Apple Crumble with Oats Recipe (Easy & Gluten Free)

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All the goodness of apple pie but way easier to make! This apple crumble with oats recipe takes only a few minutes to whip up and is the perfect sweet treat for fall.

Homestead Orchard

One of the first things we did when we moved onto our homestead was determine where the best spot was to plant our orchard. We immediately got to work planting 20 fruit trees year one and added 10 more in year 2.

About half of our trees are different varieties of apple trees with a few pears, peach, plum, and cherry in there too. Our trees are now 4 years old and a few are loaded with apples.

Most of our apples will go toward making applesauce that we will can to feed us all winter long, but we always set some aside for fresh eating and for making this delicious apple oat crumble recipe!

What do you need?

This apple crumble with oats uses only a handful of simple ingredients, for both the filling and topping.

For the apple filling:

Apples – For this recipe, roughly 5 large apples or 7 small/medium apples is the right amount. You’ll want enough to fill the bottom of an 9×9 baking dish.

Honey or Maple Syrup

Lemon juice

Water

Arrowroot Powder, Tapioca Starch, or Corn Starch – This acts as a thickener to give the apple filling a thicker more gel-like texture without having too much liquid.

Cinnamon – You can play with the fall spices here and feel free to add your favorites (nutmeg, cloves, etc.).

Oat Crumble Topping:

Oats – Rolled oats are ideal for this recipe but quick oats would work in a pinch. I prefer the One Degree rolled oats because they are gluten free and glyphosate free.

Almond Flour – The almond flour pairs nicely with the oats here to make a great gluten free topping. If you aren’t worried about making it gluten free, you could substitute wheat flour for the almond flour.

Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (optional) – I love adding chopped nuts to our apple crumble with oats because I think it adds a great crunch to the topping but you can omit if you prefer.

Brown Sugar – We use the organic brown sugar here but you could substitute coconut sugar or sucanat.

Butter – Melted butter is so good in this crumble oat topping but if you are dairy free or prefer to use an alternative, coconut oil makes a great substitute.

Plain Yogurt – Either Greek yogurt or regular plain yogurt will work in this recipe.

Sprinkle of Salt

How to Make this Apple Crumble with Oats

Begin by slicing your apples into fairly thin, roughly ¼” slices. If you cut them thicker, you may want to add a few more minutes to the cooking time so they are soft.

Add apple slices to the bottom of a 9×9” baking dish or something similar in size.

Sprinkle apples with desired thickener (arrowroot flour, tapioca starch, or corn starch).

In a bowl, combine sweetener (honey or maple syrup), water, lemon juice, and cinnamon.

Pour sweetened mixture over apples and stir together so none of the flour or starch is showing.

Bake apple mixture at 350°F for 20-25 minutes.

While apples are baking, prepare oat crumble.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients (oats, almond flour, chopped nuts, brown sugar, and salt).

Add melted butter and yogurt to the dry ingredients and stir until the topping is completely moist.

Once apples are done, remove from oven and spoon oat crumble topping over the apples until you’ve used all of the topping and the apples are almost all covered.

Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the apples are soft and the top is beginning to turn a golden color.

Let cool for a couple of minutes before serving, hopefully with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

To peel or not to peel?

That is totally up to you! The peels do change the texture a bit and add some grittiness to the crumble that some may want to avoid. 

I like to leave the peels on because there are abundant nutrients (fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients) in the peel and I know that our apples are not sprayed.

However, if you aren’t sure where your apples are coming from, I’d stick to peeling them to avoid the potential toxins from sprays that can be concentrated on the peels.

How to Store the Apple Oat Crumble?

If it wasn’t gobbled up when it initially came out of the oven, you can cover it and refrigerate for 3-5 days. It reheats very nicely.

Apple Crumble with Oats Recipe

Ingredients:

Apple Filling:

– 5 large or 7 small/medium apples
– 1 tbsp arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, or cornstarch
– ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
– 3 tbsp water
– 1 tbsp lemon juice
– 1 tsp cinnamon

Oat Crumble Topping:

– 1 cup oats
– ½ cup almond flour (or all-purpose flour)
– ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
– 1/3 cup brown sugar
– pinch of salt
– ¼ cup melted butter (or coconut oil)
– ¼ cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Slice apples into thin, roughly 1/4” thick slices and place at the bottom of a 9×9” or similar baking dish.

3. Sprinkle arrowroot or tapioca starch over the apple slices.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of filling ingredients (honey or maple syrup, water, lemon juice, & cinnamon)

5. Pour mixture over apple slices and stir together until none of the white starch is showing.
Bake apples for 20-25 minutes.

6. While apples are baking, make topping by mixing dry ingredients (oats, flour, nuts, brown sugar, and salt) in a small mixing bowl.

7. Stir in melted butter and yogurt and combine until the crumble topping is thoroughly moist.

8. When apples are finished, spoon topping onto apples in an even layer.

9. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until apples are soft and topping is beginning to turn golden.

10. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

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For more of our favorite fall desserts:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake (Gluten Free)
Cinnamon Maple Roasted Almonds
Apple Cinnamon Bread (Gluten Free)

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