In Connecticut in the fall, when the days become crisp but sunny and the shadows are long, apple picking is a time-honored tradition. Don’t even talk to me about those waxy specimens they sell at the grocery store — there is nothing like an apple picked fresh off the tree. I especially like collecting drops; they’re the cheapest apples money can buy, and as long as you pick carefully, they last just as well in cold storage. This year, the hot, dry summer* made the apple harvest end early, but I was fortunate enough to have gotten in some end-of-season picking before everything in my area was gone. And my first stop? Apple crisp.
The variety of apples you use in apple crisp doesn’t matter much; in fact, I prefer mixing my favorites to get the most robust, rounded flavor. Check out a chart like this one or this one if you’re interested in learning more on the subject. My single hard and fast rule is to avoid Red Delicious. Aside from the fact I personally harbor a deep hatred for these most picturesque of apples, they are objectively terrible for anything except eating raw and being photographed.
Oh, and make sure you have some vegan ice cream on hand; for me, the contrast of hot and cold, spicy, tart, and creamy is the best part of this dish.
- 10 heaping c tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced ½" thick
- 1 c sugar
- 1 c water
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- 1 c flour
- ¾ c quick oats
- 1 c brown sugar
- ½ c vegan margarine, melted
- Spread apples in an ungreased 9×13″ pan.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, water and cornstarch.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and semi-translucent.
- Pour mixture over apples.
- Sprinkle apples generously with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oatmeal, and brown sugar.
- Stir in the margarine until mixture is crumbly.
- Sprinkle streusel evenly over apples. Press lightly.
- Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until apples are tender and streusel is golden.
- Serve hot, with a dollop of vanilla soy ice cream.
*Oh hey, what’s up, our dying planet?
39 comments
Jojo says:
Nov 6, 2012
That looks like just what I need right now!
Ruth Anne says:
Nov 12, 2012
That looks and sounds yummy! I may try that for Thanksgiving:)
michelle says:
Dec 31, 2012
This recipe is absolutely delicious!!!
I’ve made it twice within a week!
Roxanne says:
Mar 25, 2013
I’m a lover of sweets, but this recipe was far too sweet! I think the syrup that gets poured into the apples needs about half the sugar this recipe calls for. Maybe add in some lemon onto the apples to make them a little bit more tart! Otherwise it was pretty easy and yummy!
Tara says:
Oct 5, 2013
Yes! It should have lemon always and half the sugar. I always make my pies really tart but they are amazing. Cant wait to tweak this and try it. I do always use cornstarch or tapioca to thicken the sauce but I’m trained in culinary arts.
Jennifer says:
Apr 7, 2013
YUM! We made this last night. My fiance called it the best Vegan dessert we’ve had so far. 🙂 I re-posted it to my blog – hope you don’t mind.
http://plantbasedhappiness.blogspot.com/2013/04/delicious-vegan-apple-crisp.html
claryn says:
Apr 28, 2013
I bet the addition of pecans and raisins rules. Thanks for sharing, Jennifer!
Merideth says:
Apr 15, 2013
Best apple crisp I’ve ever made! I was hesitant to make the cornstarch/sugar sauce as I’ve never used that method before, but the result was amazing! So much better than a liquidy sauce in the pan after baking like most recipes.
Meghan says:
Apr 15, 2013
Loved it! Making it again this week.
Becca says:
May 29, 2013
It’s a total hit with my non vegan friends.
Jen says:
Aug 24, 2013
Going to try this with coconut oil. Anybody else do that and have recommendations?
Dianne says:
Feb 27, 2017
A bit after the fact, but I’d like to try this recipe with coconut oil also. How did it go?
Leia says:
Sep 17, 2013
Nice simple recipe. Was out of brown sugar, but didn’t need it! Probably far too sweet with anyway. Used sugar in the raw to be healthier and it was great! Finally, threw in some pumpkin purée! It was great!
CamiCakes says:
Nov 19, 2013
Any idea if potato starch will work in place of cornstarch?
matt says:
Dec 4, 2013
I’ve made it twice and offer the following two modifications, for those interested.
1) I found it very difficult to evenly spread 1/4 tsp of clove & nutmeg over a 13 x 9 pan. I mixed the nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon with the sugar syrup after taking it off the heat and it worked beautifully.
2) I added 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries to the apples.
With those two slight modifications, it’s a major winner!
Miranda says:
Jan 13, 2014
Would it be OK to make this with almond or garbanzo bean flour? Looks yummy!
Kylie says:
Feb 26, 2014
I made this for me and my boyfriend tonight, and it is not only the best vegan apple crisp I have had, but the best apple crisp. Thanks!
claryn says:
Feb 26, 2014
Aw! So glad you liked it, Kylie 🙂
Fruit crumble, AKA, subject of next Nobel committee meeting. | vegansarespecial says:
Mar 1, 2014
[…] next fruit crumble I baked was Vegan. This apple crisp from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan! was swiftly destroyed. No butter, but sugar bordering on […]
Hannah says:
Jun 16, 2014
Made this tonight and was yummy, the sauce was lovely and thick. Halved the sugar in the recipe and used coconut oil in place of margarine. I would have found it too sweet with any more sugar.
claryn says:
Jul 10, 2014
It is indeed a sweet recipe! Honestly, I’d probably prefer it these days with less sugar myself. I’ll have to do some test batches this fall 🙂
Felicia says:
Aug 7, 2014
Looks delicious!
I think I’ll try halving the sugar like some people suggest; it sounds like it’s plenty sweet that way. I tend to do that with recipes anyway.
