lily Marok says
This is the best recipe for apple based desserts that I have used in a while. I made it for a party and my entire family loved it
Marni says
I substituted coconut oil with olive oil. It’s perfect for my mom who has liver problems.
Susan says
This was AMAZING!!
Cheryl Ann says
This was amazing and felt guilt free! Clean, real ingredients and easy to make! Perfect after dinner treat!
Emily says
Great apple crisp alternative!
Kasien says
This was awesome and so easy and quick to make! I used honey crisp apples as suggested, and the flavor was perfect. The small amount of maple syrup was perfect – not too sweet like so many apple crisps. It smelled too nutmeggy, but really wasn’t after it baked. I was also afraid of the coconut oil coming through in the apples, because I hate coconut, but I couldn’t taste it (😁).
The only thing I didn’t like was the topping. It was too much like granola on top of apples, and distracted from the wonderful apples. I will definitely play around with this next time.
Andrea says
Excellent recipe.. thank you!!!
Linda says
This apple crisp recipe is awesome and so adaptable! I think my husband and I have made this recipe about 30 times by now. We usually add in a variety of fruits including pears, plums, and frozen berries. I am so happy I found this recipe!
Lacey says
I make this like every week and eat on it for desert all week. I add peanut butter to the top and heat it and it’s amazing.
Ashley says
I added chia seeds to the topping for an extra benefit! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Kristin says
Made this last night – two thumbs up!
We made without nuts.
So hard to find low sugar recipes/foods – thank you!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Kristin!
Fancie-J says
This was okay, but I included 1/2 cup Almond flour, 1/3 cup of maple syrup, and 1/4 cup of coconut oil for the crisp topping so it sticks together instead of falling apart. Crisp is supposed to be combined, and I also used 6 apples instead of 4 being that we’re using an 8x’8 dish. And yes Almond flour is gluten-free..
Trust this was much better.. it’s not crisp if you can’t enjoy it as a crumble.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Sounds like you’re looking for an apple crumble recipe, which it isn’t. Crisps are typically made with oats as the base, while crumbles typically have a flour/butter based topping. It’s supposed to fall apart and get crispy, not crumble.. two different desserts 🙂