This is the best Vegan Apple Crisp ever! Packed with perfectly sweetened and tender apples, topped with a buttery, crispy oat mixture and best served with a scoop of dairy free vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel. A must make dessert in the Fall, when apples are abundant!
This is hands down the more incredible apple crisp you will ever have. It’s perfect Fall comfort food, old fashioned and such a crowd pleasing dessert! It has all the flavors of apple pie but is so much easier to make.
It took me a long time to discover the secrets to the best apple crisp, and I will share all the details with you! This recipe has been tested many times to reach perfection, and I hope you love it as much as I do.
Ingredients you need
- Apples – Use Granny Smith for best results! Other crisp apples may work.
- Vegan butter – I used Earth Balance brand, but another brand or coconut oil would work.
- Flour – I haven’t tested it with gluten free flour, but a mix might work.
- Lemon juice
- Brown sugar – Adds sweetness and moisture, regular sugar won’t work as well here.
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Oats
- Baking powder
How to make Vegan Apple Crisp
- Peel, slice and chop your apples very small and thin. The smaller, the better in my opinion. If you chop them too big, they will never get tender in the oven. Whisk melted butter and flour together in a small bowl, then stir in the water, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour over the apples in a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Dump the coated apples into a baking dish and spread them out evenly.
- Make the crumbly topping in a medium bowl by stirring together the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Then cut in the vegan butter until crumbly.
- Sprinkle on the apples in the dish and bake for about 45 minutes, until the apples are tender and the topping is crispy and golden brown.
Toppings
For the most amazing apple crisp, serve warm with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream (I love cashew or coconut milk based ice creams) and a drizzle of my Easy Vegan Caramel! The caramel takes this to the next level.
Tips for the best crisp
- Use Granny Smith Apples – I have tried others but this is my favorite. They are crisp and not too sweet, the best apple for crisp! Honey crisp are pretty good as well, but I would reduce the sugar a bit because they are sweeter apples.
- Make sure to slice your apples thinly and small, so they get very tender in the oven. If not you will have crispy, uncooked apple chunks, which is not what you want.
- Serve warm for the best taste and crispy topping. Leftovers will still be good the next day, but the topping wont stay as crispy.
- Drizzle apple crisp with caramel sauce! I just tried it for the first time, and I don’t think I can ever go back!
Want more vegan apple recipes?
And more show-stopping Fall desserts?
Vegan Apple Crisp
Ingredients
For the apple filling:
- 6 large apples (about 4 lbs), peeled, cored and chopped small
- 1/3 cup vegan butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup water
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the topping:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly spray a 9 X 13 casserole dish with oil.
For the apple filling
- Peel, core and chop the apples into thin, small pieces. This will help them get tender in the oven! Place the apples in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted vegan butter with the 3 tablespoons of flour, then add the water, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and mix until smooth.
- Pour the mixture over the apples and mix well to coat. Dump the apples into the casserole dish and spread evenly. Set aside and prepare the topping.
For the topping
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt to combine.
- Using clean fingers or a pastry cutter, work the softened vegan butter or coconut oil into the flour mixture until well combined. Sprinkle evenly over the apples in the dish.
To bake
- Place in the center rack of the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender. It should be bubbling, especially on the sides.
- Serve warm with a scoop of non-dairy vanilla ice cream and vegan caramel, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Granny Smith are by far my favorite apple to use in crispy, but you can use others if needed. Try to choose a crispy baking apple that is not too sweet, or adjust the added sugar.
- If you don't like very sweet desserts, feel free to cut back on the sugar both in the filling and the topping. You could probably cut them both in half if needed.
- For gluten free, try a gluten free flour and make sure to use gluten free certified rolled oats.
Nutrition
*This recipe was first published November 2018 and has been updated with new photos and better recipe instructions. I am always working on improving my skills and recipe development, thank you!
Another AMAZING recipe! I used 8 small/medium apples and threw in whatever we had that needed to be eaten (3 different kinds of apples!) My crumble usually doesn’t come out right but that’s because I’m impatient. This time, I used my fingers to crumble the topping and I took my time. That was life changing. My family thanks you, once again! We now have a delicious Sabbath dessert to enjoy this evening 😋
Hi Sarah. How wonderful that your apple crisp came out great for you! Thank you for sharing your fun experience with the recipe, and your glowing feedback! May you all enjoy your apple crisp this evening!
Hello, I want to make the apple crisp the day before it’s served. I’d like to avoid freezing it. How would you recommend doing this?
Once baked and cooled, wrap well and refrigerate. When ready to serve, reheat in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 until warm. Enjoy!
Hi Nora!
I want to make the apple crisp the day before as well. How can the topping remain crispy for serving and not mushy? Thanks! I
Hi there! Reheating it in the oven before serving should help the topping crisp up again. Maybe not as much as a freshly baked crisp, but it shouldn’t be mushy!
Best vegan apple crisp recipe of the ones I’ve tried by far!!??
Hi Nora, I have to say this is the best of the best apple crisp I have had in years and I mean years. My Mother’s was the very best of the best, but she is no longer here and I have been looking and trying all of the apple crisps I could find and this one, oh my gosh so darn delicious. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. I’ve made it several times now and its still the best ever!