Also, would this work okay if I used oat flour to replace the wheat flour? I want to make this for a friend who get sick when she eats gluten.
claryn says:
Aug 10, 2014
I haven’t tried it that way myself, but I do think oat flour would work just as well. It’s not like crumb topping is dependent on gluten or anything! Hope you like it, Felicia 🙂
Esther says:
Aug 23, 2014
Yummy! I substituted 1/2 cup coconut sugar for the white sugar and 1/2 cup coconut sugar for the brown sugar, and all whole wheat flour.
Vusjade says:
Sep 18, 2014
F**cking delicious!!!! Thanks!!
Trish says:
Oct 20, 2014
Made this last night – yummo! Whole family loved this even though they’re not vegan. I did halve the white sugar because of other comments and it was perfect. Had bought a bunch of apples from a local farm and I was glad to be able to use some up for this recipe. This is def a keeper. Will be making this often!! Simple, quick and completely DELICIOUS!
nacala says:
Nov 2, 2014
Im excited to try this recipe with my daughter, we went apple picking yesterday. To clarify, halving which sugar is better? Could i use some agave or something to sweeten sauce then use the brown sugar as suggested?
Amanda says:
Nov 17, 2014
I used half the sugar, as my gala apples were already very sweet. also, i did not have any oats, so i subbed dry oat bran cereal. i added a cup of yellow raisins, and a half cup of chopped pecans…..DIVINE!!
Michele says:
Jan 12, 2015
This was delicious, just what we needed on a dreary, rainy night!
Tanya says:
Jul 15, 2015
Thinking about making this but using zucchini (mock apple) and blueberries. I’ll let you know how it goes!!
claryn says:
Jul 22, 2015
Whoaaaaaa. I want to hear all about that, Tanya!
Cheryl says:
Sep 12, 2015
Fabulous. I was out of brown sugar but I had some demerara sugar to substitute for part of the white sugar I had to use. I ended up using about 1/3 cup of the demerara sugar and 2/3 cup white sugar. I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the topping mixture too. It was great. The demerara sugar stays crunchy!
Scott G says:
Sep 27, 2015
OH my goodness this is great!
I was out of corn starch and just used a bit of egg replacer instead.
Fantastic flavor and very easy!
Wynne says:
Oct 31, 2015
Oops! I forgot to read the comments until I had already started making the recipe. I agree that as written it would be too sweet. I reduced the sugar to about 3/4 c and the brown sugar to 1/2 c. Should have taken reg. sugar down to 1/3-1/2c. Might substitute other sugars in the future (coconut/honey/maple, but not agave nectar after all the new info. out there).
I prefer more whole grains and less processed, so I switched the ratio of oats and flour. Used all organic ingredients, including rolled oats rather than quick. Replaced butter with slightly less coconut oil. Added a light dash of salt to bring out the flavors, and doubled the nutmeg.
Didn’t have cornstarch, so substituted tapioca flour (which is usually a 2:1 ratio), but used only 1.5x, and found it too gummy. Will use much less thickener next time. I prefer it a little more juicy then gluey.
And I think almost any flour will substitute well, except perhaps garbanzo, though note almond and coconut won’t clump together for crumbles as well, and sweet rice flour would be a bit dry/grainy tasting. I used a rye but would also consider blends with buckwheat, teff, almond or oat.
Added 1/4 c dried cranberries with the apples and 1/4 c slivered almonds on top.
If it were a little less sweet and a little less gummy, it would be perfect! Next time, I might substitute a bit of buckwheat groats for some of the oats for a little more crunchy heartiness, and perhaps a dash of cardamom. P.S. I also want to hear about the zucchini and blueberry version, Tanya!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Audrey says:
Nov 12, 2015
Thank you for this amazingly DELICOUS recipe!! When I had found this recipe I had only four apples and was so impatient to make this cobbler that I made it but I used only 1/3 of all the ingredients. My apples were huge so I ended up with a good sized yummy dessert . I did substitute the flour in the sauce that goes over the apples with rice flour. I also added the spices, vanilla, coconut sugar and half the juice of a fresh lime to this same sauce. The topping was so easy to make. I loved the fact that I did not have to roll out pie crust! As the cobbler baked in the oven the aroma of apple pie filled the whole house . The apples were fork tender , the top was golden brown, the filling thickened up and the whole thing was awesomeness in my mouth! This recipe will be saved and will be my go to baked apple recipe from now on! Sadly I did not have vanilla ice cream to top off the cobbler with. . What to do? I did have some cans of coconut milk in the fridge so I made some coco whip and put that on my cobbler. Did I mention that this was awesomeness in my mouth? A recipe is great when all you can hear around the dinner table is mmmmmmm, oh my gosh, this is so good, mmmmmmm. I am already planning on making this for my Thanksgiving meal along with your pumpkin and zucchini bread which are also yummy! Thank you again for the great recipes .
claryn says:
Nov 12, 2015
So glad to hear you liked it, Audrey! 🙂
Cayenne says:
Jan 10, 2016
Delicious, but the apples are sooooo tender and sweet that next time, I am going to cut back on the sugar by a LEAST half a cup!!! Wonderful recipe though! This is definitely NOT the last time I am going to make this crisp!!!! Thank you very much!
Suzan says:
Nov 21, 2017
Has anyone used a pie crust with this recipe? My favorite apple crumb pie is Marie Collander and it is in a pie crust with crumb topping.
claryn says:
Nov 22, 2017
I was actually talking with a friend just a couple of weeks ago about how this tastes just like a crumb-topped apple pie without the crust! I think it would work, but haven’t tried yet myself. To make sure the apple isn’t too crunchy, you might need to pre-cook it a little first (as I do for my double-crust apple pie). Anyway, if you do try it, let me know how it turns out!