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    Home > Vegan Desserts

    Gluten-free Caramel Apple Crumble

    By My Pure Plants on 07/27/2021 - May contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure.

    Jump to Recipe Print Pin

    Imagine a juicy cinnamon-caramel sauce mixed with tangy diced apple topped with a fluffy and light gluten-free crumble topping. Do you want to know the secret to make perfectly even crumbles? Grate the dough with a large hole cheese grater. It will be perfect.

    A black skillet from above with diced apples in caramel sauce, crumble topping and 2 scoops of yellow ice cream. 2 small whie bowls is filled with the apple crumble hence there is a part missing in the skillet.

    Do you like crisps, crumbles and pies? Check out our Juicy Caramel Apple Crisp Pie or our tangy and sweet Gluten-free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, or our almond Gluten-free Blueberry Crisp, or our cinnamon-y Gluten-free Plum Crumble recipes. One of the most delicious Gluten-free Blueberry Pie I ever made is a tangy lemon crumble topping.

    Table of Contents hide
    1. What to expect from this recipe?
    2. How to make a caramel apple filling?
    3. How to make a perfectly even crumble topping?
    4. Baking the gluten-free apple crumble
    5. FAQs and substitutions
    6. More vegan gluten-free dessert recipes
    7. Gluten-free Caramel Apple Crumble

    What to expect from this recipe?

    In short, our juicy apple crisp pie meets with our perfect crumble topping. We made this caramel apple filling using coconut sugar in our Juicy Caramel Apple Crisp Pie. You will have cinnamon-y apple slices in a smooth caramel sauce, which is just heavenly.

    And about the crumble topping. Have you heard about grating to the dough instead of crumbling it with your fingers? My mom used to make this grated chocolate short bread crumble bars with a sweet lemony cottage cheese filling. Which is one of my favorite desserts ever. If I figure out how to make delicious vegan cottage cheese, I promise to upload her recipe. It was super simple and everything was so even and nice. I love one every bite tastes the same.

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    2 small white bowls with diced apples in caramel sauce, crumble topping and a scoop of yellow ice cream. A black skillet is in the background with the remaining crumbles.

    How to make a caramel apple filling?

    1. Wash, peel, core and slice the apples. For a fast finish, I use my handy easy-to-use apple corer* that also cuts the apple into 8. Then I just diced the parts evenly.
    2. Take a large saucepan or in this case I used our UnoCasa cast-iron skillet* and pre-heat over medium heat. (see below picture for both)
    3. Add the diced apples, lemon juice, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and molasses. Stir until combined. Cook it over medium heat for 5 minutes.
    4. When apples are cooked but not mushy, take a small bowl and mix corn starch with water.
    5. Add the mixture to the cooked apples and mix rigorously. Try to scoot the apple slices over, so the starch mix hits the liquid part immediately. It will thicken within a minute!

    Important tip: Don’t add the starch directly (aka without dissolving in water in advance) to the cooked apple filling as you will get lumps!

    • A black skillet from above with diced apples in caramel sauce.
    • Large saucepan from above containing apple slices cooked in dark brown sauce.

    How to make a perfectly even crumble topping?

    First step is to make the dough for the crumble in the food processor.

    1. Measure up all ingredients: buckwheat flour, rice flour (white or brown), tapioca starch, dairy-free butter (cold, not room temperature), cold water, and cane sugar.
    2. Take your food processor and add all the above ingredients (pictured below).
    3. Mix and pulse until you get the dough together.
    Open food processor from above with the ingredients of vegan gluten-free pie crust, different white and brown powders and yellow cubes of butter

    The next step is to GRATE THE DOUGH! – Oh yes, it makes such a difference. This method results in a fluffy, light and EVEN crumble topping. How to do it you ask? Follow these steps or watch it in our short video:

    1. Form a ball or rather a brick from the dough and wrap it tight in a cling foil or saran wrap.
    2. Place it in the freezer (quick freeze compartment) for 15-30 minutes. If you have a long thin shape, then the dough freezes faster compared to a ball.
    3. Use a large hole cheese grater and grate the dough on the caramel apple slices.
    4. Place it in a pre-heated oven immediately.
    Step photos showing how to grate a frozen dough on top of diced apples in caramel sauce

    Baking the gluten-free apple crumble

    1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
    2. Cook the caramel apple filling in a skillet or in saucepan. If you use a saucepan transfer the cooked apples to an oven-safe dish. If you use the skillet, proceed with that.
    3. Take the gluten-free crumble dough out of the freezer when the filling is ready and grate it on top of it. Gently spread it if needed, don’t pat it down.
    4. Place your complete apple crumble in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. It is ready, when the crumble is crunchy and light brown. Gluten-free flours get golden or dark brown really slowly. Usually when they do, you are too far gone. The crumble will be too dry and hard.
    5. Serve it with a scoop of ice cream or two. Absolutely delicious!
    A black skillet from above full of crumble topping and 2 scoops of yellow ice cream.

    FAQs and substitutions

    Can I freeze the dough overnight?

    You can prepare the crumble dough in advance. If you want to leave it in the freezer overnight or longer, then thaw it a bit on the kitchen counter before grating. Otherwise, it will be too hard to grate.

