One of my very favorite desserts of all time is apple crisp. It’s easy to make, there’s a multitude of flavors, and it’s a crowd-pleaser! I’ve been eating this rustic dessert for as long as I can remember. Overall, the dish is pretty healthy, but I wanted to elevate it to the next level to remove sugar and grains and voila!, this creation was born.
When baking, I always use a combination of apples to ensure depth of flavor and to ensure the apples don’t turn out too mushy after being baked.
For apple crisp, I use half honey crisp and half granny smith and it tastes great!
Quick Tip for Measuring Apples
When making apple crisp or apple pie, I always want to make sure I’m adding enough apples so that even after the apples have baked down some, there still appears to be a lot of apples.
To do this, offset two layers of large apples in the baking dish you are going to use (as pictured above). So even if a recipe is giving you guidance on the amount of apples to use, this is a more fool-proof way to ensure your dessert doesn’t deflate in volume during the baking process.
After you have a good idea of the amount of apples you need, chop them into bite sized pieces and coat them with 1 tbsp. of cinnamon and 2 tbsp. of Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener.
Then pour the apples into your baking dish. They should fit perfectly!
How to Make a Grain-Free Crisp
In order to make a grain-free topping, we need to avoid the traditional ingredients of flour and oats. I have found that substituting almond flour and toasted almond slices, take this popular dish to the next level!
If you don’t have almond slices on hand, using chopped walnuts and/or pecans would be just as amazing!
I also take advantage of adding in a couple superfoods like chia seeds and ground flaxseed to the mix for added nutritional value.
The great thing about this topping is that it’s very versatile. Even though I use it mostly on apple crisp, this translates easily onto stone fruit or berry crumbles. It could also be baked by itself on a baking sheet and used as granola for yogurt.
PrintHow to Make a Grain-Free Apple Crisp
Serve up this delicious apple crisp as a healthy, grain-free dessert option. Great for any day of the week or for festive celebrations.
- Prep Time: 30 min.
- Cook Time: 1 hr.
- Total Time: 18 minute
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
10–12 cups variety of apples (I recommend honey crisp & granny smith), peeled, cored, and chopped (use guide above to ensure proper amount for your dish)
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. Lakanto monkfruit sweetener, separated
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, separated
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350ºF
- After apples have been prepped, place them in a large bowl and mix in 2 tbsp. of the sweetener and 1 tbsp. of the cinnamon until well coated. Pour mixture into baking dish and set aside.
- Prep the almonds: in a skillet over low-medium heat, add the almonds, stirring constantly until edges and faces are golden. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a separate bowl combine all remaining dry ingredients, including the toasted almonds. Stir until well combined.
- Add the melted butter and vanilla and stir once more. This will create a crumble like mixture that is a bit on the moist side (which is exactly what you want).
- Crumble topping evenly over the entire top of the apples. Cover with foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes with the foil on and then bake for an additional 30-45 minutes until apples are tender and the bottom is bubbling.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool, and enjoy!