Hi Judi. How wonderful that you found an apple crisp you love! I feel honored that it lives up to crisps your mother made! Thanks for sharing your great feedback and review! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Hi Nora! I made this recipe and it was so so so amazing (as all your recipes are).
Do you think the filling would work well if I used it in a pie crust?
Maybe I should add some corn starch as well?
Thanks in advance!
Perfect recipe!!!
Hi!
Made the crisp yesterday, but used rhubarb instead of apples, since I had some at home.
It turned out great and crispy and got great feedback from my friends. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Ene. You are welcome! I’m glad the crisp turned out great using the rhubarb! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful feedback and review!
I am using this recipe for my cooking class and absolutely love it!
Oh, wow! I love that! Have fun, and thank you for your wonderful feedback!
Thanks so much for your life-changing recipes, Nora! I have one quick question. The first time I made this apple crisp, the topping was perfectly crispy, but the last few times I haven’t been able to get that crunch back — instead it’s been more powdery than crispy (still extremely delicious though). Any idea where I am going wrong here? I’m thinking maybe not enough butter?
I’m glad you are enjoying my recipes, thank you! Hmm I’m not sure what’s going on with the topping the last few times you made it. Are you using a different brand of butter than the first time? Are you measuring carefully? It does sound like the topping is too dry, so watch your measurements carefully. Hope that helps!
So good! I reduced the sugar a bit, and finished it off by broiling the top for a few minutes for the extra crunch. Such an amazing recipe!
The perfect crisp. Found my go-to recipe. Diced the apple finely, like you would an onion. Madagascan Vanilla Bean ice cream by Coconut Bliss went with it perfectly.
Hi Carrie! I’m thrilled this is now your apple crisp go-to recipe! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
Hi Nora cooks!
I just made the apple crisp yesterday. We loved it. Only I added nuts/seeds as I could not imagine an apple crisp without walnuts or other nuts. I am going to try and tweak it more next time. Less brown sugar perhaps or some other way to sweeten that is not so killer.
This apple crisp transported me to another realm. It sounds dramatic but I would 100% recommend this recipe, especially with the Carmel sauce! I served mine right out of the oven with the Carmel glaze and SO Delicious vanilla coconut ice cream.
I brought it to a game night with friends and there were no leftovers, much to my dismay!
I am so happy that you loved the apple crisp! What a fun dish to take to a game night! Too bad there were no leftovers…you’ll have to make more! Thank you very much for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments! Happy cooking to you, Ann!
This tastes like Fall in a bowl. So delicious and easy. I followed the recipe as written. Thank you so much for this recipe.
I like that…’fall in a bowl!’ I’m so glad you loved the apple crisp! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
Hi, 4 pounds of sliced/cored/peeled apples per recipe? Seems like it takes a lot more than 6 apples…more like 12 sm-med apples. Also, the pounds don’t change on the recipe when u double or triple it. Thanks!
Maybe the apples I buy are big, I think they are. Yes, there is no way to change that text automatically, only the first part (6 apples) will change.
Thank goodness I cut this recipe in half I WILL EAT THE WHOLE THING!!! This is wayyyyyy too good!!!!! HEAVEN
I’m so glad you loved the apple crisp, Dani! Thank you for sharing your great review and comments!
I don’t see an oven temperature???
It’s in the very first instruction, 350 degrees. Hopefully you are looking at the recipe card, at the bottom of the post, which has all the info you need.
I just love all of your recipes and I can’t thank you enough for sharing. My daughter and her girlfriend are vegan so I always come to your website for recipes when they visit. My husband, the meat eater, really appreciates them also. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your review and comments, Georgia! I’m glad that you are enjoying my recipes!
Easy and delicious. I read the comments about the sweetness and cutting back on the sugar. I think it is very dependent on the type of apples used. I used all Granny Smith which are quite tart and also cut back on sugar only a little. The dessert came out on the tart side – which I love.
I did find the topping a bit more chewy than crunchy and streusal-like but still found it delicious. Will definitely make again.
Thank you for taking time to share your review and comments! I’m glad you loved the apple crisp!
Just wondering why the addition of water? Is it needed to soften the apples or?
It’s part of the cinnamon sugar mixture that coats and softens the apples as the crisp bakes. Hope that helps!
Loved this recipe! Would love to double and freeze half to bake later…is there a way to do that?
Glad you enjoyed it! I don’t really think it will freeze well, but I’m not totally sure.
This is an awesome recipe, so good! I usually replace all the vegan butter with coconut oil, which works just fine. If I don’t have any tart apples, I reduce to just a couple of teaspoons of sugar in the apples, and reduce the sugar in the crumble by 2/3. Feel free to experiment and enjooooy! <3
I appreciate you taking your time to share your review and comments! Thank you!
This wss was greatreat tasting. Ingredients most would have as a staple, and ready to prepare. The one drawback was prep time was way more than 15 minutes as stated
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! 45 minutes in the oven was perfect. I’ve made a few of your recipes and they are always incredible. Thank you Nora!
Thank you for using my recipes, Nicole! I’m glad you are loving them! I appreciate you taking your time to share your review!
Perfect in every way! The vegan caramel is a delicious and decadent compliment to the crisp! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your review! I’m glad you love the apple crisp!