    Can you make it with other fruits?

    Absolutely. Which one is your favorite? This cinnamon caramel sauce goes great with pears, peaches and other stone fruits. We have a Gluten-free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, a Gluten-free Blueberry Crisp, and a Gluten-free Plum Crumble with different crumble toppings, but all of them can be made with this crumble recipe.

    How long does it last?

    Keep it in the fridge not more than 4-5 days. It is the best tasting the next day when the pie is chilled and all the ingredients are bound and come together.

    Small white bowl with diced apples in caramel sauce, crumble topping and a scoop of yellow ice cream. A black skillet is in the background with the remaining crumbles.

    This Caramel Apple Crumble recipe is vegan, so dairy-free and egg-free. It is also suitable for vegetarian, and gluten-free diets. It can also be WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) if you use nut or seed butter instead of dairy-free butter.

    More vegan gluten-free dessert recipes

    You can browse through our Vegan Gluten-free Dessert Recipes or check out

    • Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cake
    • Vegan Gluten-free Fudge Brownies
    • Vegan Gluten-free Sweet Potato Brownies
    • Vegan Tapioca Pudding
    • Vegan Panna Cotta
    A black skillet from above with diced apples in caramel sauce, crumble topping and 2 scoops of yellow ice cream. 2 small whie bowls is filled with the apple crumble hence there is a part missing in the skillet.

    Gluten-free Caramel Apple Crumble

    My Pure Plants
    Imagine a juicy cinnamon-caramel sauce mixed with tangy diced apple topped with a fluffy and light gluten-free crumble topping. Do you want to know the secret to make perfectly even crumbles? Grate the dough with a large hole cheese grater. It will be perfect.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Baking time 30 mins
    Total Time 50 mins
    Course Dessert
    Servings 8 servings
    Calories 310kcal

    Equipment

    • Apple corer
    • Food processor
    • our Cast-iron Skillet by UnoCasa
    • Non-stick saucepan with lid (10-inch / 26 cm)

    Ingredients
     
     

    Gluten-free crumble topping

    • ¾ cup Buckwheat flour
    • ½ cup White rice flour
    • ⅓ cup Tapioca starch -> tapioca starch substitutes
    • 3 Tbsp Cane sugar or coconut sugar
    • 4 oz Dairy-free butter or nut/seed butter for an oil-free version
    • 1-3 Tbsp Cold water

    Caramel apple filling

    • 4 Apples (sliced)
    • 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
    • 1 Tbsp Molasses
    • ½ cup Coconut sugar
    • ½ cup Fresh water
    • 2 Tbsp Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
    • 3 Tbsp Corn starch
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    Instructions
     

    Make the crumble topping

    • Take a food processor and pulse all ingredients to mix them throughly: buckwheat flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, cane sugar, cold water and dairy-free butter.
    • Place it in the freezer for 30 minutes. If you want to leave it in the freezer overnight or longer, then thaw it a bit on the kitchen counter before grating. Otherwise, it will be too hard to grate.

    Make the caramel apple filling

    • Wash, peel, core and slice the apples. For a fast finish, I use my handy easy-to-use apple corer* that also cuts the apple into 8. Then I just diced the parts evenly.
    • Take a large saucepan or in this case I used our UnoCasa cast-iron skillet* and pre-heat over medium heat.
    • Add the diced apples, lemon juice, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and molasses. Stir until combined. Cook it over medium heat for 5 minutes.
    • When apples are cooked but not mushy, take a small bowl and mix corn starch with water.Add the mixture to the cooked apples and mix rigorously. Try to scoot the apple slices over, so the starch mix hits the liquid part immediately. It will thicken within a minute!
      Important tip: Don’t add the starch directly (aka without dissolving in water in advance) to the cooked apple filling as you will get lumps!

    Bake the caramel apple crumble

    • Pre-heat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
    • If you used a saucepan, transfer the cooked apples to an oven-safe dish. If you used a skillet, proceed with that.
    • Take the gluten-free crumble dough out of the freezer when the filling is ready and grate it on top of it. Gently spread it if needed, don’t pat it down.
    • Place your complete apple crumble in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. It is ready, when the crumble is crunchy and light brown. Gluten-free flours get golden or dark brown really slowly. Usually when they do, you are too far gone. The crumble will be too dry and hard.
    • Serve it with a scoop of ice cream or two. Absolutely delicious!
    Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

    Notes

    Choose your apples – The only thing you need to keep in mind when choosing your apples is that tart apples tend to be harder so they need a longer baking time to soften. While sweet apples tend to get mushy sooner so if you bake them long you end up with apple sauce pie. I usually go with Granny Smith, Jonagold or Jonathan. 

    Video

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Gluten-free Caramel Apple Crumble
    Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
    Calories 310 Calories from Fat 108
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 12g18%
    Saturated Fat 2g13%
    Trans Fat 2g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
    Monounsaturated Fat 6g
    Sodium 117mg5%
    Potassium 220mg6%
    Carbohydrates 52g17%
    Fiber 4g17%
    Sugar 23g26%
    Protein 2g4%
    Vitamin A 52IU1%
    Vitamin C 6mg7%
    Calcium 27mg3%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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